Having been brought to the threshold of the biggest global economic meltdown since the Great Depression, and suffering double-digit unemployment in its wake, it's only natural that our thoughts might go back to that era to explore what lessons might be learned, and what good examples might have been set for the recovery of the nation. And concomitant with that totally man-made economic disaster was the at-least-partially natural disaster of the "Dust Bowl", a devastating drought and loss of topsoil that lasted, in some places, until as late as 1940. Bringing ourselves back to the doorstep of the former should, if we're mindful, invoke at least some remembrance of the latter, especially in an era of heightened environmental awareness and overwhelming evidence of climate change.
Up here, in the verdant Northeast, we've had a tremendous amount of rain this year. Most of the Summer was cooler and wetter than usual, and one system after another continues to pass through this part of the country. Just this past week, another 3+ inches of rain hit many areas of NY, NJ, PA, and the New England States. Conversely, there are many parts of the country that have experienced drought this year - in fact, for several consecutive years.
Nearby, in New Jersey, ACOE (the Army Corp of Engineers) has used a flood mitigation technique to great effect. Recognizing that some rivers and streams will consistently flood in sequence - one before the other - they've built water tunnels between those bodies, allowing portions of the upstream flooding, which invariably happens first, to make an accelerated path downstream to a not-yet-cresting waterway. Then, in turn, when the upstream body is again well within its banks, a portion of the now-dangerously rising water in the larger, downstream river, is pumped back up through the same tunnel, delaying the surging runoff and effectively preventing a flood by simply spreading the event over a longer timeline. An elegant solution, used on a relatively micro-scale, by turning what would have been a dangerous and destructive 72 hour period into a relatively benign 120+ hours.
Expanding and embellishing on the concept, imagine a matrix of massive tunnels traversing the continent. With such an infrastructure in place, the hardship of enduring cycles of flood and drought can be substantially mitigated. When areas of the nation are receiving too much rain, large portions of that can be re-directed to other places that have been receiving too little. And since the tunnels are constructed between already active major waterways, it need not require building new reservoirs by taking land through eminent domain ... although that certainly might be an option in the more arid, less populated areas of the Southwest.
The result would be that in rivers throughout the country, the highs will be less high, and the lows less low. And the same goes for reservoirs. Before they wastefully crest, the excess can be sent where it is most needed. In short, I’m proposing we build a nationwide freshwater management system.
Granted, this is a massive infrastructure project involving billions in state and federal funding, decades to design and build, and generating countless skilled, high-paying engineering and construction jobs for a very long time.
And naturally, the "right" will scream, "Bu ... bu ... but that's not in the Constitution !!! Where will we get the money for this boondoggle?".
But what does it already cost our nation in major cycles of flood and drought? In agriculture subsidies? In land-use inefficiencies? In escalating flood insurance costs? In rebuilding flood-damaged institutions and infrastructure? And there’s every indication that those costs will only continue to increase.
Try to imagine being able to drain an eighth of Lake Pontchartrain starting three days before the long-predicted arrival of Katrina ?? By the time the event had passed, it would be full again - but some dry portion of West Texas would have had a higher crop yield in exchange.
Talk about making lemonade from lemons!!
Over the course of the last century, our population expansion and concomitant land development has created a nation with so much more impermeable land surface that flooding events now happen on shorter notice, with greater frequency and to more devastating effect. In the past decade alone, the Delaware valley experienced – in a single 18 months period - what ACOE calculated to be 3 "fifty year" flood events. You read that right. THREE 50 YEAR FLOODS IN ONE-AND-A-HALF YEARS !!!
With the extremes we're going to be expecting through climate change over the next hundred years, these unsettling events are only likely to become more frequent, more severe and more wasteful of our freshwater resources, because ultimately, all that potable water just flows to the sea. And concurrent with these high-water events, the mean elevation of the tidal estuaries into which they must inevitably flow will already be higher due to rising sea levels, compounding the likelihood of flooding.
What better legacy to leave subsequent generations of Americans than relieving the strife of not having enough fresh water, while simultaneously reducing the likelihood of devastating droughts and damaging floods?
The technology already exists, the need is already present, and the POTUS is looking to put people to work. This might be one possible solution that could last for a couple of generations.
Fresh water is one of the world’s most precious resources. To not manage it optimally would be a sin against our own best interests.
And if not now ... when?
Just a thought.