The levee board did not design or build these levees.
Prior to 1965, the state of Louisiana designed and built its flood protection through its levee boards.
The Corps hands components of the system over to the local levee boards upon completion.
Most neighboring parishes had (and some still have) similar parochial levee boards.
The levee board does not dispute these facts.
It is the political and administrative overhead that critics of the levee boards hope to do away with at the Legislature.
Foster in fact once said that the levee board in New Orleans gave him more headaches than any other aspect of the job.
He was dedicated to the levee board and a wonderful steward of the public's money.
Fixing the levee boards would send that message.
The local levee boards retained the role of maintenance once the projects were complete.