The Herbert Hoover Dike is comprised of 143 miles of levees around Lake Okeechobee, the nation’s 10th largest lake. It’s existed in its current form since the 1960s, and has done its job of protecting those living near it from catastrophic flood events like the ones in the 1920s which killed more than 3000 people.
The US Army Corps of Engineers maintains the dike, and since 1999 have been working to rehabilitate it as age takes its toll, but there is still work left to do. Today we’re going to get an update on those ongoing efforts, and what extra state and federal dollars recently approved mean to the overall project timeline. We're joined by John Campbell, he's Acting Chief for the Corps' Communications office in Jacksonville. We're also joined by Tammy Jackson-Moore, she's Co-Chair of the advocacy group #FixTheDike.