Proposal

River Management @ Suwannee River

Under appointment by the State of Florida, United States of America

o To ensure the security of water resources

o To protect state citizens from physical or social harm

Team Members:

Nurul Syafina

Jude Dominic

Zhao Pei

Daryl Lee

Taro Tan
TABLE OF CONTENTS

ANNEX ONE

1.A BRIEF INTRODUCTION

2.CURRENT PROGRESS

3.PROBLEM DISECTION

4.POLICY PROTOCOL

5.CONCLUSION
WHO ARE WE?

Introduction

As the group of researchers hired by the State of Florida, we will introduce

policies to regulate the amount and type of human activity that occurs around rivers.
This will be done so as to be able to make certain that the events following
Hurricane Katrina (loss of over 1400 lives, damage of property etc.) will not take
place again.

Fig1. Destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina

The policies will fulfil the following objectives

1. To ensure the security of water resources

2. To protect the state citizens from physical and social harm

Our policies will ensure the smaller risks of flooding as well as the least
possible damage to society in the occurrence of any floods. This is particularly
important in Florida as 80% of their 15 million residents face the dangers of flooding.
On top of that, the damage from floods in Florida has cost the state more $2.3 billion
over a period of 5 years. Also, water is indeed a precious natural resource which has
to be conserved.
What is being done now?

1) The Army Corps of Engineers plans more inspections in South Florida and
across the country.

Aims to improve levee standards

2) The South Florida Water Management District has proposed to strengthen the
East Coast Protection Levee. This process would take about 5 years and
around $60 million will be spent on it. The reason for this is to allow the
communities around South Florida to stay safe and dry.

The East Coast Protection Levee, which stretches from Lake Okechobee
to the Florida Bay, at the western edge of Boca Raton. Concerns are
growing that South Florida's levees that keep the Everglades from flooding
communities along the coast are not built to standards put into place after
Hurricane Katrina left New Orleans under water. (Joe Cavaretta, Sun
Sentinel / June 3, 2009)
3) Levees in Florida already get annual inspections. Additional, more in-depth
safety inspections are now planned every five years. They aim to bring to light
needed repairs and maintenance of the structures.
By increasing the inspections, the levees will be updated and this will improve
public safety.

4) Vegetation that grows against the structure will be cleared out to allow water
to seep through. This aims to prevent erosion that could lead to a breach in
the levee.
 WHAT IS THE MAIN PROBLEM

The main cause of the floods was the breaching of the flood preventing
levees and floodwalls. These can be said as being on the front lines of flood
prevention, and it is important to analyse them and find out how to utilise them and
make them better so that floods can be prevented more effectively.

Since we cannot do anything to stop the precipitation which is considered as

the most frequent cause of flooding, we shall focus on the levee which can prevent
the social and physical harms of flood. The main problem we are facing now is the
stability of our levee and the urbanization of our country.

In New Orleans's case, the levees were poorly designed. The levees were,
through an engineering mistake, not built to withstand the large amount of water that
would come out during a flood. The mistake was an extremely costly one, as it led to
the deaths of many people and the destruction of much property. The levees were
also not completed (only 60-90% complete and scheduled for completion in 2015).
Due to the amount and type of technology, funds and manpower available in Florida,
levees will take a tremendously long time to build. This long amount of time to repair
and construct levees have and may pose as a risk to the state and its inhabitants.
According to army engineers in 2008, the levees they were repairing from Hurricane
Katrina may not be able to withstand Hurricane Gustav. Fortunately, the levees did
not disappoint but this is extraordinary.

The levees were breached due to erosion by the waters. These points have to
be taken note of and applied to Suwannee to make it safe and to achieve our
objectives. We cannot stop the rain that falls because of the Hurricane Katrina, but
we can certainly prevent the waters from flooding if we put in better measures. The
points listed above are the problems and it would be wise to consider them before
taking any action.

POLICIES

In the following report, you will find detailed explanation on our policies and
their significance.

The policies are as follow:

1a) Only authorized personnel will be allowed into areas close to levees.

b) Subsidies will be given to those whose homes are at risk as a result of being
too close to levees

2a) Monthly checks will be conducted on levees, whether fully constructed or not.

b) Federal government will have to oversee the process of construction

1) Only authorized personnel can access the area around the levees.
 These authorized personnel would refer to people who conduct checks
and reparations on the levees e.g. the US Army Corp of Engineers. The
reason for this policy is to ensure that the levees will not be tampered by any
human activity around them to avoid any damage that could compromise
these flood protection walls. Examples of possible destruction to the levee
without this policy would include collisions with vehicles.

This is also to ensure the safety of the residence around that area
(refer to Fig 1 below) if a flood were to occur; in the case of a flood, there will
be a slightly longer lag time before the water reaches and damages and
property, or take away the lives of the people This time could be used for
evacuation thereby decreasing the damage that can be cause by the flood.

Fig 1
 As for the people who are already living at such hazardous areas, the
government can provide subsidies for these people to find a new home. It
may be expensive, tedious, and stir up a lot of trouble and unhappiness
among the people but when their welfare is involved, the federal state would
have to do anything in their power to protect it. After all, the damage that
comes with flood would cost much more.

