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OTTUMWA, IOWA -- The Levee system in Ottumwa held back the Des Moines River this summer, but it didn’t escape without any damage.

As pumps worked to push water back into the river, one area near the Beach Ottumwa suffered some erosion.

The city added armor, or large rocks, to prevent further damage to the levee, but will need to bid out a contract for permanent repairs.

“Anytime you have a flood you have what you call the protective side flood which is caused from a rain even behind the levee system. You simply don’t have the capabilities to get the water up and over into the river,” Ottumwa Public Works Director Larry Seals said.

Without those capabilities, the city needed to dig channels through the street for large hoses to empty the nearby lagoon, and that created the problems.

“One of our discharge hoses had eroded a small area away. What we did during the flood (when the water) was high was simply put armor in it to hold it,” Seals said. “What we will have to do is go in, actually remove the armor, recompact suitable fill then put the armor on top.”

In order to accommodate not tearing up the road again, a permanent pipe will be installed.

But, Seals said there is also a new project that includes installing a larger pump at the lagoon. This $4.8 Million project is funded through the 17-year sewer separation project Ottumwa is undergoing. The new pump will not be put in for about four years.