Water Resources: Hydraulics and Hydrology - -
Even if you can build a levee for a good portion of the town, there are other parts of the
floodplain that don't fit within that levee, that would not normally come within the
protection of that levee, which might be a second part of the overall flood plan.
But, anyway, I was suggesting this to the flood proofing committee. They thought, "Well,
that's not within their purview anyway, it's way beyond the authority they would have for
doing anything like that. It would have to come all the way from the Chief's office, at the
top level of the Chief's office, to investigate the possibility of a revision in policy in that
area.
But, I think, as we've been talking, that the Corps is just very conservative. Unless
probably won't ever do anything much about it. Eventually,
they're pushed into it,
thev might get pushed into it because there are a lot of states that are pushing flood
proofing. They would like to see the government get more active in it. They try to do all
they can but are meeting with quite a bit of resistance.
The Feds, like the Corps, are willing to do things like write documents about flood
proofing. [Tell them] How you do it. Where to get help, if there is any he p available,
all the processes you need to go through, the reviews and the studies, the good and bad,
and all that kind of stuff. They're willing to do that sort of thing and do research on what
kind of flood proofing works and that sort of thing. But to actually go out and do it,
they're not too aggressive in that area.
The Federal Engineer
Q ..
Well, like you say, they are particularly shy in some areas. I think you were probably
there when they were pushing the idea of the Corps as the Federal Engineer. Then
Heiberg decided that was being presumptuous, and they better not push that because other
people like BuRec Soil Conservation Services, FEMA, and Department of Energy also
had engineering talent. So they pulled back on that idea, but it was one of the relatively
good ideas that they had.
A
Well, from my standpoint I would think that even, particularly in years gone by, they
could have taken that philosophy without too many criticisms or pushed it pretty hard
without too many people challenging them because they did have more staff. For
example, the Bureau of Reclamation could have said, "Well, we Federal Engineers,
too. The Corps could. say, "Well, yes, you are Federal Engineers, too. But we are the
Federal Engineer because we cover the whole country, outside of the country too. We're
not confined by one part of the country like you are.
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