Thoughts From Engineers: Unraveling the History of U.S. Flooding

In an era in which flooding routinely tops the list as one of the costliest disasters in the United States, a book that distills the most-significant aspects of this issue in a probing retrospective spanning nearly two centuries couldn’t be timelier. Tim Palmer’s book, Seek Higher Ground—The Natural Solution to our Nation’s Flood Crisis, examines in equal measure federal and local policies, forthright—but often ignored—leadership, regional case studies, and historic as well as recent flood records.

A community’s attachment to place is strong. Combine this with an unwavering resolve on the part of the U.S. government to “build our way out of flood problems,” and you’re left with a mindset that can foil the most clear-eyed and rational engineering assessment. Palmer carefully unravels the main aspects of the U.S. flood problem, an issue both complex and, increasingly, costly.

The Indisputable Flood Record

Starting off with an overview of the country’s worst floods, Higher Ground stresses a principal message of the book: rivers have always flooded, and they will continue to flood no matter how much effort, cement, money and what-not is thrown at the problem. Ironically, this simple truth has escaped us for most of our country’s history.

From California’s massive flood in 1861 in which thousands died to the equally devastating 1889 flood at Williamsport, Pa., to the more modern flood event that struck West Virginia in 2016, to countless others, Palmer highlights a now-fixed post-disaster pattern. In nearly all cases, communities are always quick to rebuild. Floods don’t last long, Palmer observes; once floodwaters recede, any thoughts to relocate subside with it. Rarely motivating people to move, flood disasters were more likely to trigger another type of call to action: a plea to government to stop the flooding at all costs. Federal policy took shape accordingly to meet the growing need.

From Flood Control to Mitigation

Commissioned to prepare the first river-management plan for the United States in 1851, engineer Charles S. Ellet broke with a fast-developing policy to build levees to control floodwaters and called for floodplains to be set aside for river overflow and storage during periods of high water. He called relying on levees “a delusive hope” that would encourage a “false security.” A similar position was adopted by FDR’s natural-resources committee in 1937. These voices—and the positions they represented—were largely ignored as the United States, and its respective agencies continued to push out structural solutions, initially levees and then principally dams.

By the 1970s, policies began to shift. Increasingly frequent dam failures led Congress to pass dam safety legislation. Flood zoning was now viewed as a viable tool, particularly in response to widespread flooding in 1972. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and organizations such as the Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) encouraged a policy of “flood mitigation” rather than “flood control.”

By the end of the 20th century, the United States no longer pushed structural controls for flooding; but thousands of dams and levees, most in need of significant repair, still littered the landscape. For example, the “Great Flood” of 1993, which covered 20 million acres of land area, resulted in the failure of 1,100 levees in the Mississippi basin out of a total 1,576. Instead of avoiding flood-prone areas altogether, Palmer frequently stresses, we set in motion something he aptly describes as “hazard creep,” which left behind poorly maintained dams along with the communities that had grown to rely on them.

Factors that Impede Progress

We may no longer be building dams, but we’ve left behind a legacy that we’ll be dealing with for decades. Dam removal is accelerating, but as of 2022 only 2,000 have been removed, which leaves roughly 90,000 dams behind, many of which are in a chronic and dangerous state of disrepair. Other federal programs managed by FEMA, charged with providing monetary assistance to flood-damaged homes, have the effect of keeping structures in floodplains. Federal policy designed to hasten removal of substantially damaged structures doesn’t always have the intended effect. Local implementation of the law, influenced by the pull of entrenched economic interests and other community ties, can be patchy and irregular.

Higher Ground explores the reasons behind one community’s relocation following an accelerated buy-out initiative vs. others—a community in Washington state, for example—that views a relocation offer with suspicion and awaits repair of a nearby levee. And then there’s the unrelenting march toward hazardous coastal and riverine zones. Data from First Street show that significant numbers of people are still settling in flood-prone areas such as Florida and Texas; Palmer attributes this to a familiar mindset: “If it hasn’t happened to me. It hasn’t happened.” In some regions, however, real estate values are finally starting to reflect actual flood hazards, a shift from only just a few years ago.

Toward a Cleared Floodplain and a Clearer Direction

Higher Ground does a masterful job of discussing the history, federal policies and raw human impulses that, for better or worse, got us to where we are now. Palmer also offers compelling hydrologic and ecological arguments for allowing rivers to flood, which includes replenishing groundwater, purifying rivers and providing other ecosystem benefits. In 2008, the ASFPM wrote: “We need to marshal unprecedented forces to preserve and improve the natural functionality of our floodplains and coastal areas and protect the resources they provide. In doing so, we will also mitigate damage and losses that floods bring to society.”

Reviewing the history of floodplain management in the United States is important for another reason as well. U.S. agencies have been embroiled in a singular mission to control floodplains for the better part of nearly 200 years. Consider the few engineers who took unpopular positions early on and recommended a radically different approach. Had we seriously considered these viewpoints, we could have set the country on an entirely different course with respect to settlement near floodplains, protecting property and thousands of lives.

Arguably, we’re at a similar crossroads now as we consider how to design infrastructure to withstand future climate conditions. Let’s strive as engineers to deliver the hard facts when necessary, especially when it comes to planning for the risks ahead. 

 

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