Gilbert White's influence on floodplain management practice in the United
States can hardly be overestimated. Even before his path-breaking 1942
dissertation, Human Adjustment to Floods, was accepted and subsequently
published by the University of Chicago Department of Geography, he had begun
raising questions about the effectiveness of structural devices such as levees and
dams in flood prevention. Although humans have resorted to various protective
edifices for centuries to control floods, White's work demonstrated that flood
control structures not only occasionally fail the standards of reliability set by
planners but can actually increase the damage done when unsuspecting people risk
lives and money to develop the land supposedly protected. One flood, one break
in the levee, could spell disaster. White advocated the use of nonstructural
solutions, such as zoning restrictions and floodproofing, to complement or replace
more traditional structural approaches.
While White's academic career is distinguished, it is his commitment to
public policy that dramatically expands the significance of contributions. His
essays and books shun abstract theory and speculation in favor of clear policy
analysis. His goal is to influence the management of natural resources and to do
it in a way that takes into account psychological and sociological phenomena as
well as physical constraints. He is fascinated by the gap between our scientific
and technological capability to manage water as good stewards and our actual
willingness to do so. Central to the issue is the question of how hazards are
perceived, whether they be droughts, floods, or pollution. In analyzing the
problem, White employed interdisciplinary methods and insights long before such
an approach became fashionable. Moreover, with one eye on lessons from the
past, he has never lost sight of long-term objectives: sustaining life in all its
forms and avoiding violent confrontation both with one another and with nature
itself. These are responsibilities that require not only professional expertise but
strong spiritual values.
White's work reflects a sensitivity to the human condition rooted both in his
training as a geographer and his Quaker faith. His global studies of the
interaction between humankind and water resources implicitly suggest that the
choices humans make in one corner of the world may contain lessons for others
elsewhere. For over fifty years he has studied the human environment, ever
enlarging our understanding of the intricate relationship between social
development and the natural world. In this, his legacy among twentieth century
geographers is unrivaled.
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