Flood Control
Between 1955 and 1961, an extensive flood control system was constructed along the Big Sioux and some of its tributaries in Sioux Falls to protect the city from a 100-year flood event. Features of the system include 29 miles (47 km) of levees, a floodwall in downtown, and a 15,000 feet (4,600 m) diversion channel with a dam at one end and a 118-foot (36 m) spillway at the other. The diversion channel connects two ends of the Big Sioux's natural loop around central Sioux Falls in an effort to channel floodwater away from the city. The levees then act to contain any floodwater either remaining in the natural channel or originating from Skunk Creek (whose mouth is downriver of the diversion dam). Additionally, a greenway covers much of the river's floodplain in southern and eastern Sioux Falls, further mitigating any property damage from high water.
Read more about this topic: Big Sioux River
Famous quotes containing the words flood and/or control:
“Now in contiguous drops the flood comes down,
Threat’ning with deluge this devoted town.
To shops in crowds the daggled females fly,
Pretend to cheapen goods, but nothing buy.”
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)
“Why wont they let a year die without bringing in a new one on the instant, cant they use birth control on time? I want an interregnum. The stupid years patter on with unrelenting feet, never stopping—rising to little monotonous peaks in our imaginations at festivals like New Year’s and Easter and Christmas—But, goodness, why need they do it?”
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)