the problem with that (moving the people out of the flood plains) is that you'll never get people to agree to it. Since colonization started, people have chosen to live near water sources (and sometimes in COMPLETELY inhospitable regions) just because it was convenient or because it was beautiful. And besides... where are you going to put them? moving them into overcrowded cities? Tear down farmland to put up new McMansion ghettoes?
And really, who wants to give up their land rights, if they've worked all their lives, finally own something, and call it THEIRS, even if it DOES get flooded out from time to time? Its THEIRS, man, and you can't take it!
Does it make sense? No, but then, there are plenty of things that don't make an ounce of sense here in America, and yet, we all march toward destruction just the same.
Well - the problem I have with it, and I should have clarified - is that if you are in a 100-year or 500-year flood plain are you really in a zone that should be condemned?
As opposed to those in Florida or New Orleans who get mangled almost every year and rebuild just in time for the next hurricane season?
right. I remember years ago reading something about the Atchafalaya River Basin near New Orleans (and this was like 1996 when I read this) and how the Army Corps of Engineers and some environmental engineering agencies were trying to figure out how to better control the Mississippi River, in order for it not to eventually destroy not only New Orleans, but also MOST of the cities in a swath that covered from the Western border of Ohio to Colorado. This article made the point that the Mississippi's path swung back and forth between the Rockies and the Appalachians periodically and that it's only really remained where it's been because of our efforts after colonization began post-Louisiana Purchase. If it weren't for engineers, cities in the Gulf of Mexico built in the late 18th/19th century wouldn't be around now. So ironic that it wasn't the Mississippi that caused all the problems there in 2005
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And I agree with the above.
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And really, who wants to give up their land rights, if they've worked all their lives, finally own something, and call it THEIRS, even if it DOES get flooded out from time to time? Its THEIRS, man, and you can't take it!
Does it make sense? No, but then, there are plenty of things that don't make an ounce of sense here in America, and yet, we all march toward destruction just the same.
Whee.
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As opposed to those in Florida or New Orleans who get mangled almost every year and rebuild just in time for the next hurricane season?
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