Water: A Concept Plan to Reverse Flooding and Drought
We continue through the endless cycle of flooding in the east, Texas, and the upper Midwest while at the same time land adjacent to the flooding regions suffers catastrophic droughts and in places like Texas both of these happen in alternating cycles. Is this really necessary? The author thinks not.
We built a massive pipeline to carry oil across Alaska; and, we built a massive interstate highway system to interconnect all parts of America for the travelling public. Why is it not possible to build an interstate system for water movement around the country? A system operated by the Army Corps of Engineers (possibly) that draws water from streams and river being deluged by rains or soon to be deluged and move the water into the pipeline system for temporary storage, or sent to lakes and reservoirs for temporary or permanent storage. Even more idealistic… why not send the water further west to arid zones east of the Rockies to create arable land, increase our food supply and use the land for something other than a radio dead-zone while driving from the west coast to the east. The water could even be sent as far as California to enrich the “salad bowl of America.” The thrust of the book is to suggest to politicians and other decisionmakers that there might be another, better way to deal with flooding and drought rather than just accept the consequences every season.
The Little Train That Could . . . And Did
At one time the Los Angeles area had the most extensive rail transit system in the world – the Pacific Electric Railway – an interurban train system that interconnected all quarters of the greater region as a consequence of Henry Huntington real estate land deals. The PE was actually the cause of the urban spread that we know today – not the car or the freeway system as is often cited. Through a series of market reversals, the rail system diminished and then disappeared.
Several attempts were made to re-establish rail transit for LA and cost more than $150 million only to receive a negative vote at the polls when voters rejected the idea of taxing themselves for any of the plans proposed: 1925, 1968, and 1974. Then in 1975-1976 a Los Angeles County Supervisor, Baxter Ward, unleashed his passion for a rail system onto the entrenched bureaucracy and many politicians of the county. Initially also rejected it was modified and Ward had his dream come true – his ballot proposition in November 1980 was approved. The ballot actually listed where the service would go and contained a map thereof to create a “contract” between voters and the implementers of the system. However, it hasn’t gone that way – what went wrong?