WASHINGTON — Communities nationwide have repaired fewer than half of the 122 levees identified by the government almost two years ago as too poorly maintained to be reliable in major floods, according to Army Corps of Engineers data.

State and local governments were given a year to fix levees cited by the corps for "unacceptable" maintenance deficiencies in a February 2007 review that was part of a post-Hurricane Katrina crackdown. Only 45 have had necessary repairs, according to data provided in response to a USA TODAY request. The remaining unrepaired levees are spread across 18 states and Puerto Rico — most in California and Washington.

People living behind the unrepaired levees "have every right to be concerned," said Tammy Conforti, head of the corps' levee safety program. "If (people) depend on that for flood risk reduction," she said of each unrepaired levee, "... those deficiencies need to be corrected."

In an effort to put pressure on state and local governments to repair the levees, the Army Corps has removed many of the unacceptable levees from the corps' inspection program, making them ineligible for federal rehabilitation funding if they are damaged or destroyed by floodwaters. Property owners behind those levees also could be required to buy federal flood insurance if the Federal Emergency Management Agency finds that the maintenance problems leave them unprotected against a 100-year flood — an event that has a 1 percent chance of occurring in any year.

It's possible that some communities with unrepaired levees may be in the process of fixing them, and they can apply for readmission to the corps' inspection program once the work is done. Some levees on the list protect densely populated areas, others guard rural, agricultural land.

"It doesn't surprise me that a lot of these levees have not been fixed," said Larry Larson, executive director of the national Association of State Floodplain Managers, which represents state agencies responsible for mitigating flood risks.

Some communities lack the money for repairs, which can run hundreds of thousands of dollars or more, Larson said. But some "just see this as a federal problem. ... They're saying, 'Well, what's going to happen if we don't fix them? The levee fails and the federal taxpayer will pay for the damages' " through disaster-relief programs.

A few states have launched major initiatives to address levees that have deteriorated or are no longer considered adequate to protect growing populations in rapidly developing areas.

California set aside $5 billion this year for levee repairs. Connecticut also has provided $5 million this month specifically to improve unacceptable levees in Hartford.

"It's taken time to identify the repair needs fully and develop plans to address them," said Dennis Schain, spokesman for the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection.