COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Council Bluffs officials are working to strengthen the levees protecting the western Iowa city before homeowners are forced to pay higher premiums for flood insurance. The Daily Nonpareil reports the city wants to complete the levee projects before the Federal Emergency Management Agency updates its flood maps sometime in the next several years.

Council Bluffs Mayor Matt Walsh says the city is racing to get the levee system upgraded and certified before the flood maps are redrawn. Council Bluffs is working to improve its levees because of the massive 2011 flood where water levels along the Missouri River remained high for months.

All of the city’s levees must be certified by FEMA. If they aren’t, then homeowners will have to pay significantly higher flood insurance premiums.