The cost of neglect
By Patrick Kelley (Contact)
Originally published 01:26 p.m., June 23, 2008
Updated 01:26 p.m., June 23, 2008
As the floods moved down the Mississippi River and its tributaries last week from Minnesota, through Iowa and Illinois to Missouri, so did the failure of levees.
Record rain meant record river levels. The water flowed over, through and around the levees. Millions of acres of rich farmland are submerged, including a substantial portion of the nation’s prospective corn crop. The effects of the floods of spring will be felt for months to come.
The failure of the levees is yet another reminder of a national problem that gets all too little attention. The infrastructure of the United States — levees, dams, bridges, sewer systems, water systems and the electrical grid — is aging. Many parts of it should be replaced and much of the rest need repair.
Kansas is not immune to the problem. Like every other state, Kansas has aging highway bridges and towns with outdated sewage-treatment and water-treatment plants. Unlike some other states, Kansas has taken infrastructure problems seriously for several decades and has managed to keep replacement and repair efforts moving ahead, event in hard times.
But the state is facing another challenge. The federal reservoirs — those gems of the flood-control programs of the 1950s and ’60s — are aging. Silt has been piling up for decades behind the big earthen dams. The silt reduces the amount of water the reservoirs can hold, making them less useful as flood-control devices, as repositories of fresh water and even as recreational areas.
But dredging the reservoirs — a big undertaking — is primarily a federal responsibility, as is construction and maintenance of levees along the Mississippi. Washington is also expected to chip in for many highway and bridges that need repairs and for replacement of dangerously outmoded water and sewer plants.
The potential bill for repairing the nation’s infrastructure is huge, and it is only going to grow. Congress likes to build new things, but is less enthusiastic about fixing old things.
The longer maintenance and replacement projects are delayed, the more the nation will have to spend on make-do patches and temporary fixes — solutions that are always doomed to fail.
The cost of repairing roads, bridges, dams and levees is high — but not nearly as high as the cost of continuing to neglect the nation’s infrastructure.
Comments
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Posted by dan_smoots (anonymous) on June 24, 2008 at 3:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Pat
What is needed is a well thought out plan that would require everyone to work together and make some sacrifices for the good of all. "What A Concept"
I recomend a plan that would not cost the taxpayers a single dollar. A plan to remove (dredge) the silt from Federal Reservoirs & State Lakes, build new lakes, repair and improve levees and improve flood control.
Through & by the Feds or State, sell the land surrounding the existing Federal & State lakes for private home development. The lake lot sales, should generate more than enough money to fix the problems identified. To retain continued earnings for upgrades and repairs to lakes, require all Fed & State lake realestate sales transactions to receive a percentage of the real estate sales fee. Then build more new Federal & State Lakes without home development. This would allow the process to to be able to be repeated again in 50-years when the lakes silt in again.
Guess what, now we have a plan for reslolving the current problem and a plan to eliminate the problem for our Grandkids!
I am sure a lot of people will have issues with this thought process. I would like to see other ideas as well.
I believe we have to become more creative in resolving our United States problems than just pointing them out without solutions or blaming the Federal Government.
Dan Smoots
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