A New York Times article by John Schwartz implies (falsely) that the New Orleans levee boards were somehow, some way to blame for the flooding and devastation of New Orleans.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/18/us/18levee.html?ex=1177560000&en=79833ed6af9bcba5&ei=5070&emc=eta1&_r=0

1. Schwartz begins by saying “the New Orleans board was criticized by local residents as corrupt, ineffective, and overly focused on a ….fountain and a casino.” Some residents did believe it. But that doesn’t make it true, and it certainly doesn’t mean it had anything to do with the failure of the levees. Everyone knows now that the Orleans Levee Board’s role is strictly maintenance and the moneymen to raise the funding to pay our share of 35% of the cost of the levees. Even the Corps of Engineers themselves never say or even suggest that the levee failures were due to maintenance.

2. Schwartz writes, “the levee inspections were largely ceremonial twice a year drive-bys…with an expensive lunch.” That is true, BUT it had absolutely nothing to do with the failure of the levee protection. No visual inspection could ever have spotted engineering flaws deep underground. The levee boards were totally impotent regarding design and construction of the levees. Those lunches are a red herring.

3. The most important statement in the article is a quote from John Barry, Board Secretary of the new consolidated board who says “We may discover that we don’t have nearly as much power as we hope we have.” The truth is, the levee boards were then, as they likely are now, impotent (or very nearly so) regarding control of how federal flood protection is designed and built.

No community in the entire nation has levee boards whose role is checking and rechecking the design and construction work of the US Army Corps of Engineers. The only reason that the Orleans levee board had the resources and the size it did is simply an accident of history. Prior to 1965, the local levee boards built their own levees and never was there a disaster even close to what happened once the US Army Corps of Engineers took over.

If you want to do something to help, please go to www.levees.org and join us.

Sandy Rosenthal
Founder and Executive Director, Levees.Org

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