Building Better Levees

[erpowers]

It seems that the main problem with the levees on the Mississippi River is that there is a need for better levees. As far as I know Holland is 21 feet below sea level, yet I have never heard of Holland flooding. When Hurricane Katrina first occurred the website Common Dreams posted photographs of the levee systems of a number of other countries. These levees systems seemed to be better than the levee system we have in America. It appears that in order to update our levee system to a point where the levees would not be breached there would be a high monetary cost. Would the American people and their politicans be willing to pay the price to build a levee system that could actually prevent flooding?

[cobalt1999]

1. How about removing some.

We can spend billions trying to prevent flooding in a natural FLOODPLAIN, or tear down most of the levees (except for around a major cities) and allow the water to disperse across the floodplain like it is supposed to do.

I'm for LESS levees, LESS Army Corp of Engineer "improvements", and more living within the environment.

[K Gardner]

5. I was just about to post this same thing :-)

[LiberalFighter]

2. If the Americans didn't think of a better way then it won't work?

[MiniMe]

3. Infrastructure isn't a priority to this administration

If it doesn't have anything to do with oil or the war, they want to cut it.

[KharmaTrain]

4. River Levees Are A Different Animal

The Mississippi has been undergoing non-stop manipulation by man for years...building dams and canals and increasing the flow of water to the Gulf...this is especially the case in the areas that have flooded. Many of the levees in these areas were built decades ago when the river ran different and it's only when a big one arises that you really find out if the thing is solid or not. Many areas that were affected in '93 were spared this time...such as a good part of Quincy, thanks to the work they did after the flood...other towns didn't have the budget or luxuary to upgrade. Some areas didn't see the need to...these things happen once every decade or so...part of the risks of living in that area.

The floodgates like in Holland or on the Thames would have helped New Orleans (as well as the closing of the Inland Canal) where a large storm surge from the Gulf and Lake Ponchetrain could have been better controlled. To do this to prevent this type of flooding, you've have to build dams and gates on all the tributaries; further screwing up the area's ecosystem.

What we're seeing here is a never-ending battle between nature and man...as man attempts to control this river, the more it fights back...add to that the unusual rain patterns that can be attributed to global warming and I suspect this scenario will play out again in years to come...but not always in the same place.

Also there's the conflict of many of these communities that make a good buck in tourism along the river and the very fertile farmland that is usually replenished by these floods. What is an economic disaster this year could turn into an economic boom with rebuilding and tourism next year. Here's hoping that some money can be set aside to help those communities that need to shore up or fix aging dams the resources, but in the age of booooshonomics, you're on your own.