US Corps Preventing Floods & Hurricanes in New Orleans

Introduction

In settling the area of New Orleans, the French built on high ground with a natural levee made of silt from the river. The French built levees to protect from river flooding. Landowners continued to build levees. The coastal swamp acted as a natural buffer against storms. With recurrent flooding on the Mississippi, Congress created the Mississippi River Commission. The Army Corps of Engineers were put in control.

The Corps did not really have any flood experience and decided levees would be enough to control the river. Levees contributed to the rise of the river. Flooding continued over the decades on numerous occasions. In 1927 flooding changed New Orleans forever. Lives were lost, levees were breached, crops were destroyed and industry and transportation came to a halt.

In preparing for Mississippi River flooding, the Army Corps of Engineers robbed the region of natural defenses against storm surges. Washington lawmakers knew of the hurricane threat to Louisiana. It was nothing new. Short term solutions were chosen because of their immediate payoff. By not choosing a long term strategy the city was made more vulnerable when Hurricane Katrina hit.

Diagnosis

History shows a pattern of how flooding problems were handled. No one analyzed the process or reviewed outcomes to find a better way to deal with the issues. The Flood Control Act of 1928 pledged the federal government to an explicit program of flood control. The Mississippi River and Tributaries (MR&T) Project was the nation's first comprehensive flood control and navigation act.

“A wise policy maker completely expects that his policies will achieve only part of what he hopes and at the same time will produce unanticipated consequences he woul...

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...jects around inhabited areas should take priority. Including reservoirs and floodways in programs would give the Mississippi room to spread out.

One of the difficulties of making changes is the political process itself. Depending on the point of view of any debate on these projects, they may or may not be considered sound from an engineering standpoint . Whether or not planners and engineers actually do the best they can with what they are directed to do is part of the controversy.

Works Cited

Grunwald, M. & Glasser, S., How a City slowly Drowned. (October 2005) The Washington Post, National Weekly Edition, pp. 6-10

Stillman, R.J., (2010), Public Administration Concepts and Cases, Boston, Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

The Mississippi River and Tributaries Project, US Army Corps of Engineers. Retrieved from: http://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/pao/bro/misstrib.htm