Geog Final

Proposal River Management @ Suwannee River

Under appointment by the State of Florida, United States of America

o To ensure the security of water resources o To protect state citizens from physical or social harm

Team Members: Nurul Syafina Jude Dominic Zhao Pei Daryl Lee Taro Tan

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ANNEX ONE

1.A BRIEF INTRODUCTION 2.CURRENT PROGRESS 3.PROBLEM DISECTION 4.POLICY PROTOCOL 5.CONCLUSION

WHO ARE WE? Introduction As the group of researchers hired by the State of Florida, we will introduce policies to regulate the amount and type of human activity that occurs around rivers. This will be done so as to be able to make certain that the events following Hurricane Katrina (loss of over 1400 lives, damage of property etc.) will not take place again.

Fig1. Destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina

The policies will fulfil the following objectives 1. To ensure the security of water resources 2. To protect the state citizens from physical and social harm Our policies will ensure the smaller risks of flooding as well as the least possible damage to society in the occurrence of any floods. This is particularly important in Florida as 80% of their 15 million residents face the dangers of flooding. On top of that, the damage from floods in Florida has cost the state more $2.3 billion over a period of 5 years. Also, water is indeed a precious natural resource which has to be conserved.

What is being done now? 1) The Army Corps of Engineers plans more inspections in South Florida and

across the country. Aims to improve levee standards

2) The South Florida Water Management District has proposed to strengthen the

East Coast Protection Levee. This process would take about 5 years and around $60 million will be spent on it. The reason for this is to allow the communities

around

South

Florida

to

stay

safe

and

dry.

The East Coast Protection Levee, which stretches from Lake Okechobee to the Florida Bay, at the western edge of Boca Raton. Concerns are growing that South Florida's levees that keep the Everglades from flooding communities along the coast are not built to standards put into place after Hurricane Katrina left New Orleans under water. (Joe Cavaretta, Sun Sentinel / June 3, 2009)

3) Levees in Florida already get annual inspections. Additional, more in-depth

safety inspections are now planned every five years. They aim to bring to light needed

repairs

and

maintenance

of

the

structures.

By increasing the inspections, the levees will be updated and this will improve public safety.

4) Vegetation that grows against the structure will be cleared out to allow water

to seep through. This aims to prevent erosion that could lead to a breach in the levee.

WHAT IS THE MAIN PROBLEM The main cause of the floods was the breaching of the flood preventing levees and floodwalls. These can be said as being on the front lines of flood prevention, and it is important to analyse them and find out how to utilise them and make them better so that floods can be prevented more effectively. Since we cannot do anything to stop the precipitation which is considered as the most frequent cause of flooding, we shall focus on the levee which can prevent the social and physical harms of flood. The main problem we are facing now is the stability of our levee and the urbanization of our country. In New Orleans's case, the levees were poorly designed. The levees were, through an engineering mistake, not built to withstand the large amount of water that would come out during a flood. The mistake was an extremely costly one, as it led to the deaths of many people and the destruction of much property. The levees were also not completed (only 60-90% complete and scheduled for completion in 2015). Due to the amount and type of technology, funds and manpower available in Florida, levees will take a tremendously long time to build. This long amount of time to repair and construct levees have and may pose as a risk to the state and its inhabitants. According to army engineers in 2008, the levees they were repairing from Hurricane

Katrina may not be able to withstand Hurricane Gustav. Fortunately, the levees did not disappoint but this is extraordinary. The levees were breached due to erosion by the waters. These points have to be taken note of and applied to Suwannee to make it safe and to achieve our objectives. We cannot stop the rain that falls because of the Hurricane Katrina, but we can certainly prevent the waters from flooding if we put in better measures. The points listed above are the problems and it would be wise to consider them before taking any action.

POLICIES In the following report, you will find detailed explanation on our policies and their significance.

The policies are as follow:

1a) Only authorized personnel will be allowed into areas close to levees. b) Subsidies will be given to those whose homes are at risk as a result of being too close to levees

2a) Monthly checks will be conducted on levees, whether fully constructed or not. b) Federal government will have to oversee the process of construction

1) Only authorized personnel can access the area around the levees.

These authorized personnel would refer to people who conduct checks and reparations on the levees e.g. the US Army Corp of Engineers. The reason for this policy is to ensure that the levees will not be tampered by any human activity around them to avoid any damage that could compromise these flood protection walls. Examples of possible destruction to the levee without this policy would include collisions with vehicles.

This is also to ensure the safety of the residence around that area (refer to Fig 1 below) if a flood were to occur; in the case of a flood, there will be a slightly longer lag time before the water reaches and damages and property, or take away the lives of the people This time could be used for evacuation thereby decreasing the damage that can be cause by the flood.

Fig 1

As for the people who are already living at such hazardous areas, the government can provide subsidies for these people to find a new home. It may be expensive, tedious, and stir up a lot of trouble and unhappiness among the people but when their welfare is involved, the federal state would have to do anything in their power to protect it. After all, the damage that comes with flood would cost much more.

