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writing:levee_removal [2026/07/02 20:12] – JacobCoffinWriteswriting:levee_removal [2026/07/02 20:38] (current) – [Examples] JacobCoffinWrites
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 There's a self-defense truism that "the best defense is not to be there" which likely applies in this situation. There's a self-defense truism that "the best defense is not to be there" which likely applies in this situation.
  
-[[https://therevelator.org/moving-levees/|Levee removal]] recognizes that this modern configuration isn't working well for anyone, humans or the species we share our environment with, and seeks to restore rivers to [something closer to their original configuration]([[https://www.knkx.org/environment/2022-04-29/nature-rebounds-on-the-green-river-after-large-levee-removal]]). This can be beneficial in two ways - it allows the river to safely spread into designated areas where it can slow during a flood, and it allows for the restoration of habitats where native species can return and flourish surprisingly quickly.+[[https://therevelator.org/moving-levees/|Levee removal]] recognizes that this modern configuration isn't working well for anyone, humans or the species we share our environment with, and seeks to restore rivers to [[https://www.knkx.org/environment/2022-04-29/nature-rebounds-on-the-green-river-after-large-levee-removal|something closer to their original configuration]]. This can be beneficial in two ways - it allows the river to safely spread into designated areas where it can slow during a flood, and it allows for the restoration of habitats where native species can return and flourish surprisingly quickly.
  
 In this way levee removal is part of a wider rejection of modern human landscapes. Flood- and erosion-mitigation tactics like [[https://www.wired.com/story/los-angeles-just-proved-how-spongy-a-city-can-be/|sponge cities]]), [[beaver_dam_analogs|beaver dam analogs]], and [[rough_mounding|rough mounding]] all focus on restoring or simulating preexisting conditions, and on slowing the movement of water and catching it in place, allowing it to permeate the ground again. And because these are the habitats most native species evolved to find their niche in, it's no surprise that they often start to recover almost as soon as we nudge things back in this direction. In this way levee removal is part of a wider rejection of modern human landscapes. Flood- and erosion-mitigation tactics like [[https://www.wired.com/story/los-angeles-just-proved-how-spongy-a-city-can-be/|sponge cities]]), [[beaver_dam_analogs|beaver dam analogs]], and [[rough_mounding|rough mounding]] all focus on restoring or simulating preexisting conditions, and on slowing the movement of water and catching it in place, allowing it to permeate the ground again. And because these are the habitats most native species evolved to find their niche in, it's no surprise that they often start to recover almost as soon as we nudge things back in this direction.
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 Some areas just make more sense as floodplains and wetlands, providing important habitats and giving the rivers room to safely spread and slow their movements than they do as eternally-imperiled developments. Some areas just make more sense as floodplains and wetlands, providing important habitats and giving the rivers room to safely spread and slow their movements than they do as eternally-imperiled developments.
  
-So what do levee removal projects look like?+====So what do levee removal projects look like?====
  
 These projects, their goals, and processes can be as varied as the habitats they seek to restore and the communities they seek to protect. Often they're native-led initiatives, sometimes they're done by broad coalitions involving town, county, state, or federal governments, and local environmentalists. The restoration of habitat for native species like salmon seems to be the most common driving goal. These projects, their goals, and processes can be as varied as the habitats they seek to restore and the communities they seek to protect. Often they're native-led initiatives, sometimes they're done by broad coalitions involving town, county, state, or federal governments, and local environmentalists. The restoration of habitat for native species like salmon seems to be the most common driving goal.
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 Preparation for Levee Removal may involve [[https://kingcounty.gov/en/dept/dnrp/nature-recreation/environment-ecology-conservation/flood-services/capital-projects-studies/jan-road-levee-setback|removing any structures on the site]]. In our present this is often done via demolition, but there are two alternatives to demolition which may be a better fit for your solarpunk setting: [[deconstruction|deconstruction]] – the process of disassembling a building to salvage as many construction materials as possible, and [[https://wiki.slrpnk.net/writing:deconstruction#house_shifting_-_building_salvage_without_deconstruction|house shifting]], the work of physically moving a suitable structure rather than building new. Both processes currently take more time/labor and cost more money than demolition, but they have many fewer externalities. They reduce the amount of raw materials the society must extract from its environment and they reduce the amount of landfill space it requires. Preparation for Levee Removal may involve [[https://kingcounty.gov/en/dept/dnrp/nature-recreation/environment-ecology-conservation/flood-services/capital-projects-studies/jan-road-levee-setback|removing any structures on the site]]. In our present this is often done via demolition, but there are two alternatives to demolition which may be a better fit for your solarpunk setting: [[deconstruction|deconstruction]] – the process of disassembling a building to salvage as many construction materials as possible, and [[https://wiki.slrpnk.net/writing:deconstruction#house_shifting_-_building_salvage_without_deconstruction|house shifting]], the work of physically moving a suitable structure rather than building new. Both processes currently take more time/labor and cost more money than demolition, but they have many fewer externalities. They reduce the amount of raw materials the society must extract from its environment and they reduce the amount of landfill space it requires.
 +
 +====Examples====
  
 There are many levee removal projects you can reference for specifics local to your setting, but I'd like to highlight a few examples below: There are many levee removal projects you can reference for specifics local to your setting, but I'd like to highlight a few examples below:
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 The state of California recently completed [[https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/california-yolo-bypass-levee-tear-down-19779969.php|this public-private levee removal project]], allowing tidal waters to flow across 3,400 acres of land for the first time in 100 years. This appears to be a mix of flood mitigation and environmental restoration - it provides improved flood protection for the greater Sacramento area by adding more than 40,000 acre-feet of additional flood storage capacity to the Yolo Bypass, but it also restores habitat for native species including salmon and the endangered Delta smelt, and food and habitat for migratory birds who frequently stop in this area. The state of California recently completed [[https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/california-yolo-bypass-levee-tear-down-19779969.php|this public-private levee removal project]], allowing tidal waters to flow across 3,400 acres of land for the first time in 100 years. This appears to be a mix of flood mitigation and environmental restoration - it provides improved flood protection for the greater Sacramento area by adding more than 40,000 acre-feet of additional flood storage capacity to the Yolo Bypass, but it also restores habitat for native species including salmon and the endangered Delta smelt, and food and habitat for migratory birds who frequently stop in this area.
  
 +Levee Removal is often a fraught subject, and [[https://www.theadvertiser.com/story/news/local/2022/03/24/lafayette-sues-st-martin-over-vermilion-river-spoil-banks-removal/7146795001/|this escalating feud]] between two neighboring communities over a series of makeshift dirt levees they refer to as spoil banks seems to be a pretty solid example of that. As best as I can understand/summarize it, this appears to be an argument over who gets flooded, or whether the removal of the levees will actually cause worsened flooding. The levees separated the Vermillion river from neighboring wetlands. One community wanted to remove it, and had studies that showed removing the spoil banks could help drainage throughout the first community by lowering water levels on the Vermilion by almost 8 inches in a 2- to 10-year storm and that removing the spoil banks would have little impact on the overall water level in the Bayou Tortue Swamp during storms because of the massive size of the swampland. The second community disagreed and did their best to prevent any change until the first community purchased some of the land the levees were on and secretly removed them. This began [[https://kpel965.com/josh-guillory-indicted-st-martin-malfeasance/|a large and multifaceted legal battle which is still ongoing]], escalating to criminal charges.