Which primary risk increases when an artificial levee is subjected to prolonged saturation during a major flood event?

💡 Explanation

When artificial levees are saturated during floods, increased pore water pressure within the levee structure reduces effective stress and shear strength because of the increase in hydrostatic pressure, leading to slope instability and potential collapse. Therefore, levee collapse results, rather than deposition, velocity reduction, or habitat diversity, which are unrelated to levee structural integrity.

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