By implementing this policy, the security of the water resources would

be ensured in that there will not be any man made alterations that would
damage the levees and the protection of state citizens from physical and
social harm would increase.

2) Have thorough monthly checks on the levees.

This is to ensure that there are no faults on the levees and that they are
being well maintained so that if there were to be heavy rainfall or the relatively
common occurrence of a hurricane in that state, e.g. Hurricane Katrina, the
levees would be able to protect the area from any major floods and the
citizens would be well secured and protected. After all, several of the flooding
incidents that have cost many lives all around the world were due to flaws in
the engineering, design and construction of the levees (refer to Fig 2 below).
If there is anything that could possibly compromise the purpose of the levees,
immediate action is to be taken.

Fig 2. Water running through an old sluice in the broken levee on the
Canandaigua Outlet.

Not only is the checks to be done on levees which are have already
been fully constructed and are already been used but also for levees which
have been built halfway. This is to ensure that the resources supplied by the
government will result in maximum output. Checks like this should be able to
stop mistakes such as the one the US Army Corp of Engineers made which
cost millions of dollars yet thousands of lives in New Orleans itself. These
checks should ensure the strength of these levees, the verification of the best
materials being used in the construction of the levees and thorough testing to
look out for any damage that has been inflicted upon the levee.
 On top of that, we understand the federal government pays a lot of
money to respective organizations for the construction and maintenance of
the levees. To ensure that the money will be put to the correct and proper use,
authorities should have checks to ensure that those hundreds of millions
would result in the safety of the people in the state. According to levees.org,
The Army Corps squandered hundreds of millions of dollars on a levee
system they knew by their own calculations was inadequate. We would not
like to see money being spent carelessly and the safety of the people being
compromised due to selfish convenience.

3) Ensuring that every area in South Florida that is in the flood zone is
protected.
 Fig. 3

As you can see from Fig. 3, the blue regions are the parts which are
prone to floods. Therefore, there is a need to have levees built all around
those areas to ensure the safety of the people and the resources there. There
will be a need to focus more on the southern area which is more prone to
hurricanes and floods. Hence there is a need to heighten up the resistance
against the floods at the southern part of Florida.

4) Changing the type of soil and underlying rock

The reason for this is because the type of soil and underlying rock is
considered one of the most important reasons of causing the flood. While
choosing type of rocks for levees, we shall put impermeable one in the first
place. Impermeable rocks are much more stable and harder than permeable
rocks. Some levees were built by earth and they were easily broken. In
American history, many floods were caused by the unstability of the levee and
these floods brought about huge losses to people. With the impermeable
rocks, the levees will be more stable hence increasing its resistance against a
flood.
 The type of soil should also be changed. The soil around the levees
should be permeable so that it will have a higher infiltration capacity and less
surface run-off which will help against a flood.

Hence, by implementing this policy, the levees will be more resistant

against a flood and the security of the water resources would be ensured.
 5) Reinforce the levee system with aprons

Fig 4

As you can see from Fig. 4, the Army Corps have implemented a levee
vegetation policy which involves cutting down of trees, therefore there will be a
threat of erosion around the levee due to the removal of the vegetation. Hence, the
levee system should be reinforced with aprons. These aprons act as coverings that
are put on top of the levees to help prevent erosion. By reinforcing the levees with
aprons, the threat of erosion would lessen and the levee will be able to hold out
more in a case of a flood.

By implementing this policy, the levee would be more secure even though
the trees have been cut down and there will be a smaller chance that erosion would
take place. This would prevent the failure of the levee during a flood.
CONCLUSION

We have seen the devastation that Hurricane Katrina has caused to Florida
and we know that there is much to learn from the mark that Hurricane Katrina
has left in Florida. Hence, we have found the main problem of the disaster
and we have come up with the policies to follow up on the underlying
problem, to ensure that another case of Hurricane Katrina will not happen
again. As you have read from our policies, we strongly feel that the condition
of the levees is the main problem. Hence, there is a need for us to implement
policies which involves changes to be made to ensure that the levees are in
the right condition if a flood were to hit Florida.

"Florida has its own rhythm, too. People go to work, they watch their
children learn and grow and start families of their own. They play in the
sun and pass their lives enjoying the outsized blessings that make our
state unique."- Jeb Bush

Let us get this rhythm going again and never stop!

BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/1983292-a1983528-t46.html

http://web.mit.edu/12.000/www/m2010/teams/neworleans4/background.html

http://huxley75.deviantart.com/art/Hole-in-the-Wall-107997236

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-11-02-levee-shortcuts_x.htm
http://www.building.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=284&storycode=3121425&c=1
www.floir.com/pdf/FloridaFactSheet.pdf

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sfl-levees-repairs-
a060709sbjun07,0,6178849.story

http://e-articles.info/e/a/title/HOW-TO-MAKE-YOUR-WRITTEN-REPORT-
BETTER-~-FORMAT/

http://www.katrinadestruction.com/images/v/new+orleans+flood/day+after+the+hurri
cane+hit.html