When you realise that you are losing a war, rather than sending all your remaining resources into a losing battle, sometimes it makes more sense to retreat, regroup and focus on defending your most valuable assets – and maybe this leads to a ceasefire and finding a peaceful arrangement.
We have waged war on nature for at least 100 years, by clearing the land, by draining the swamps and by building stop banks that force our rivers into narrow channels. But it seems like the fortunes have turned.
In a world of increasing rainfall frequency and intensity, we have created a system that accelerates and overlaps flood flows. The channeling and straightening of our rivers increases their velocity and multiplies their damaging ferocity in flood events.
Rather than just fixing up embankments and dredging rivers deeper, I think that we need to take a broader, more systemic view of our situation and ask some tough questions:
1. Is clear-fell forestry still appropriate on our hills and in the headwaters of our streams and rivers?
Forests act like sponges that absorb rain when it falls and then slowly release the moisture over time. They delay and even out flows. They also hold back sediments and debris. When they are removed in a clear-fell operation, rain just rushes down the slopes, taking sediments and slash with it and leading to flash flooding further downstream.
2. Do we need to reinstate wetlands upstream and around our rivers?
Wetlands also act like sponges and filters. They delay and reduce flood flows and mitigate flood events.
3. Do we need to give our rivers more space and concede that some land will flood?
Would this land still be safe to live on or even be farm-able? If not, should there be compensation (and if so, by whom and how much)?
4. Do we need to plan for much higher flood flows and adjust our storm water infrastructure and do we need to increase flood protections around our vulnerable settlements accordingly?
5. What does this mean for our economy? What are the costs? What are the opportunities? And how do we transition?
I don’t have the answers to all of these questions and there will be people who would be much more skilled and knowledgeable in this than I am. But I caution against jumping to conclusions that simply aim to prolong the status quo. I doubt that we can win this battle without changing our tactics.
So let’s “build back better” – but let’s use our resources wisely and get beyond the marketing!