rdf-syntax-grammar
mods:
  schema location: http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3 http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/v3/mods-3-2.xsd
  title info:
    title: Levee failures in the Sacramento - San Joaquin river delta
    sub title: characteristics and perspectives
  name:
    name part: Hopf, Frank.
    role:
      role term: creator
  name:
    name part: Sherman, Douglas Joel
    name part: 1949-
    role:
      role term: thesis advisor.
  name:
    name part: Brannstrom, Christian
    role:
      role term: thesis advisor.
  type of resource: text
  genre: bibliography
  origin info:
    place:
      place term: txu
    date issued: 2012
    issuance: monographic
  language:
    language term: eng
  physical description:
    form: remote
    extent: 1 online resource.
  abstract: Between 1850 and 1922, agriculturalists built 1,700 kilometers of levees to convert 250,000 hectares of tidal marsh to farmland where the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers enter the San Francisco Bay (the Delta). Drained, farmed and isolated from the water channels, the organic soils behind the levees subsided to elevations as low as 8 meters below sea level, turning "levees" into "dams" that hold back water constantly. Engineers built water transfer projects in the mid-20th century, transferring water from the south Delta to 25 million Californians who now rely on the "dams" accidentally converted into supply channels. In 1972, however, a levee failure caused a salt-water intrusion into the Delta, raising the prominence of the polemic Peripheral Canal which, if built would replace the levees in the trans-Delta water transport role. Levee failures in 2004 (the Delta) and 2005 (New Orleans) have re-ignited the debate, fueled by comments made by public officials who warned that the Delta levees posed more risk of failure than did the pre-Katina Louisiana levees. This background motivates two research questions: What are the social perspectives regarding levee failures of the experts managing the Delta; and what is the history of levee failures that might support their perspectives? The research employed Q-Method to identify and describe four social perspectives: Delta Sustainers, Abandon the Levees, Levee Pragmatists, and Multi-Purpose Levee Advocates. A critical element underlying differences among the perspectives revolved around the perceived history of failures of Delta levees. This dissertation employed semi-structured interviews, archival record searches, and historic map and aerial photograph comparisons to compile a history of 265 levee failures since 1868, many of which are referenced to location, segment, and levee type. In addition, the dissertation compiled a list of emergency repairs and successful flood-fights. The history of failures indicates that impo…
  note: by Frank Hopf.
  note: "Major Subject: Geography"
  note: Electronic resource.
  note: Doctor of Philosophy Texas A&M University 2011 http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2011-12-10691
  note: Includes bibliographical references.
  note: Text (Dissertation)
  subject:
    topic: Major geography
  subject:
    topic: Hazards
  subject:
    topic: Q-Method
  subject:
    topic: Flooding
  identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2011-12-10691
  record info:
    record content source: TXA
    record creation date: 120320
    record change date: 20151202151854.0
    record identifier: in00002742110