Springfield levee assessment resumes after federal funding pause

Springfield is restarting the federal review that will decide whether the 42nd Street Levee can keep protecting roughly 24,000 people in north-central Springfield, after a pause in February slowed the work and put the next draft report at risk. For families, businesses and public spaces behind the levee, the question is plain: will the structure still count in the next flood season, or will the area be treated like a much riskier part of the McKenzie River floodplain?

The levee is not a minor barrier. It is about 0.98 to one mile long, averages 6.5 feet in height and reaches 8 feet at its tallest point. Built in 1960 by the Soil Conservation Service on the west bank of the McKenzie River, it was transferred to City of Springfield ownership and maintenance responsibility in 1983. City records say the structure predates the federal standards now used to accredit levee systems, which is why the assessment matters so much.

The city has been working toward this point for years. Emergency Manager Ken Vogeney began looking into levee issues in 2013 and sought federal funding and technical expertise in 2014. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers staff approached Springfield in 2017 about conducting an assessment. Congressional testimony says the Corps paused the feasibility study in February 2026, with a draft report due in August 2026 at risk. City officials had been seeking help to resolve the pause, and the work can now move forward again.

That timing matters because federal flood mapping is changing around the McKenzie River. FEMA was preparing updated Flood Insurance Rate Maps, and Springfield participates in the National Flood Insurance Program. If the levee cannot meet certification standards, the protected area could be mapped as a 100-year floodplain, a shift that would affect property owners, developers and residents through insurance costs, permitting and long-term planning. The levee protects about 7,500 structures and more than $4 billion in property value, making the stakes far wider than the engineering itself.

Springfield’s concern is grounded in history as well as paperwork. During the December 1964 flood, described as the largest ever recorded in Lane County, water rose to more than 75 percent of the levee’s current height. Other background material says floodwaters once came within about 6 inches of the top. City records show the levee remains a major capital priority, and Springfield has continued to seek funding for levee planning and improvements because a failure to finish the review would leave the community guessing about its protection when river levels rise again.