Posted on 08/17/2002 9:49:04 AM PDT by Willie Green
Edited on 04/13/2004 2:34:44 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
The hearts of the people of Western Pennsylvania go out to people in the cities and villages of the Czech Republic, Austria, Germany, Slovakia, Russia and Romania. They are suffering flooding of a magnitude in some areas unprecedented in more than 150 years. We here remember floods very well.
(Excerpt) Read more at post-gazette.com ...
Report: [Army] Corps [of Engineers] Projects Need External Review
Army Corps Ready for Water Projects
Bush Didn't Seek $150 Million Corps of Engineers Wanted for Security at Dams, Locks, Reservoirs
A Chance to Reshape the Corps (of Engineers)
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers performs a wide variety of valuable services for the American public, including flood control projects as well as maintaining the system of locks and dams that make our inland waterways navigible.
The Corps was first called upon to address flood problems along the Mississippi river in the mid- 1800's. Work began on the Mississippi River and Tributaries Flood Control Project in 1928, and the Flood Control Act of 1936 gave the Corps the mission to provide flood protection to the entire country.
Corps flood control efforts range from small, local protection projects (levees or non-structural flood control measures) to major dams. Today, most Corps constructed flood protection projects are owned by sponsoring cities, towns, and agricultural districts, but the Corps continues to maintain and operate 383 dams and reservoirs for flood control.
Today, the Corps also maintains more than 12,000 miles of inland waterways and operates 235 locks. These waterways -a system of rivers, lakes and coastal bays improved for commercial and recreational transportation - carry about 1/6 of the Nation's inter-city freight, at a cost per ton-mile about 1/2 that of rail or 1/10 that of trucks. The Corps also maintain 300 commercial harbors, through which pass 2 billion tons of cargo a year, and more than 600 smaller harbors.
There are certainly areas where the Corps has overstepped its primary mission. These diversions need to be curtailed and the Corps should be refocused on maintenance and upgrade of our vital flood control and inland waterway infrastructure.
My impression is that you wouldn't voluntarily send aid to American flood victims either.
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