Flood frustration
I want to scream.
This morning's RGJ has an article headlined " Firms hired to determine how to divide flood project's costs." It says county commissioners have approved nearly $1 million to study how to raise money from Northern Nevada property owners to pay for part of the Truckee River flood control project. Yes, another $1 million study. By the way, this is a "time and materials" contract (no limit), and the study will be how to make every property owner in the area pay for the area's portion, not just those of us in flood zones and those who contribute to flooding.
On New Year's Day 1997, flood waters came within 8 inches of our doorstep. All the other homes on our street were flooded.
We attended a meeting shortly afterward about planning for flood prevention. A man who had worked on flood planning in Napa, Calif., told us about all the good work they had done there. I believed it was possible to solve our flooding problems.
Notice I said 1997. I quickly realized that flood planning meant swirling around in circles, and I stopped participating for the most part. The flood project hired a director, and she set up offices and hired a staff. She seems competent and hard working. They held more meetings at which everyone said, "We want to prevent more flooding. If you want to do it with open space instead of flood walls, fine with us."
A few years ago they held a series of meetings asking the public to "buy in" to their plan. That seemed kind of silly, since it was the same plan they'd been showing for years and I don't know who would object to a plan that would solve our flooding problems. We attended and approved. I thought they would finally go to the federal government for funding then.
No, I read today that the flood project director "wants an approved funding plan in place before asking Congress to authorize the flood control project this fall, the first step in getting federal money appropriated." (My emphasis.) I thought they had asked for federal funding years ago!
Being a cynic, I can't help wondering whether the people involved in flood planning truly want to prevent floods or simply see flood planning as lifelong job security. Oh, by the way, during the region's latest major flooding event a couple of years ago, it seems to me Napa was flooded again. Apparently their project still isn't finished.
I've been meaning to write a thorough entry on this subject (including how an otherwise intelligent person ends up owning a home in a flood zone), but it's going to take some time for me to research it. I couldn't let this one go by without commenting.
This morning's RGJ has an article headlined " Firms hired to determine how to divide flood project's costs." It says county commissioners have approved nearly $1 million to study how to raise money from Northern Nevada property owners to pay for part of the Truckee River flood control project. Yes, another $1 million study. By the way, this is a "time and materials" contract (no limit), and the study will be how to make every property owner in the area pay for the area's portion, not just those of us in flood zones and those who contribute to flooding.
On New Year's Day 1997, flood waters came within 8 inches of our doorstep. All the other homes on our street were flooded.
We attended a meeting shortly afterward about planning for flood prevention. A man who had worked on flood planning in Napa, Calif., told us about all the good work they had done there. I believed it was possible to solve our flooding problems.
Notice I said 1997. I quickly realized that flood planning meant swirling around in circles, and I stopped participating for the most part. The flood project hired a director, and she set up offices and hired a staff. She seems competent and hard working. They held more meetings at which everyone said, "We want to prevent more flooding. If you want to do it with open space instead of flood walls, fine with us."
A few years ago they held a series of meetings asking the public to "buy in" to their plan. That seemed kind of silly, since it was the same plan they'd been showing for years and I don't know who would object to a plan that would solve our flooding problems. We attended and approved. I thought they would finally go to the federal government for funding then.
No, I read today that the flood project director "wants an approved funding plan in place before asking Congress to authorize the flood control project this fall, the first step in getting federal money appropriated." (My emphasis.) I thought they had asked for federal funding years ago!
Being a cynic, I can't help wondering whether the people involved in flood planning truly want to prevent floods or simply see flood planning as lifelong job security. Oh, by the way, during the region's latest major flooding event a couple of years ago, it seems to me Napa was flooded again. Apparently their project still isn't finished.
I've been meaning to write a thorough entry on this subject (including how an otherwise intelligent person ends up owning a home in a flood zone), but it's going to take some time for me to research it. I couldn't let this one go by without commenting.
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