How can we prevent river flooding?
All rivers will flood from time to time. Flooding is part of the natural cycles of rivers. We have learned that the best thing to do is to leave rivers alone to do what they do naturally instead of trying to control them. All human efforts to control rivers eventually fail. Additionally, many attempts to control flooding (such as levees) actually can cause flooding to be worse. The best way to minimize the negative effects of flooding is to avoid using flood zones altogether. Don’t build houses or buildings there. Farming is a good alternative use for land in a flood zone, as long as the farmer realizes there’s always a risk of losing the crops when a flood comes. The best use for flood zones is to leave them in their natural state. This minimizes the impact of flooding as well as provides natural habitat and ecologic health.
