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June 9, 2007
By Keith Magill
Executive Editor
source: http://www.houmatoday.com

Once again, criticism is mounting against the Morganza-to-the-Gulf hurricane-protection system, adding confusion to an already emotional subject. The latest criticism comes from a Metairie-based group, Save Our Wetlands, whose threatened lawsuit, its attorney says, was inspired by a letter 16 scientists sent in March to Gov. Kathleen Blanco. The scientists claim Morganza's so-called 'leaky levees' interspersed with floodgates that will remain open, allowing water to flow naturally, until a hurricane threatens won't provide the protection promised and will destroy thousands of acres of wetlands in the process.

Save Our Wetlands mailed a letter Tuesday notifying the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the lead agency for Morganza, of its intent to sue over what it calls the "72-mile 'Leaky Levee' scam." It claims Morganza will not only destroy wetlands, acting as a hurricane tidal-surge buffer, but will "promote development into low-lying areas extremely susceptible to hurricane tidal surges." the scientists and critics could be right.

Even if they aren't, their arguments force those of us who live here in Terrebonne, and the parts of Lafourche that Morganza aims to protect, to confront some tough issues.

Let's suppose, for argument's sake, that the critics are right, that Morganza's leaky levees, based on unproven science, are faulty and will collapse or be topped by the same hurricane storm surges they aim to repel.

Critics say Morganza would give people a false sense of security, leading them to believe they and their homes and businesses are safe from flooding when they are not. A similar scenario played out in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, when the now-infamous 17th Street and London Avenue canal levees gave way and inundated the city. Save Our Wetlands and other critics note, by the way, that the same Army Corps of Engineers that built those levees is spearheading Morganza.

With Morganza in place, the critics claim, the wetlands to the south will wither into the Gulf of Mexico, while development behind the levees, encouraged by the supposed hurricane protection they provide, will grow. Homes and businesses will continue to spring up in areas that are actually flood-prone wetlands, and the false belief that Morganza will protect them only increases the risk of death and destruction.

Some claim that Morganza critics have supplied no alternate plan of their own. Scientists and environmentalists, in fact, have offered options, and one of the clearest is contained in a report I've mentioned before, "Can We Save New Orleans," written by Oliver Houck, a Tulane environmental-law professor, and published in the university's spring 2006 Environmental Law Journal.

Yes, the critics have proposed a solution, but it is one a lot of people understandably don't want to hear, a long-term, multi-faceted approach that will include flood protection, river diversion and relocation of thousands of coastal residents, including many here in Terrebonne and Lafourche. Houck and others argue that spending the money, potentially billions, to help people move out of harm's way is better than spending it on faulty levee systems that will fail, forcing people to relocate anyway.

At least for now, it's hard to imagine any politician getting behind a plan that would propose moving significant numbers of people out of harm's way.

Critics, including Save Our Wetlands, say that's precisely why Morganza's levees are routed to curve around most of the populated bayou communities rather than following a straighter, stronger path farther north that would leave thousands of residents without any protection at all.

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