I’ve been working through a series of posts from my September trip to the Netherlands and England with NAFSMA, touring European flood control facilities. The first post went up from the Biesbosch, and more are coming. But I’m interrupting the series because something closer to home deserves attention
In my last post, I wrote from the Noordwaard, a former farming polder (or protected basin) on the edge of De Biesbosch National Park, where the Dutch lowered a dike on purpose so the river can spill into the polder at high water. That was the Dutch trying something
I’m writing this from the Netherlands. Today I spent the day at the Noordwaard, a former farming polder (or protected basin) on the edge of De Biesbosch National Park. I traveled here with NAFSMA (the National Association of Flood and Stormwater Management Agencies) as part of a mission to learn
On September 21, 2026, Governor Gavin Newsom proclaimed a statewide state of emergency in anticipation of a developing El Niño event that NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center projects has a greater than 90% chance of reaching “very strong” intensity this fall and winter, with a 69% chance of surpassing every El
In case you haven’t heard, the National Weather Service is predicting, with high certainty, a very strong El Niño this year. A strong El Niño has already formed with a 90% chance of it strengthening to very strong and a 60% chance of it developing into the strongest since 1950.
Data center development is accelerating across California, bringing increased attention to the water supplies and infrastructure needed to serve these projects. That attention has prompted both developers and public agencies to address issues such as long-term reliability, infrastructure costs, drought planning, and the disclosure of project information. Pending legislation would
I was recently asked to speak at the 2026 Annual Meeting of the National Waterways Conference, a national trade group advocating in the areas of navigation, flood control, and water supply. Specifically, I was asked to speak on the effects of the 2023 Federal Court of Appeals decision in Ideker
On August 17, 2026, a unanimous panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a years-long challenge to the United States Bureau of Reclamation’s (“Reclamation”) conversion of certain federal water service contracts, granting a significant win to the municipal and irrigation contractors relying on those agreements to provide water
Friends and Colleagues,
Since its launch, The Levee Was Dry has served as a forum for commentary on flood risk and floodplain management. As the legal and policy issues shaping California’s and the United States’ water landscape continue to evolve, so too has the conversation.
We’re excited to share that
On July 28, 2025, the Director of Civil Works for the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Eddie Belk, issued guidance for analyzing induced flooding. This guidance is intended to help USACE Districts and Divisions in managing an analysis of induced flooding in planning studies (and those projects under