Editorial: Flood Problems, A Long Time In The Making

There is a lot of talk about the rivers these days, but not all of it is the kind we like to hear. Levels have been up and down and are going up again. Much devastation has been recorded. Tempers are flaring. March rainfall in St. Louis has broken an all-time record. Pros and cons are being exchanged over the value of levees. In some locations, levees are extremely valuable and vital and options are few. There was a time, however, when different decisions might have changed the whole landscape.

It is argued, and rightfully so, that when channels are changed, the water has to go somewhere. And it does. Whether the results of changing channels are always easy to predict is another story. We would guess that there are often surprises. What we do know for certain is that the people who live in this nation have a strong love for water and beaches. For this very reason, the construction of levees commenced more than 300 years ago at New Orleans. There are other countries where land has been taken back from the sea via various means.

For 300 years, people have been trying to snuggle up to riverbanks, lakeshores and coastlines. And almost always, there are challenges and some undesirable results. Because coastal residents love their sunny beaches so much, beach replenishment is not uncommon after storms. We don’t seem to have much of a handle on the population growth that helped spawn many of these situations. Frankly, we don’t have much wiggle room with situations that had their beginning decades ago and are causing flooding problems.

In the early days, water provided an important means of transporting people and cargo. Moving cargo via water is an important part of the transportation infrastructure today. Those who make their living fishing, or clamming in times past, like to be near their work. Many businesses benefit from being located near waterways. Log rafts once moved downstream to saw mills, thus providing jobs and much-needed lumber for construction. Some companies plan ahead nowadays and build in such a manner that their facilities are not vulnerable to high water. Some have offices and other facilities on barges.

More than 100 miles of inadequate levee protects businesses and residences in three counties in Illinois. The value is figured at more than $5 billion, and if the Mississippi levee fails, a huge chunk of that may be lost. The fix is estimated at more than $200 million, but it is a cost that should have been anticipated. Levees always undergo wear and tear, just as locks and dams do. Maintenance is not optional if the system is to continue serving its purpose efficiently.

There is always the admonition “Count the cost!” when building in the flood plain is considered. Unfortunately some, including planners of the past, didn’t always count the cost. Now there are flood problems all over the United States, and there are those who charge that if people hadn’t moved into the flood plains and built levees, the problems wouldn’t exist or would go away. And they’re right. The problem, however, is that the water is already under the bridge (no pun intended). It’s a bit like crying over spilled milk. The damage is done.

For more decades than we wish to count, agricultural runoff and industrial waste have flowed into our streams. We reported in this column months ago that when cities first became established along the Upper Mississippi, only one of the 50 largest river communities had sewage treatment facilities. Today we face situations that may not be reversible. For those that are reversible, the cost is great.

We can say all we want about who is to blame for flooding, but when we do, we should realize that many of the decision makers are long gone. The New Orleans flood control mechanism is centuries old, and people have been fixing and patching forever, it seems. You can stand on a New Orleans street and see vessels over the top of the levee. It is a rather impressive sight for a stranger, but much of the city is below sea level. Hurricane Katrina revealed that may not be a good place to be.

It’s a Catch-22. The merry-go-round is already running. In too many instances there is no way to jump off. The only option is to bite the bullet and keep fixing. In the St. Louis area, flood talk is in vogue right now. Debating the value of levees also is in vogue. Worthy of consideration are the much-discussed buyout programs that enable those in the flood plain to sell out and get out. It’s the reverse of taking land from the river. In this case, the land is given back. In some cases, this can preserve property and help the environment at the same time.

There very well may be locations across the country where wise decisions can keep flood problems from developing. In any case, projects should be considered carefully to see if they don’t merely open a Pandora’s box in the future and instigate procedures that cannot be discontinued once started.

If we had an easy answer to solving flood issues, we could sell it at a respectable price. As it is, people are just going to have to live with situations as they are and work to solve the problems the best they can.

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