Two themes surfaced in a meeting Tuesday between U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill and area flood stakeholders: the Corps of Engineers mismanaged this year’s flood event, and they should pay for levee repairs.

McCaskill fielded questions and heard comments from authorities in Atchison, Buchanan, Holt and Nodaway counties.

She said the Corps won’t acknowledge the alleged mismanagement, and reminded officials that now is not the best time to ask for more money from Washington.

Among those asking for it was Hold County Clerk Kathy Kunkle who says local levee districts cannot afford levee repairs, and may not have time to finish them before next spring.

Kunkle cited one levee district that is faced with 16 separate breaches. She says repairs will cost about $2.5 million. Under terms of their cost-sharing arrangement, the levee district must come up with 20% of that, or $500 thousand. They currently have about $25 thousand in the bank.

“Every property in that district, every farm, every household is under water. They don’t feel like they can incur that 20% match locally,” Kunkle told McCaskill.

McCaskill vowed to investigate ways to bring non-qualifying levee districts into the Corps’ funding formula. She says such levees have never before received federal money.