By implementing this policy, the security of the water resources would be ensured in that there will not be any man made alterations that would damage the levees and the protection of state citizens from physical and social harm would increase.

2) Have thorough monthly checks on the levees.

This is to ensure that there are no faults on the levees and that they are being well maintained so that if there were to be heavy rainfall or the relatively common occurrence of a hurricane in that state, e.g. Hurricane Katrina, the levees would be able to protect the area from any major floods and the citizens would be well secured and protected. After all, several of the flooding incidents that have cost many lives all around the world were due to flaws in

the engineering, design and construction of the levees (refer to Fig 2 below). If there is anything that could possibly compromise the purpose of the levees, immediate action is to be taken.

Fig 2. Water running through an old sluice in the broken levee on the Canandaigua Outlet.

Not only is the checks to be done on levees which are have already been fully constructed and are already been used but also for levees which have been built halfway. This is to ensure that the resources supplied by the government will result in maximum output. Checks like this should be able to stop mistakes such as the one the US Army Corp of Engineers made which cost millions of dollars yet thousands of lives in New Orleans itself. These checks should ensure the strength of these levees, the verification of the best materials being used in the construction of the levees and thorough testing to look out for any damage that has been inflicted upon the levee.

On top of that, we understand the federal government pays a lot of money to respective organizations for the construction and maintenance of the levees. To ensure that the money will be put to the correct and proper use, authorities should have checks to ensure that those hundreds of millions would result in the safety of the people in the state. According to levees.org, The Army Corps squandered hundreds of millions of dollars on a levee system they knew by their own calculations was inadequate. We would not like to see money being spent carelessly and the safety of the people being compromised due to selfish convenience.

3) Ensuring that every area in South Florida that is in the flood zone is protected.

Fig. 3 As you can see from Fig. 3, the blue regions are the parts which are prone to floods. Therefore, there is a need to have levees built all around those areas to ensure the safety of the people and the resources there. There will be a need to focus more on the southern area which is more prone to hurricanes and floods. Hence there is a need to heighten up the resistance against the floods at the southern part of Florida.

4) Changing the type of soil and underlying rock

The reason for this is because the type of soil and underlying rock is considered one of the most important reasons of causing the flood. While choosing type of rocks for levees, we shall put impermeable one in the first place. Impermeable rocks are much more stable and harder than permeable rocks. Some levees were built by earth and they were easily broken. In American history, many floods were caused by the unstability of the levee and these floods brought about huge losses to people. With the impermeable rocks, the levees will be more stable hence increasing its resistance against a flood.

The type of soil should also be changed. The soil around the levees should be permeable so that it will have a higher infiltration capacity and less surface run-off which will help against a flood. Hence, by implementing this policy, the levees will be more resistant against a flood and the security of the water resources would be ensured.

5) Reinforce the levee system with aprons

Fig 4 As you can see from Fig. 4, the Army Corps have implemented a levee vegetation policy which involves cutting down of trees, therefore there will be a threat of erosion around the levee due to the removal of the vegetation. Hence, the levee system should be reinforced with aprons. These aprons act as coverings that are put on top of the levees to help prevent erosion. By reinforcing the levees with aprons, the threat of erosion would lessen and the levee will be able to hold out more in a case of a flood. By implementing this policy, the levee would be more secure even though the trees have been cut down and there will be a smaller chance that erosion would take place. This would prevent the failure of the levee during a flood.

CONCLUSION

We have seen the devastation that Hurricane Katrina has caused to Florida and we know that there is much to learn from the mark that Hurricane Katrina has left in Florida. Hence, we have found the main problem of the disaster and we have come up with the policies to follow up on the underlying problem, to ensure that another case of Hurricane Katrina will not happen again. As you have read from our policies, we strongly feel that the condition of the levees is the main problem. Hence, there is a need for us to implement policies which involves changes to be made to ensure that the levees are in the right condition if a flood were to hit Florida. "Florida has its own rhythm, too. People go to work, they watch their children learn and grow and start families of their own. They play in the sun and pass their lives enjoying the outsized blessings that make our state unique."- Jeb Bush Let us get this rhythm going again and never stop!

BIBLIOGRAPHY http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/1983292-a1983528-t46.html http://web.mit.edu/12.000/www/m2010/teams/neworleans4/background.html http://huxley75.deviantart.com/art/Hole-in-the-Wall-107997236 http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-11-02-levee-shortcuts_x.htm http://www.building.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=284&storycode=3121425&c=1 www.floir.com/pdf/FloridaFactSheet.pdf http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sfl-levees-repairsa060709sbjun07,0,6178849.story http://e-articles.info/e/a/title/HOW-TO-MAKE-YOUR-WRITTEN-REPORTBETTER-~-FORMAT/ http://www.katrinadestruction.com/images/v/new+orleans+flood/day+after+the+hurri cane+hit.html