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<br /> states, agrees: `not unless you're going to create tremendous Action, Inc., a Davenport-based citizen's rivertionl develop-
<br /> storage capacity upstream, and the cost of that l don't think men[ group, the city was appivached several times by Ili,
<br /> you can justify." Corps to build a levee,a[an initial cost of some,,50 million plus'
<br /> S150,000 in annual maintenance. Instead, [he flood cost them
<br /> THL FUIURC'S NONSrRUCIUH.LL 511t11C_IUIIJ: __ Only$3.1 million III CI[y-a1't'a pubh('daolage5 and$-t,'� II IIIl i,I11 ill
<br /> At ['cMA, Zensinger has identified several vends in floodplain damages to private homes in file surrounding Scutt County :
<br /> management.'fhey point toward projects that are nunstructur- area. 'We feel we saved the I:Ixp:q ers a lot of muney." says'
<br /> al in nature, share costs between local and federal agencies, Wine.
<br /> satisfy multiple objectives, encourage natural laud use and are The city is now creating a fund to buy up lhonle•s along the
<br /> based on local initatves. Regarding structural vs. nunswcwr- river and is further curuuragiug businesses to protect their;
<br /> at methods, Durkay says, -it's unlikely you'll see more reser- buildings against future floods One such building, a hutel tin
<br /> voirs or more levees." Instead, the big question seems to be der construction on the wa[crnunt, stands above the IOU-)L-Ar
<br /> what kind of nonstructural medcods will be most continuo i❑ flood level by sitting on top of its parking gal age.
<br /> the flood-management systems of the future? A $3 million Floods can also be stored uu wcllands, which both engi ;
<br /> Corps study of these and other issues was authorized by Con- news and environnteuudiss agree help to dampen floods and
<br /> gross last fall. prevent erosion. "Water Beds tun have retained a large per-
<br /> For many, the end result is more innporumt than the meth- cen[age of the original well:md, have lower peak flows during
<br /> ods. "We all want to see restoration, but with some mitigation I !loud events,"says k'rtt I abrr, dinxtor of Ouodplain pn,gia ms
<br /> to make sure that when die Mississippi floods again—and it for American livers. W.shiugun. D.C. "(Butt It's gut to br a
<br /> will flood again—its effects are mitigated," says Jun Kussler, Weiland in a certain space. surrounded by a certain landscape,
<br /> head of the Association of State Wetlands Managers, Berne, to have flood-control value."
<br /> N.Y. "Our primary requirement is that agriculture remain a sig- However, the limits of storing floodwaters on fie plains may•!
<br /> nificant part of Lite management of the floodplain," says Kyle have been demOlatrated by this flood. As Durkay point, out.
<br /> Vickers, assistant secretary of the Missouri Depaiiineln of "Since the agricultural ICVCe3 all Iailed, we had as undi ,on-
<br /> Agriculture. "One-half to two-thirds of our production is in bon age area as there is bciWLCI1 the bluffs." Despite dial, areas j
<br /> lumland acres." downstream from the III I:Ili,still faced (loud threats.
<br /> i
<br /> Nonstructural methods all share one feature: Some land Both [he Corps and x, have programs to resture wcllands,
<br /> must be allowed to flood sit other pans can suiy dry. One op- and buy land from farmers if the lard (has value as ;I wcll:nd.
<br /> ton, inadvertently put to use lest year, is to let some farmland but both are currently limited by funds and by Ihcir m:uldates
<br /> [fond to save other areas, including the cities. On title lower from pursuing as many upporI,UIMieS for resturatiuu it., ;tie
<br /> Mississippi, for example, the levees are set back up to 1 mi available in the wake of tilt- Iluod. •Ihe type of wetlands re.I("
<br /> from die river to create a larger flood zone. -Sonic lands that eted are important. Many of tie alma original wedands wrrc
<br /> are farmed are on the wrong side of the levees." says Durkay. bottomland forests that pass water so slowly [hey could rrcale
<br /> But tie farmers expect to lose those crops more frequently." the same backwater problems that levees du, according w
<br /> Low-level levees can be designed to break and store a large Durkay.-Grassy wetlands.areas that are low and flat will Ir:ms-
<br /> volume of floodwater in the plains behind them. "We would mit water well,but agricul[ui al land shares[he[quality."
<br /> still need to protect the transportation network and people's Masses of trees Can help retain soil, however. Oil an 8.000:
<br /> livelihoods," says Bartels. He added that farmhouses and acre spit of land near Charleston, Mo., sonic 70,000 tons of tuft-
<br /> equipment sheds can be elevated Or surrounded by dikes. sail had been lost in each previous flood even(. In LjtiG, rear
<br /> "We've already done this in the Red River Valley." dents, working closely with the Corps, scs, the Missouri D(-
<br /> Another alternative is to simply muvr Out of tic floodplain panmenl of Conservation and uthcrs, planted 130,000 arc, .It
<br /> completely and let the river run its course. Hundreds of munic strategically placed select) Ines of cottonwood, green ash :md
<br /> ipaliues have expressed at interest in this approach to h'LAtA, pecan. All the plantngs were on private lands, according to'
<br /> and several, including Valnheyrr, Ill., are moving the entire Lester Goodin of the area's BuiLdu Band Levee Association. I
<br /> town to higher ground. But a town need not be small to cunsid- This year we've had no net fuss. We got sand, yes, but the I
<br /> er this approach. After flooding tin the Arkansas River had trees held and prevent,d ciusiuu."
<br /> Made Tulsa. Okla. the subject of nine federal disaster declara- The natural approach has its limits, however, as evvn Heir-
<br /> [ions in 15 years. the city developed a plan of I ctrcm they put nando de Soto's explorers witnessed floods on [he river that
<br /> into action right after the 1984 Mennrial Day hood. spread from bluff to bluff back in 1511, when the land w;o curt-
<br /> "Within two weeks, we had designated high-hazard areas pletely undeveloped. "I'u what point in time dO We want to re-
<br /> where no one would be allowed to rebuild," says Dale store?A farmer will say, 'just before the flood': a spurtsman
<br /> Reynolds, an engineer with Tulsa's planning board. The city would go back 100 years. Why not the Pleistocene epoch? 1
<br /> bought out property owners within die flood zone and convert- happen to like the early Holocene."says Hey.
<br /> j ed the land into riverside parks. "Most- agencies:Iini to get peo- Gilbert 1ti9iite of the N:ItUral ILlzri'ds Research and Applica-
<br /> pie back uto their houtes," says Reynolds. 'All that does is in, Lions Informalion Center, Boulder, (_OIO., favors using it earl Cty
<br /> vest federal money in a future disaster. Flood loss reduction of approaches to floodplain management. "Ririe is n, single
<br /> must become the central point of flood response." solution. What is needed is a careful assessment of options in
<br /> l Davenport, Iowa, takes a different approach. They let the different places and tiros."
<br /> I town flood.According to Kathy Wine,a spokeswunl;w for(liver I As a junior staffer in tlir Executive'_Office of the White I
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