Posted on 08/31/2005 4:40:59 PM PDT by LonePalm
I am posting this question to our Louisiana FReepers in an effort to prompt discussion. It is meant only as a question, I do not know the answer.
About every thousand years or so the Mississippi River changes course. Right now the current channel of the Mississippi is NOT preferred course for the river. Left to its own devices, the river would divert down the Atchafalaya basin.
My question is, should we demolish the Old River Control Structure and allow the Mississippi to seek its new path? Then we build a new New Orleans.
I understand that this would cut off the ports of New Orleans and Baton Rouge and would be VERY expensive.
But might we be better as a nation if we do this NOW rather than later?
Consider this scenario: We go through the expense of rebuilding New Orleans and then in say 2015 we get a very snowy winter in the upper midwest and great plains followed by a rainy and rapid thaw. The Old River Control Structure and Low Sill structures fail. After we scrape Morgan City off the Yucatan Peninsula, we are still left with Baton Rouge and New Orleans low and dry.
Please, no flames.
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
Yes, it should be allowed to change to what it naturally wants to, but politics, not common sense, will make that decision.
Let's do it, I say. However, you my good friend, get to write the environmental impact statement..
BTW - My neighbor got in touch with her daughter. All is well. Thank you for your efforts.
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
I've wondered about this, but, political impossibilities aside, how long would it take the water to scour a new river bed large enough to carry the water of Mississippi??? Aren't we talking about geologic time here? If vastly more water were allowed to flow down the Atchafalaya tomorrow, wouldn't we just have massive flooding problems all along that river's banks???
Environmental impact statement for allowing a river to do what nature wants it to do?
Attempting to change nature usually invokes the "Law of Unintended Consequences". Although it may seem fine at the time, the consequences of such a diversion would produce consequences not thought of that may or may not (as is usually the case) be good.
Yes, it should be allowed to change to what it naturally wants to, but politics, not common sense, will make that decision.
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To emphasize the correctness in saying that politics will make big decisions like this, recall this HISTORICAL FACT!
In 1998, the DoD and the US Army Corps of Engineers drafted a document detailing the fact that New Orleans was protected by levees which were designed to protect N.O. from a LEVEL 3 hurricane. These groups wanted to go into N.O. and assess what needed to be done to improve the levees to at least withstand a LEVEL 4 OR 5 hurricane.
This serious request and supporting information was deemed highly necessary to protect N.O. and was presented in full to the President of the United States for approval of this critical project.
THE REQUEST WAS DENIED BY WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON. For those interested in the details, they are available in the FEDERAL REGISTER as a matter of permanent record.
So, how many more deaths do we attribute to this horrid excuse for a criminal, negligent, incompetent excuse for a human being ???
In summary, politics in critical situations, usually costs lives, it always has.
You betcha..Environ-nazis would be on that one in a heartbeat..especially if it were a man-made diversion..IMHO
My question is, should we demolish the Old River Control Structure and allow the Mississippi to seek its new path? Then we build a new New Orleans.
Where? LA is mostly swamp!
building a "new" new orleans will never happen..it'll be re-built, but with the requisite protection against a level 4 or level 5 hurricane...BUT REMEMBER..disaster can strike anywhere, at any time..when Mother Nature decides she's gonna hit hard, we can only hang on, no matter who's President, Govorner or Mayor..
Next empire up built Baghdad on the Tigris.
The rationale was that modern forms of transportation (camels) made it economically feasible to transport goods to and from the Euphrates to points along the Tigris, so why continue to take the risk of having a big city on a dangerous river.
Once upon a time the Hwang-Ho (Yellow River) in China relocated itself several hundred miles. Millions of people died in the transit. This had no effect whatsoever on trade since ancient emperors had already built canals between the Hwang-Ho and Yangtze basins, and they continued to serve all needs.
One day New Orleans slipped below sea-level thereby necessitating a relocation of the residential and retail areas to upland areas. Special protective levees were constructed around important port and industrial facilities. Although they lost power in the area, it was only a few days until the most important commercial activities in the area were back in business.
In the future, the people who reside in the New Orleans area for the purpose of manning the port facilities and tourist hotels will live further West where the land is above sea-level.
The Mississippi would not have to "seek" its own path. The path already exists as the Atchafalaya River and it already takes 30% of the Mississippi's waters. The more water that goes through it, the more it erodes and the more it will hold. It can handle the full load, but I don't know when it would be stabilized and safely navigable.
For converstaions sake, I'd suggest raising the level of NO as part of the rebuilding process. Bringing in mass amounts of earth to shore up NO, would reduce the dependency on the levies.
I'd also suggest a building code that would see most houses and businesses withstand a sustained 150 MPH wind.
Storm surge would be another vital issue that would have to be addressed.
I'd suggest zoning regulations that would see very little shipping containers left in coastal areas for any length of time. Build a quick method of moving the imports away from the port area almost immediately after it's offloaded.
I believe that a well designed berm configuration would allow shipping containers to be shielded from the brute force of the winds.
In short, a number of creative ideas could be incorporated to make NO and many other coastal communities a lot safer than they have been.
While I generally hate commissions, I'd like to see a community planning commission set up, made up of engineers and city planners, that could address and remedy many of the problems that cropped up during this hurricane. A number of coastal areas would benefit from the ideas studied and incorporated by such a group of people.
Sounds Good. Where are you going to divert it to?
I'm having a problem trying to get a grip on just how bad the New Orleans mess really is. I wonder if it might be easier and cheaper to write it off and rebuild elsewhere?
The damage is done, too late.
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
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