Rivers, Iraq and the Exxon Valdez

In preparation for River School I've been reading all I can about rivers and river restoration. One of the books I started with was Disconnected Rivers: Linking Rivers to Landscapes by Ellen Wohl who does an amazing job detailing the history of human impacts on rivers (mining pollution, beaver removal, channelization, levees, dams, pesticides, sewage...) and the consequences (decreased habitat, decreased wetlands, decreased biodiversity, decreased water quality, cancer...) in a way that is at once readable, reasoned and passionate.

In the final chapters Dr. Wohl cautions would-be rehabilitators of rivers to plan projects carefully, to avoid doing even more harm to the river. She urges the consideration of questions like:

• What aspects of the river are the focus of the rehabilitation: channel stability? flood conveyance? habitat enhancement?
• How will the proposed rehabilitation measures likely affect other aspects of the river and its surroundings?
• In what condition will the river exist when you are finished?

These seem to me to be very reasonable guidelines for any project. What are you trying to do? How will your actions affect the world beyond your project? When will you be successful, and what will your project look like when you are?

Yes, these guidelines could be used for projects small and large. Starting a small business, say, or running a grassroots campaign. Even waging war...Hey, there's a good one. Wouldn't it be great if we knew the answers to those three questions in regards to Iraq? Why did we go there in the first place? How is the war affecting the people and the environment of Iraq, of the region, of the world? How is the US defining "success" and what do the people in control of the whole thing think the world is going to look like when/if success is achieved?

Unfortunately, it looks like Dr. Wohl's original intentions for her guidelines will be needed in Iraq. 36,000 barrels of low-grade fuel oil a day are being dumped and burned, polluting the groundwater and the Tigris River. That's 1,512,000 gallons, or about 6 olympic sized swimming pools, per day. The 1989 Exxon Valdez spill was 11 million gallons. Or, to put it another way: There's an Exxon Valdez sized environmental crisis happening once a week at just one location in Iraq.

From the NY Times:

The dumping and burning has embarrassed ministry officials and exposed major gaps in the American-designed reconstruction program, even as President Bush appeals to the international community for much more rebuilding money in the wake of his visit to Baghdad.