Designing the Bayous: The Control of Water in the Atchafalaya Basin - 1800-1995, Mississippi River Flood Control, Battle Over Floodways, Environmental Activists, Early Efforts, Louisiana Style

Of all the natural resources that bless the United States, none is more important than its water. The nation's rivers and streams provide vital navigation links, hydropower, fishing, recreation, and water for domestic, agricultural, and industrial use. At the same time, they occasionally overrun towns and farms, destroy property, threaten livelihoods, and take lives.

Perhaps nowhere in the country have the conflicting purposes of water development stimulated more studies, engineering responses, and public involvement than in Louisiana's Atchafalaya Basin—which includes the largest river basin swamp in North America. Since the early nineteenth century, all levels of government have been involved. The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers' part in the basin's development includes providing flood control and maintaining navigable channels. Today, the Atchafalaya Basin serves as a major floodway to convey Mississippi River water to the Gulf of Mexico. In this history, Dr. Reuss tells the complicated, but fascinating story of how local, state, and federal agencies have attempted to reconcile conflicting visions for the basin. In so doing, he illuminates the interaction of politics, technology, and environment. Though focusing on one area of the country, this book addresses many themes associated with the development of water resources throughout the United States.

Part I: Assuming Responsibility * Chapter 1 - Early Flood Control Efforts, Louisiana Style * Early Settlers and River Transportation * Clearing the Streams: The Beginnings of State Aid * The First Federal Flood Control Plan * The Beginning of Federal Assistance: The Swampland Acts * Chapter 2 - Interregnum: Growing Federal Involvement * The Humphreys-Abbot Report * The Civil War and the Atchafalaya Basin * Once More, the Levees * The Federal Role Increases * Commerce and Transportation in the Atchafalaya Basin * Chapter 3 - The Outlet Question * The Mississippi River Commission and the Outlet Question * Navigation Interests and the Outlet Question * Floods and Outlets * Chapter 4 - Apres Le Deluge: The Jadwin Plan * New Remedies for Old Problems * The Special Board * The Unwinding of the Jadwin Plan * Part II: Defining Responsibility * Chapter 5 - The Politics of Engineering * The Critics and the Corps * Dredging * Private Property and Public Good: Levee Rights-of-Way * Private Property and Public Good: Flowage Easements * Chapter 6 - Louisiana and Mississippi: The Battle Over Floodways * The Markham Plan * The Overton Act * Real Estate Problems * The 1938 and 1941 Flood Control Acts * Morganza Floodway Construction * Part III: The Burdens of Responsibility * Chapter 7 - The Old River Problem * Nature Takes the Low Road * Seeking Answers * Preparing the Plan * Authorization * Construction * Post-Construction Problems * Chapter 8 - Let the Public Be Heard: Reconciling Multiple Objectives * The Setting * Coordination or Confrontation? * Recreation * Growing State Involvement * Chapter 9 - Environmental Activists and the Corps of Engineers * The National Wildlife Federation-Corps of Engineers Agreement * Institutional Arrangements and Objectives * Impasse and Reorientation * Chapter 10 - Defending the Turf * The Environmental Protection Agency's Approach * The Fish and Wildlife Service Makes Its Move * Environmental Issues, Old and New * Chapter 11 - Denouement? * Real Estate Problems Again * Political Resolution - and Irresolution * New Controversies and Steps Toward Implementation * The Uncertain Future * Afterword: A Sense of Place, A Sense of Balance * Notes * Bibliography