In July, an eight-pound steelhead swimming up the Elwha River generated more excitement than 15,000 yards of concrete ripped out of a dam that had impounded the watercourse within Washington state's Olympic National Park since its construction 99 years ago.
Though the tone is unusually civil, critics are sharpening their knives in Louisiana as recovery starts in flooded areas outside the circle of defenses that protected New Orleans from Hurricane Isaac's storm surge on Aug. 26-29.
A mid-day situation report from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Mississippi Valley Division indicates all "major" structures flood control structures in the Greater New Orleans Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System are closed, including the West Closure Complex.
Major elements of the new storm defenses encircling New Orleans saw action for the first time in storm conditions on Aug. 29 as the battle to shield the city from Hurricane Isaac's floods and storm surge ground on through the day and into the night.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has declared 17 levee systems in the California Central Valley—about 180 miles' worth— ineligible for federal rehabilitation assistance should they be damaged in a flood.
For years, scientists have warned of the potentially dire consequences of earthquake-induced levee failures in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta in northern California, but now a team of engineers from Southern California is testing the unusual soils used to build and support the levees to model performance during a quake.
The two large dams under construction on the Madeira River, Jirau and San Antonio, which together will provide nearly 7,000 MW of electricity, continue Brazil's reliance on hydropower.