Almost without fail, the
continental USA suffers every summer from floods that cause billions of dollars in damages and bring
untold grief to people. Is there any solution to this problem? If we can send men
to the moon, build mile high buildings and provide the cures to numberless
diseases, why can we not control our summer floods?
I read this with interest. I had just
returned from a conference in St. Louis that had to be cancelled its first day
due to the sudden, but not unexpected, flooding of the Might River. I had to
ask the Professor:
“Now, Professor, I am not asking about
what to do with the weather, tornadoes, electrical storms and hurricanes,
which, at present answer to the whims of Mother Nature. But controlling a bit
of flood water should not be impossible. What is the solution?’
“My friend, it is too early to try to
solve problems of such magnitude. Besides, I do not wish to let his omelet get
cold, same as the fixings that go with it, the coffee, the buns and the toast!
Ask me after we have finished eating.”
Breakfast is a solemn occasion for the
Professor. Besides, those menus offered by his all around valet and assistant
Antoine, are worthy of special attention. This time we had an enticing fruit
“pastiche cup”, that included slices of orange, mango and small melon cubes,
bathed in a sauce made up of champagne,
a few drops of Drambuie and a touch of whipping cream. Then, we had the
famous omelet that combined gently beaten eggs properly supported by a bit of
fresh cream, and fried mushrooms and
onions.
Later, we sat in the airy library with
the usual tray with fresh coffee, cinnamon and raisin toast and some of that
marvelous Bitter Orange Marmalade from Seville.
“You were saying about floods?”
The question made me realize once again
that he had already thought about it and had recalled and organized sufficient
facts and data in his own mind. I replied;
“Not much, except that by now we should
have devised ways to exercise some control once the waters hit the ground. In
spite of what some people claim, we are not directly responsible for storms or
even those gentle fogs and that fine and even welcomed mist that brings to mind
Claude Rains and Bogie at the airport. Please enlighten me.”
“Back in the mid eighteen hundreds a
French and a Spanish professor spent some time in this country. Both taught
engineering at the University of Rouen and had a special interest in geo-technical
engineering including hydraulic
structures such as dams, levees, reservoirs, etc. Their names were Dominique Lasseur and Eduardo
Lorenzo Zamora and happened to be in the United States at the time that floods
had ravaged several regions and the government was beginning to pay attention
to a phenomenon that seemed to occur with some regularity.”
There was a pause to provide a piece of
toast with its corresponding quota of marmalade and attempt a careful bite. A
sip of coffee and then, he continued:
“I am not going to go into the details
of their work, which incidentally has never received the attention it deserves.
Well, floods to them appeared like a welcome phenomenon considering the large
arid extensions in the Southwest. They mapped out the hydrological features of
the central plains and designed a control and distribution plan for those areas
that received the largest amounts of rain.”
“What sort of plan?”
“In simple terms it was something
that served our Corps of Engineers as a
guide toward the end of that century. They divided the country into hydraulic
quadrangles listing coordinates, variation in altitudes, existing rivers and
lakes and population for each one. They estimated the direction of excess rain
water from quadrangle to quadrangle and, in the case of major rivers or
streams, estimated their depth and capacity. ‘
“Sounds like a tremendous chore” I
observed, thinking of the days of the Wild West and the lack of transportation
and scientific instruments.
“They claimed that they received a lot
of help from the various Indian tribes they encountered. It was perhaps this
acknowledgment that turned the federal authorities against them, you know, even
then there were those who would call you anti-American if you as much as shared
a Budweiser with a native American!
“Funny country” I thought. Bad habits
are hard to shed. The Professor continued:
“Their answers were simple also. They
had mapped three major regions: the Northern states, the Middle states and the
Southern belt. They found that the areas around south of the Great Lakes had the greatest flood danger, due to
the evaporation of lake water combined with the sudden temperature variations
during the different seasons. From Minnesota to Texas was one axis; another was
from upper Wisconsin and followed the Mississippi River all the way to New
Orleans. Then the entire northern area covered from Lake Erie to Maine and down
into Georgia. “
We paused again for more coffee. The
professor got up and returned with a large map of the United States. He pointed
at the areas mentioned emphasizing the limits of each of the regions noted.
Then;
“Now to the interesting part, my friend!
These two gentlemen designed the Control Plan by selecting those areas that
required what they called “holding
bourses”. Essentially, reservoirs. Then, the fascinating part of their project:
the canals. Here they took a page from the Egyptians, the Romans, the Chinese,
the Incas, the Mayas and even the Swedes and the Dutch! They simply connected
major rivers with canals of sufficient capacity to drain excess water into
their holding bourses. From there, canals again to those areas downstream that
could use the extra water. Most of the canals were nothing more than existing
rivers that had enough capacity to drain large amounts of water without overflowing; canals were made when there was
insufficient carrying capacity.”
“How did they expect to control the
flows of water? I mean, south, north, east, etc.?”
“Differences in levels or altitudes.
Anything going East out of Colorado will naturally flow eastward as the incline
is there. They cleverly pointed those
level differences to design their grid of “bourses” and canals.”
“Could those tremendous rainfalls be
somehow controlled once they reach the ground?” I asked.
“Apparently yes. They had enough numbers
to show that huge amounts of water could be ‘canalized’ and stored in
reservoirs when billions of cubic meters of water hit the ground. They had
mapped out the areas in the country where water invariably falls. They made
reference to controls applied to the floods in the Nile in Egypt, the de-icing
consequences in northern Italy and France and the quick solution employed in
China that combined canals and reservoirs. They envisaged for the United States
what they termed a ‘simple grid’ that would avoid flooding farm and urban
areas. Their conclusion was that the differences in levels was the greatest aid
that builders had.”
“The Professor paused and looking at me
with a smile said:
“I know that you are going to write
about this. Some might even think that you are out of your mind. There is
nothing in the notes those two made that has not been corroborated; within
their means that is. Unfortunately, when I ran into their works, I was in the
middle of a major political project and did not have the time to do some
serious research.”
“How did you come about these two
professors?’
“I had rented one of those old country
homes in Bourgtheroulde, near Rouen. I found an old plaque, hardly visible,
stuck on one of the outer walls. It said that Professor Lasseur,
Explorateur, had lived there and had
died in 1887. My curiosity led me to ask about the professor and eventually I
ended up at the Bibliotheque of the University of Rouen where I was directed to
the Annex. They kept old newspaper editions, manuscripts and municipal records
of little import. I found three diaries written by Lasseur and Lorenzo Zamora
and an old pouch with maps. The usual diamonds in the rough!”
He paused and shook his head. He added:
“Unfortunately, a short time after I had
visited that Annex, I was informed that it had burned down and with it the
valuable diaries by our two professors. I checked later with the National
Library in Paris and in Washington and only found some vague references to
their work. I suspect that there might be some references to our professors in
the Corps of Engineers archives and some universities in this country where
they had given a number of lectures.”
“This is a fascinating story, Professor.
More so in that it confirms the need to look at the flooding problem and the
possibilities to provide some practical solutions. Making canals and “holding
bourses” should not be more difficult or expensive than building another 10
aircraft carriers, new college football stadiums and financing presidential
campaigns!”
“Besides, you have many areas of the
country that do not have sufficient water resources. Take some of the lakes in
the Southeast, for instance, and you find that regularly their reservoirs and
lakes start turning into large sandy extensions full of old tires, plastic
bottles and old tennis shoes until it rains again or someone opens a sluice
somewhere upstream!”
“You mean that we should turn our
central plateau into a version of Venice?’
“Why not? Perhaps that way our
restaurants finally learn to make some decent pasta!”
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