Seek Higher Ground

February 5, 2024
Nature writer Palmer (Endangered Rivers and the Conservation Movement) delivers an urgent warning about the perils of Americans’ penchant for living too close to rivers destined to unleash catastrophic flooding as Earth’s atmosphere warms and its rains intensify. According to Palmer, dams and levees, America’s default solutions, won’t save cities and towns. Pointing to the benefits of flooding for a floodplain’s overall ecological health, he instead advocates for ceding overbuilt floodplains back to nature, rather than maintaining the current status quo of rebuilding flood-damaged homes and communities in the very same places they were previously vulnerable, with federal agencies spending hundreds of billions of dollars to facilitate such doomed construction. Palmer levels familiar indictments against the Army Corps of Engineers and FEMA, the insurance programs that encourage homeowners to return to compromised neighborhoods, and the lawmakers and other public officials unwilling to deliver bad news despite irrefutable evidence. What’s most valuable here are the stories of lessons learned by individuals and communities who have taken steps to end the cycles of rebuilding in and near floodplains. It’s an encouraging guidebook for community leaders and organizers looking for a sensible path forward.