What a pleasant surprise to see Jacques Leslie, a journalist and real expert on dams, with a long op-ed on the hallowed pages of the New York Times. Leslie, author of Deep Water: The Epic Struggle Over Dams, Displaced People and the Environment, highlights the threat posed by poorly maintained and increasingly failing dams around the country:
Unlike, say, waterways and sanitation plants, a majority of dams — 56 percent of those inventoried — are privately owned, which is one reason dams are among the country’s most dangerous structures. Many private owners can’t afford to repair aging dams; some owners go so far as to resist paying by tying up official repair demands in court or campaigning to weaken state dam safety laws.
Kinda makes you want to find out what is upstream.
