Dakota Beacon

INTERESTING READING...

"One of the most critical tasks for the commission will be to examine whether the operators retained water in the dam's flood compartment for too long, forcing a drastic release that compounded the flood instead of mitigating it."

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/in-depth/queensland-floods/queensland-announces-commission-of-inquiry-into-devastating-floods/story-fn7iwx3v-1225989885254

Is Brisbane our future later this summer?

Closer to home:

Least Tern & Piping Plover protectors, Recreation Interests, flood plain residents (I am in all three categories) ... they all have one thing in common...special interest dispensation at the expense of the number one purpose of the federal Missouri River dam system...FLOOD CONTROL.

In my UND hydrology class of the late 60s, we predicted the eventual siltation of most dams in the world in 50 to 150 years, creating a monumental mess (siltation largely eliminating flood storage and what to do with the silted in lakes?) as compared to letting the rivers do their thing and STAYING OUT OF THE FLOOD PLAIN WITH PERMANENT FACILITIES, the "conservative" (i.e. conservation of nature) approach ignored by pompous men with ill-conceived illusions of their power over nature and life spans too short to allow full accountability.

Lesson 1. Don't build flood control dams...move out of the flood plains instead. When we fight mother nature she always wins in the end.

Lesson 2. If we blow lesson 1, don't try to appease the supporters of lesson 1...it just makes things worse.

Lesson 3. When you blow lessons 1 and 2, consider the eventual dismantling of all infrastructure within the 500 year flood plain (or, at the very least, prevent further building)…and the dismantling of dams to mitigate the severity of the eventual mess associated with a completely silted in and useless structure.

Flood control dams are the only civil engineering projects for which I am ashamed of my profession. Egypt & China should be ashamed of Aswan and Three Gorges respectively ...just as we should be ashamed of all of our high dams.

Let civilization thrive where water is naturally abundant… and live in harmony with nature

Ok, now call me whatever you wish…but don’t forget to compare me with the Amish!