Word: flood-control
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...enablers in Congress. The Corps is funded almost entirely by "earmarks,? specific projects requested by specific Congressmen, so there's no way to prioritize between national emergencies (such as stronger levees to prevent a Katrina-style catastrophe in Sacramento) and preposterous pork (such as a notorious $459 million flood-control scheme for Dallas, a study of a $3 billion dam on the Susitna River that Representative Don Young wants in Alaska, or the seven water and sewage treatment projects that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid tucked into the bill for Nevada.) The Senate considered an amendment that would have required...
Still, these liberties do little to blunt the book's power as literature - or, perhaps more important, as an allegory of Kapuscinski's own communist-era Poland. Indeed, as The Emperor was going to press, the Polish government approved an extravagant flood-control program for the Vistula River; the author phoned in a new passage about a costly dam built by Selassie. "Everything is a metaphor," Kapuscinski once said. "My ambition is to find the universal...
Meanwhile, in New Orleans, another hurricane season is approaching, and the Army Corps of Engineers has announced that flood-control measures are still far from complete. Residents tried to enjoy the annual Jazz and Heritage Festival, symbol of the city's spirit, an event rescued from near death by a grant from Shell Oil. Too few tickets have been selling because broad stretches of the city remain desolate and depopulated...
...Despite the dire situation, South Asia's leaders seem more focused on doling out blame than tackling the problem. Indian politicians like to accuse Nepal of releasing too much water. Nepal says India clogs drainage with its badly managed flood-control system, and Bangladesh's leaders blame both countries for inundating them. All three nations see more antiflood infrastructure as the solution. Bihar's water resources minister Jagdanand Singh backs an extraordinary project popular across the political spectrum to build thousands of kilometers of canals that would link every river in the country. In theory, the network would allow engineers...
...there is, says Dasgupta, ignores traditional methods of water storage in dry areas-such as the now disused network of channels and tanks built by the Mughals back in the 16th century to irrigate much of central India-and focuses instead on dams and embankments for flood prevention. Yet because India's flood-control infrastructure is poorly maintained, dams and embankments often block rather than facilitate drainage, says Dasgupta, while their huge construction costs might attract corruption. Says Pushpender Kumar Singh, regional manager for flood-relief group Action Aid: "[Floods] used to go by in two or three days...