Article by Daniel A. Farber, Robert G. Bea, Karlene Roberts, Edward Wenk, and Kofi Inkabi
As revealed by an independent investigation of the flooding of New Orleans, the New Orleans levees failed disastrously because of organizational and human errors in its design, construction, and maintenance. In this Article, an interdisciplinary group of researchers proposes a series of reforms to strengthen the Army Corps of Engineers and improve oversight of flood control activities. Proposals include obtaining a more transparent and accountable system for determining acceptable levels of risk, creating White House and congressional organizations with jurisdiction over disaster issues, the recapturing of core engineering functions by the Corps, which are now outsourced, revamping the Corps on the model of well-studied high reliability organizations (HROs), improving the congressional appropriation process for flood control, and building new collaborative relationships between the Corps and other state and federal agencies.
About the Author
Daniel A. Farber. Sho Sato Professor and Director, California Center for Environmental Law and Policy, University of California, Berkeley.
Robert G. Bea. Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley.
Karlene Roberts. Professor of Organizational Behavior and Industrial Relations, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley.
Edward Wenk. Professor Emeritus of Engineering and Public Affairs, University of Washington.
Kofi Inkabi. Ph.D. candidate, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley.
Citation
81 Tul. L. Rev. 1085 (2007)