SmallGovTimes.com

By: Lance Thompson | Published on 05/29/07    

Once upon the time, in a beautiful valley, blessed by mild weather and good soil, a river flowed. People settled in the valley, established homes and farms, and built a town that was the envy of all around. But the river was unpredictable, so the people built a dam to control the flow of water.

The town flourished, protected by the dam. When the town needed more water, it opened the gates and let water in to nourish the crops and quench the thirst of the townspeople. When threatened by a surging river, the people closed the gates and lived in safety.

After many years, the lake on the other side of the dam was very large, the pressure on the dam was great, and cracks appeared in the dam. Water seeped through here and there, sometimes poured over the top, and even though the town needed water, it was often more than the town could absorb and use.

As the water pouring over the dam and coming through the cracks increased, the people of the town realized something had to be done. One faction said that the dam had to be repaired, strengthened, built higher, wider and stronger. The other faction said that the flooding couldn’t be stopped, that the river was here before the town, that the people of the town should just accept a higher water level.

As the water continued to rise, flooding the fields, covering the streets, overflowing into the homes in the town, the people argued. Some tried to stop the water from pouring over the dam, but there was too much water, and too few people. The other faction said it was wrong to stop the water, that the town needed water, and the more water the better. This faction said people should learn to swim, waterproof their homes, build wagons that would float.

Finally, the two factions got together and worked out a compromise. The town would accept the higher water level. They would adjust. Farmers would become fishermen, homes would be built on stilts, people would trade their horses and wagons for boats and rafts. They would build a pipeline to pump the water that was already in the town back over the crumbling dam into the lake that was already too full. But the pipeline could not pump back as much water as was already flowing over the dam, and the water continued to rise.

Eventually, the valley filled with water, and the people all moved away. The town, the houses, the farms and fields all were inundated.

And still the water rose.

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