New Orleans needs levees that protect the city much better than those that failed during Category 4 Katrina.

That&8217;s a no-brainer.

How to pay for those levees, however, is an entirely different story.

Tuesday, the Bush administration&8217;s top man in charge of hurricane rebuilding could not tell Louisiana officials whether the federal government would foot the bill for reinforcing the levees beyond the strength required to withstand a Category 3 storm &8212; the level at which they were supposed to be built before Katrina.

Estimates have put the levee project&8217;s construction at about $32 billion, with up to 30 years to complete the work.

The state cannot pay for the rebuilding. New Orleans, struggling to get back on its feet, certainly can&8217;t pay for it.

New Orleans residents need security &8212; and they need answers, quickly.

This is clearly going to take compromise &8212; the federal government must commit to funding, along with promises from the state for its own money and for more oversight of local levee boards.

The federal government must make the commitment to strengthen the levees, or it won&8217;t make sense to rebuild.

And we must rebuild. The cultural and economic value of New Orleans and the Mississippi gulf coast is immeasureable.