OpEdNews - Page 2 of Article: Flood Warnings in New Orleans--The Rest of the Story

Kurgan mentions that we are essentially “a reactive society.” The national emphasis now is on hurricane protection at the expense of maintenance budgets.

“We are one disaster away from being yesterday’s news,” Accardo says. “It is the level of commitment for prevention that is essential. Look at Holland. After the floods there, they said ‘never again’ and the dike system is the best in world.”

What about the Bonnet Carre' Spillway? It was first opened during the flood of 1927 and only seven times since that date.

The Spillway was designed to take water out of the Mississippi and divert it to lake Pontchartrain. This presents problems for a brackish lake—flooding it with freshwater—and Accardo readily understands this.

In addition there are environmental concerns about the nutrient laden waters—nitrogen and phosphorus washed downstream from the fertile farms of the North Country. Lake residents are concerned that opening the Bonnet Carre' for too long will cause a repeat of an algae bloom that covered three quarters of the lake’s surface, causing massive fish kills. While no one expects this to happen this year, it is an obvious concern nonetheless.

While Accardo recognizes the environmental concerns, his job is to manage river flow, and that is the bottom line. He lists the main threat to levee integrity as seepage, and this can occur through, under and over a levee. The Corps has crews out on the levees on a daily basis. What are they looking for?

“Sand boils” and areas of seepage are a harbinger of trouble. During ties of high flow, Accardo says, the flow gets pressed up against the levee, creating a hole. The water then backs up creating a watery “boil.” Ignore it and it can cause a breach. How do you fix it? Sandbags surround the flow and reduce the pressure, thereby controlling the problem. Nothing threatening has been found so far, but the river detectives keep their watch.

Vigilance may be part of the answer, but more money would certainly fix it.

How much money would create a perfect world for maintenance of the levee system?

Accardo absorbs the question as if it makes no sense, and perhaps it doesn’t.

First of all Congress does not seem interested in maintenance budgets for a river levee system that has held.

In addition, high water events present special challenges to barge navigation, which requires open, deep channels. As long as the velocity of the water remains high, sediment remains suspended as does not deposit in the navigation channel. However, the water flow slows as it approaches the Gulf, causing deposits of sediment. The Corps is responsible for keeping these waterways open, and that costs money. In addition, the thought of a barge hitting a levy and causing a breach is a real concern.

Accardo explained that the Corps is running five dredges in the southwest pass to maintain a navigation channel.

Hopper Dredges that can deepen the channels cost hundreds of millions of dollars to purchase and operate. Fuel costs have tripled in the last ten years.

Private contractors who operate their own fleets of dredges depend upon government contracts, so no one wants to have high price equipment sitting in dry dock. There is a delicate balance to maintain between the government fleet and private interests.

Accardo’s biggest enemy is not the water. It is misconceptions about the importance of maintenance and the fact that he has no mandate, legal or otherwise, to lobby Congress and raise awareness in the rest of the country about what it takes to manage forty one percent of the nations’ water flow.

1 | 2 | 3