Sen. Jim Inhofe’s office reports a possible plan with a cost estimate to improve Tulsa’s levee system is expected next week.
The Tulsa World reports the Tentatively Selected Plan will outline proposed work, including a cost estimate that will serve as a placeholder in the fiscal year 2021 federal budget.
Speaking to the Tulsa World, Inhofe said the required public comment period will push back a final report on the levees until early next year, but the overall project remains on track for FY 2021.
“We were a little ambitious when we said the (final) report will be finished by the end of (2019), but we are making headway,” Inhofe said.
Inhofe is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and senior Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee. Between them, the two committees are responsible for oversight of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which would be in charge of the project.
Inhofe has for years advocated improvements to the World War II-era levee system, but this spring’s near-record floods lent new momentum to the endeavor.