Paul Scott comment: "What can be done to reduce future flooding?"

Meteorologist Tom Skilling (not Paul Scott!)(Courtesy of WGN Radio)

(A comment by decorahnews.com's Paul Scott):

My all-time favorite weather forecaster is WGN Chicago's Tom Skilling.  He has a great personality--but he also knows everything about weather.

Which is why when Tom talks, I try to listen.

I was visiting the Chicago area late last week and something he said while reporting on Iowa's latest flooding has stayed with me.  "Warmer air holds more water," he said.

That's the scientific principle, but I've been thinking about the practical implications.  If our atmosphere continues to get warmer on average, that should mean it will also get wetter on average.

I've heard a number of Decorah residents say, "I'm getting tired of having a 500-year flood every 7 or 8 years."  And yet if Tom is right--and I'd bank on that--we'll continue to have 500-year floods more frequently than every 500 years.

If we're wise, we'll be prepared for more future floods.  But not just in terms of buying more sandbags.  If we're really wise, we'd start a discussion about how to reduce the frequency and impact of future flooding.

So how about it, readers?  What steps do you think we ought to be taking to lessen the impact of future floods in this area?  Should we be building retention ponds?  Or maybe greenstrips along rivers?  Or maybe our zoning maps need to change?

What steps would you suggest our communities explore?  E-mail your ideas (to be posted) to news@decorahnews.com.

Because I hate it when "every 500 years" comes less than a decade apart.