Odessa

Recently a small city near me had unprecedented flooding. Cars floated away, residents needed to evacuated by boat in some instances. They literally had minutes to react and grab what they could.

A stream that had run through the area had long ago been replaced with a five foot wide culvert and many probably weren't even aware that the culvert was there. Things were pretty much the same for a long time. They weren't that close to the river and they were a bit uphill. Who would have ever thought that there would have been a problem.

Over the years there was a hardy dose of suburban sprawl. What was formerly woodland became subdivisions. These subdivisions didn't want the water in their backyards so they diverted it toward the creek that ran through their area. A little more water here, a little more water there, the old creek could handle it. The old creek could handle it until . . .

Then the area got five inches of rain in about a half an hour or more. The culvert couldn't take it anymore - it burst and a torrent of water flowed out. All this happened in a city that can ill afford to make costly repairs to the culvert.

This is a case of everything, including water, runs down hill. It is also a case of wealthy uphill residents dumping what they don't want, extra water, on their poorer neighboring town. It is also a case of the need for zoning and building and development codes that go beyond the city and town level.

Will the people in the up stream towns who allowed unchecked diversion of water to the stream be held accountable? Probably not. Will a poor city have to pay their resident's tax dollars to fix the problem? Probably. Is it fair? I don't think so.