“April 2 (EIRNS)—The Upper Missouri-Mississippi River Basins flooding is rightly called “historic,” compared to the terrible episodes in the region over the past couple centuries. The cause for the damage is not bad luck or “climate change,” but the lack of infrastructure which had been proposed, specifically since the 1944 “Pick-Sloan” plan for integrated water management throughout the region, and was never built. Nor was the plan fully built for the Upper Mississippi infrastructure; and the Upper Watershed Dam program of the Agriculture Department was way underfunded for decades.”
Midwest Flooding Hits U.S. Agriculture Production Capacity, Food Supply in Major Way
A Note To Readers
While thousands of square miles of the mid-west are experiencing one of the worst floods recorded in U.S. history, the shortsightedness and actual criminal refusal of governments beginning with Harry Truman’s presidency (with the exception of President John Kennedy), to invest and build the necessary infrastructure to protect our population and to upgrade the productivity of the entire economy, once again, is smacking us in the face.
The next to final section of this week’s report tells the story of how, had the “Pick-Sloan” plan for the entire Mississippi-Missouri River systems been built, the devastation that has put a huge chunk of the nation under water, would have been prevented. Included is the entire article our quote above is from.
Also In This Week’s Report
We begin with reports on the snowpack of California which, as of April 1, is 162% of what is considered average. So, while the rains that has accompanied the snow has caused some flooding in California, the 30 atmospheric rivers that has hit the state since October, have been mild enough and spread out enough to prevent devastating flooding.
So we have lots of snow, the reservoirs are full, but still the two great water projects in the state, the Central Valley Project and the State Water Project, will provide a maximum of 55% of what water contractors have requested. With optimal winter precipitation, and this must be really taken seriously, the state cannot provide its citizens, cities, factories and farms with the water required. Yes, build more storage capacity, but that is not enough. As I have reported again and again, we must build the North American Water and Power Alliance (NAWAPA) and lots of desalination plants.
Following almost two years of repairs and costing $1.1 billion, the rebuilt Oroville Dam spillway saw water flow down it on Tuesday, April 2. Videos and reports on the event are included in the report.
Under my title, “Water Wars,” The federal government is now suing the State of California over a water grab plan to increase water flows in the Lower San Joaquin River that has a high likelihood of New Melones Reservoir — based on the planned diversion and historic hydrology on the Stanislaus River Basin — going dry 12 times every 95 years. While supported by farmers and those throughout the Central Valley, other interests, especially the environmentalist bureaucracy of Sacramento, I am sure, is really pissed that the Trump administration is intervening on the side of human beings in this case.
Land subsidence caused by severe groundwater overdraft during California’s historic drought has led to the Friant-Kern canal dropping by as much as an inch per month. And with the new law on groundwater pumping, the water the canal provides is critical for agriculture in the area. A California Senator proposes $400M bill to repair sinking Friant-Kern Canal.
On to the Moon, once again is the mission that President Trump announced last week. If you want to see the building of not only infrastructure in the nation, but for us once again be capable of driving the economy forward and upward, then such an aggressive program announced by the President, similar to that announced for the Apollo Project by President Kennedy, is the way it will be done. Accompanying that is an increased investment for nuclear power and fusion research and development.
