Green Options

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A new report from the National Research Council (NRC) finds numerous problems with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ followup recommendations for restoring wetlands and protecting southern Louisiana from another Katrina-like disaster.

Among the most worrisome findings in the paper: the Corps’ failure to “consider the potential for structural failure of levees and floodwalls.”

“As a consequence,” the NRC report states, “the true risk to homes and businesses and people behind structures has not been determined.”

Alabama, Georgia and Florida are expected to miss their Friday, Feb. 15, deadline for reaching a regional water-sharing agreement, the Associated Press reported today.

The states have been squabbling for years, and the situation only grew worse as last year’s drought drove levels at Lake Lanier — Atlanta’s main water supply — perilously low. When that happened, Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue did more than pray for rain (though he did that, too): he asked the feds to let his state hold back more water in its reservoirs rather than maintain federally mandated river flows into Alabama and Florida.