Thanks for a well written piece on climate, agriculture, and transportation!
I would suggest several things flow from the ideas discussed here.
First, more discussion on dam safety in the US. There are many small dams build in theme 1900s in the Midwest and East Coast for industrial purposes that have huge amounts of contaminants in the sediment behind them. The NYT discusses some of that here.
As part of my graduate research at the University of Michigan, I did a review and analysis of the dams along the River Raisin in Michigan. And looked at the inspection reports of many more. They were not built for the floods that are coming. And should one fail in the middle of a town... lots of people will be in danger even after the waters go down.
Pa is doing better with an aggressive review / permit process due to historical memories of Johnstown. But the change in rainfall will be an issue everywhere your map is pink.
And then those large waste impoundment associated with CAFOs are, as we’ve seen, are one hard rain from ecological disaster. They aren’t even built to the same standards as those Pa and Michigan dams.
My second thought is how many of those bridges over the Mississippi and tributaries would need to be raised to permit barge travel?
Let alone how many regular bridges over creeks, streams, and smaller rivers will need to raised or have their structures evaluated for scouring under increased flood levels.
The IIJA isn’t even close to providing enough funding to address those concerns.
Thirdly, the Army Corps has allowed flooding of land adjacent to the Mississippi to protect communities further down stream.. as well
As relocation of communities.
Finally, a quote from Mark Twain
One who knows the Mississippi will promptly aver—not aloud, but to himself—that ten thousand River Commissions, with the mines of the world at their back, cannot tame that lawless stream, cannot curb it or confine it, cannot say to it, Go here, or Go there, and make it obey; cannot save a shore which it has sentenced; cannot bar its path with an obstruction which it will not tear down, dance over, and laugh at.
Roy.. Thanks for the insightful detail! Also, for reading the first post that started this substack :)
I had a tough time keeping this article "Short", because there were so many interesting things I dug up when researching this.
The part about raising the bridges sounds scary. I need to read more about it. Considering what percentage of our trade goes thru that route, its insane to think there are funding shortages. Our entire economy depends on it, ffs! Maybe I'll write another post digging into this and feature your comment on top. Lot of nuggets here. And I love the Mark Twain quote: so characteristic of him. Thank you again for taking the time, and I would love to hear from you in future on my other posts.
Really interesting and clear. I would like to highlight how friendly and fun your style is regardless of the severity and the seriousness of the problematic addressed and the data analysis presented. I'm looking forward to see more.
Thanks for a well written piece on climate, agriculture, and transportation!
I would suggest several things flow from the ideas discussed here.
First, more discussion on dam safety in the US. There are many small dams build in theme 1900s in the Midwest and East Coast for industrial purposes that have huge amounts of contaminants in the sediment behind them. The NYT discusses some of that here.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/21/climate/dam-failure-michigan-climate-change.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
As part of my graduate research at the University of Michigan, I did a review and analysis of the dams along the River Raisin in Michigan. And looked at the inspection reports of many more. They were not built for the floods that are coming. And should one fail in the middle of a town... lots of people will be in danger even after the waters go down.
Pa is doing better with an aggressive review / permit process due to historical memories of Johnstown. But the change in rainfall will be an issue everywhere your map is pink.
And then those large waste impoundment associated with CAFOs are, as we’ve seen, are one hard rain from ecological disaster. They aren’t even built to the same standards as those Pa and Michigan dams.
My second thought is how many of those bridges over the Mississippi and tributaries would need to be raised to permit barge travel?
Let alone how many regular bridges over creeks, streams, and smaller rivers will need to raised or have their structures evaluated for scouring under increased flood levels.
The IIJA isn’t even close to providing enough funding to address those concerns.
Thirdly, the Army Corps has allowed flooding of land adjacent to the Mississippi to protect communities further down stream.. as well
As relocation of communities.
Finally, a quote from Mark Twain
One who knows the Mississippi will promptly aver—not aloud, but to himself—that ten thousand River Commissions, with the mines of the world at their back, cannot tame that lawless stream, cannot curb it or confine it, cannot say to it, Go here, or Go there, and make it obey; cannot save a shore which it has sentenced; cannot bar its path with an obstruction which it will not tear down, dance over, and laugh at.
True then and now.
Roy.. Thanks for the insightful detail! Also, for reading the first post that started this substack :)
I had a tough time keeping this article "Short", because there were so many interesting things I dug up when researching this.
The part about raising the bridges sounds scary. I need to read more about it. Considering what percentage of our trade goes thru that route, its insane to think there are funding shortages. Our entire economy depends on it, ffs! Maybe I'll write another post digging into this and feature your comment on top. Lot of nuggets here. And I love the Mark Twain quote: so characteristic of him. Thank you again for taking the time, and I would love to hear from you in future on my other posts.
Really interesting and clear. I would like to highlight how friendly and fun your style is regardless of the severity and the seriousness of the problematic addressed and the data analysis presented. I'm looking forward to see more.
Thank you for your kind words!