Levee failures

Levees have been a major issue around here for a long time. I am sitting about 4 miles from one as I write - the Yolo Causeway. If there were a flood and a levee break, I would be underwater within an hour. That nearly happened in 1982 or 1984 (?), when we had an unusually wet winter and an early spring Sierra melt.

There has been a long running war going on about over-development in the Sacramento area. Thousands of houses have been built on flood plains, protected only by old levees. The developers, as usual, have oodles of money to give out to local politicians, so their development projects get funded. (Yes, it costs the taxpayers something when developers build a new tract. It's not free.) But, in most cases, environmental problems and infrastructure considerations are set aside in the eagerness of everyone to make a buck.

Occasionally, very occasionally, as is now happening in Yolo County, the developers get told NO! NO! NO! This is the result of widespread popular support for environmental protection, which has translated into the election of politicians who will say NO. But, this doesn't happen everywhere, and even in this County, the developers are over-building on top quality farmland.

As the LA Times article cited above points out, if there is a major levee failure along the Sacramento River, the water supply for 20 million Southern Californians would be ruined. In addition, at least several hundred thousand people - maybe millions - would be forced to flee or die. It would ruin the entire California economy for years, which is more than a proportional part of the U.S. economy. (California has 1/8 of America's people, but produces somewhere around 20% of everything, making it the world's 5th largest economy.) That would make Hurricane Katrina an insignificant prelude to real disaster.

Now, why am I going on about all this? Because Federal funds for levee maintenance have been reduced or withheld for years. In addition, politicians are on the take from developers. The developers don't want to hear NO because of infrastructure and environmental concerns. They also don't want to be responsible for the true costs of that house they are going to sell you. The real estate agents will tell you everything is A-OK, NO PROBLEMO. But, later on, you might find out there is a BIG UNINSURED PROBLEMO. Especially here in California, it pays to THINK, and have a little foresight.

So, we have a terrible disaster along the Gulf of Mexico. That is going to cost us as much as the war in Iraq. But the Bandit is giving away money to his wealthy friends. So, who's going to pay for the damages???