🚀 go-pugleaf

In <rpenny-ya023580000202971509530001@nntp.ix.netcom.com>
rpenny@ix.netcom.com (Richard Penny) writes: 
>
>CALIFORNIA�S OPPORTUNITY TO ACHIEVE IMPROVED FLOOD MANAGEMENT 
>AND MAJOR ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION
>
>By Philip B. Williams  Ph.D., P.E. 
>
>January 27, 1997
>


While there are some good points in this posting, such as pointing out
that there was some mis-operation of flood storage, there is also much
nonsense.  Yes, Folsom stores much water before there can be spills,
but that is how a multi-purpose project works.  Yes, there will be much
damage if a flood is larger than the design flood, but many design
floods are at the PMF level.  Greater than the Probable Maximum Flood
is not a sensible condition.  Reoperating multipurpose projects, as
suggested, for increased flood control is also nonsense since that
would screw up the agricultural water supply that drives California's
economy and the potable water supply for many millions of people.  What
is really needed here is more dedicated flood storage upstream, like
Auburn Dam would be.  The so called friends of rivers need to recognize
that an additional million acre feet of dedicated flood storage each on
the San Jaoquin and Sacramento would fix most problems, and would not
result in their lamented pristine canyons being flooded except when
they would be flooded anyhow.  As far as costs go, dams seem expensive
because we know what they cost.  Schemes such as proposed can be sold
as being cheap from a capital cost perspective because their costs are
not really known.  Such systems also have three to five times the O&M
costs of dams. Beware of grand schemes from environmental radicals that
read great but subtly misrepresent causes and effects, ignore larege
cost factors such as property acquisition (Who pays for decreased
property values if you move the levee to behind the house, and don't
give us the BS about not building in flood planes, the house is already
there and the owner wants compensation), and would require major
government controls with loss of freedom, and who hate the obvious
solution of creating some flat water behind a dam.

Warren J. Paul, P.E.
Dam Engineer and Proud of it!