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and Iwocct large areas:dun.e the Iwo noon rv(•rs. Mond Control Act of 1914 In duplicate that type of ra,gionwide 1` <br /> �cs has the larcerjob. mmthenvise if not dollanvise, of help- effort on the Missouri, was only a partial success. The reser- <br /> Ing state and private lever districts rebuild the hundreds of voirs were constructed, bill many property owners decided <br /> agricultural levees along Inbulary ricrrn. scs, rl:aln, and the the),didn't want the levees set back several thousand feet front <br /> U S fish anti Wildlife Scrvice all offer twee owners (he option the river or scv their riparian land designated for low-intensify <br /> of taking money Io Icavr an area open to flooding. However. use. '15'hrn push came to shove,' says lames Durkay, the <br /> fewnre pursuing the offer. I Corps' assistant director of civil works, "we found that the <br /> Both agencies are w'nrking as fast as possible. but as mil- I property owners call the shots down on the Ooodpinins.- Il <br /> . Guns of dollars Co into the recovery. many engineers arc• ask- On the upper Mississippi. the Corps has been assigned a <br /> ing if it isn't time to step back and rr-evaltnte the nation's hap- I number of projects In construct levees associated with locks and <br /> hazardly developed policy of flnnd control on the Missouri and i dams as well as flood walls Io protect the larger cites against <br /> upper Mississippi. IIX?vear floods. However. unlike what it did for the Inver basin. <br /> Congress never authorized a syslemwide approach to the upper i <br /> : I rcaNr,ors ua•rrs _ _ -- Part of the river. ( <br /> The police has its roots in dm some past as the one in place for Primarily without federal assistance. slate and private <br /> the Inver half of Ihr \4issisnippi but has come In different rr I groups erected more Than 1,000 aCricullural levers along the <br /> nulls. On the lower half of Ihr river. [he Corps followed a lev- I rivers, Mnsl were designed for 20-vear flood-level protection. <br /> crsonly melhod of flood control until the disas(rous flood of Counting boll1 federal and nonfederal projects. there are now <br /> 0 <br /> 19'_';, after which the .fidwm Act authorized the Lisp of resery more than 1n0 reservoirs and water-impoundntenl structures <br /> voirs. lose dikes and Onnllpai❑ stnagc below the mouth of the on the two rivers. Speeding the passage of water In Ihesc sinuo t <br /> Non River. The Flood Contlnl Act of 1937 followed, which fi- lures art, miles of channels(hat the Collis has constructed. i <br /> l nnlly' care the federal gna(rnmcnl ;i legal role in regional flood I Has the investment—S25 billion in fedcrally funded flood- <br /> i <br /> conlrol. created sea bt looteet agricultural land and recom- control projects Ihrough the Corps alone—been Successful? <br /> ntonde•d the use of recen'oirs to sInre flood peaks. I The Corps estimates the levees averted an additional SI 1bil- <br /> Over time.various flood control acts have resulted in a near. I lion in dannufi . Others are more conservative. 'Tl,e presence <br /> Iv continuous system of Iry, rS. set thousands of feet hack from of levees prevented an additional S'21 billion dollars in dam- <br /> the river. from Ihr Oltio Ricer In Iho Gulf of Mexico. Federal aces."according to.lino Van Buren. a vice president with Sver-I <br /> flood insurance %%as first marls available in 1968. and I`I!%I,N was I drop Cori).. SI Inuis. None that citv's flood wall. for example. <br /> car:de•d in 1979 In help cope wish disasters. Since the syslent the river crrsl(d at 40 ft. 20 ft above the normal flood level.The <br /> ha> born in place. flno,ling has tint brrn nearly as much a I lest of a Svra dnup presentation on the food added Ihnl the• let--I <br /> j problem tin the lower\lisslseiPPl ' ces fared pooriv because last vear's flood was a 5110-vear even[, f <br /> the Pick-51oan .Prngrmr. :in arlenupl aulhorizc•d by the one well beyond the bounds of a reasonable design. <br /> To others. hmvevrr. levees prevent smaller floods at the ex- <br /> b.. :J,=;..I:x=$`•�-.�.�:: r+:.'. 4t :.,'3° � ' - prose of making larger Hors worse. "flood damages. in cum <br /> slant dolhtrs.;it greater Inday than before the 1936 flood Con- <br /> •t ��..a'•�` <br /> trol Ac(," snvs Don lioy of Wetlands Research. Inc.. Chicago. ' <br /> •`"''Y' " u'"s�'°.{y`` •p I "Channelizinc sprerla flow.pausing erosion.' I <br /> ;'f !.i _ •sk�a;, By rnmtricling Ihr ricer's floor] area. levees cau•:e flows to <br /> nm high(r. hot whrlhrr the effecl is local or raises flow levels <br /> all alone the t it cr is;t ntaltrr of(IcImic.All ltnutah the volume of ; <br /> water paasrd was Inwer this vear than in I844, "there was a 10 E ft increase in Ibe flond stage.- save Richard Sparks of the Illi. f <br /> nnis Natural Htslory Survey. Havana. 111. Gary Dvhouse, chief t <br /> - I of hvdro]ory with the Corps' St. Innis orrice, disagrees. He : <br /> says Ihal Ihr effects of Irvcra are local and that the comparison '' <br /> "" `rt� •h,'�, ' of the two floods is irrc•Iev:tnl. "Most lusloric:d floods. which I IP <br /> plaved a big part in Irvrc design. wrre overestimated by 95.'.." 1 f <br /> Rccrrdlcss. many river managers are finding that Irving to ' <br /> control :I riv(t often makes it nor unmanaecablr, according n <br /> _. <br /> v+ to Pluil 1Cilhents, u consultmC c•nginrcr in San Francisco Doc <br /> to c'hvuo•lizalion ,f Ihr Rhinc Rwrr in Gcrnuanv. he says, <br /> . `4• "wha snails:I J00­ve:u Mond is now a frtivear event." <br /> ,.. Mary doubt that ant reasonable structurally based syslcm. r <br /> base(] on wlnll ,gas In place last spring, could have held back <br /> k.• the floods. kinirs Durkac. Ihr assistant director of civil works i <br /> r- for the Corps. sans. "Agricultural levees down near uric river <br /> - I have to he constructed to hail. You couldn't build [hem high <br /> enough In cunl:1in that vnlonty of water.- Robert Hart cis, scs' <br /> emergency-wau•rshrd-prrection coordinator for the nine floor) <br /> 30 <br />