In California, there are more than 14,000 miles of urban and rural levees. They protect dry land, cities, towns, homes, businesses, farms and public property from floods. … "On average, they are 57 years old and many of them were built using standards that were much less rigorous than are current building practices," said UC Irvine Climate and Flood Scientist [Professor] Amir AghaKouchak. … "We're not doing enough. Lack of maintenance is one of the biggest issues in my opinion," said AghaKouchak. … "Future earthquake can cause actual collapse and failure," said AghaKouchak. Read More