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Holding Back the River: The Struggle Against Nature on America's Waterways
A revelatory work of reporting on the men and women wrestling to harness and preserve America’s most vital natural our rivers.The Mississippi. The Missouri. The Ohio. America’s rivers are the very lifeblood of our country. We need them for nourishing crops, for cheap bulk transportation, for hydroelectric power, for fresh drinking water. Rivers are also part of our mythology, our collective soul; they are Mark Twain, Led Zeppelin, and the Delta Blues. But as infrastructure across the nation fails and climate change pushes rivers and seas to new heights, we’ve arrived at a critical moment in our battle to tame these often-destructive forces of nature. Tyler J. Kelley spent two years traveling the heartland, getting to know the men and women whose lives and livelihoods rely on these tenuously tamed streams. On the Illinois-Kentucky border, we encounter Luther Helland, master of the most important—and most decrepit—lock and dam in America. This old dam at the end of the Ohio River was scheduled to be replaced in 1998, but twenty years and $3 billion later, its replacement still isn’t finished. As the old dam crumbles and commerce grinds to a halt, Helland and his team must risk their lives, using steam-powered equipment and sheer brawn, to raise and lower the dam as often as ten times a year. In Southeast Missouri, we meet Twan Robinson, who lives in the historically Black village of Pinhook. As a super-flood rises on the Mississippi, she learns from her sister that the US Army Corps of Engineers is going to blow up the levee that stands between her home and the river. With barely enough notice to evacuate her elderly mother and pack up a few of her own belongings, Robinson escapes to safety only to begin a nightmarish years-long battle to rebuild her lost community. Atop a floodgate in central Louisiana, we’re beside Major General Richard Kaiser, the man responsible for keeping North America’s greatest river under control. Kaiser stands above the spot where the Mississippi River wants to change course, abandoning Baton Rouge and New Orleans, and following the Atchafalaya River to the sea. The daily flow of water from one river to the other is carefully regulated, but something else is happening that may be out of Kaiser and the Corps’ control. America’s infrastructure is old and underfunded. While our economy, society, and climate have changed, our levees, locks, and dams have not. Yet to fix what’s wrong will require more than money. It will require an act of imagination. “With meticulous research and insightful analysis” (Publishers Weekly), Holding Back the River brings us into the lives of the Americans who grapple with our mighty rivers and, through their stories, suggests solutions to some of the century’s greatest challenges.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published April 20, 2021
21 people are currently reading
324 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
January 24, 2021
A very in-depth look at the state of our locks and dams on the major mid-west rivers. Rather disturbing to realize that our failure to invest in the infrastructure needed to keep these structures in good repair could cost us in untold damages. The author obviously knows his subject. Perhaps this book would be of great benefit to those in government who are responsible for this area.
January 8, 2021
Time to revisit the mighty American rivers; to see them as Mark Twain did, on gaudy riverboats, but then to look hard at today's patch jobs on locks and dams. To read this solid work is to sit in the wheelhouse of a tugboat which pushes millions of dollars worth of goods ahead of it on barges, an assemblage longer than the Titanic, to be nudged in and out of massive locks.
Then, to meet the man who, stressed to bad health, masters the lock No. 52, Ohio River, which can take weeks to pass due to miles of barges queuing on both sides, with the occasional eight-day pause in operations to fix wedges which don't work or fit their positions any more.
We see how crops and goods cost so much less and use so much less carbon to transport on wide waterways, which are artificially maintained for the purpose. But they are also maintained to provide regular industry and power, and to protect crops and housing, as we see in the later part of the story.
The town Pinhook that was built where the poor people were sold marginal land, which they reclaimed to grow fine crops, was evacuated and flooded at the last minute to protect downstream cities. Afterwards, the landowners were not allowed to rebuild on the floodplain. Eventually they got new homes. But what of the man we meet right at the beginning, whose flood compensation was so long delayed that he refurbished his house with $100,000 of his own money and then decided not to take out flood insurance any more? Who would do that? Obviously the increasingly heavy and frequent rain kept increasing and frequenting, and he was flooded out again in no time.
I like best the tip to plant trees along the riverbanks. The trees absorbed the force of the rising water and helped silt to settle on fields. After one landowner did this and prospered, the Army Corps of Engineers followed suit for miles.
Be ready for engineering and construction detail, hard work and many seeming contradictions, like why people live in floodplains. Because that is where the good soil is, and river transport, of course. But straightening the bends, clearing the snags, and raising levees instead of wide floodplains, have made this a perilous undertaking in the face of climate change. The book will suit hydrologists and potamolgists, engineers, geographers, geologists and agri students.
We get a helpful map or two of river basins, and notes on P204 - 229. I would have liked photos, but these might be included in the book on sale. I read an e-ARC from Net Galley. This is an unbiased review.
Then, to meet the man who, stressed to bad health, masters the lock No. 52, Ohio River, which can take weeks to pass due to miles of barges queuing on both sides, with the occasional eight-day pause in operations to fix wedges which don't work or fit their positions any more.
We see how crops and goods cost so much less and use so much less carbon to transport on wide waterways, which are artificially maintained for the purpose. But they are also maintained to provide regular industry and power, and to protect crops and housing, as we see in the later part of the story.
The town Pinhook that was built where the poor people were sold marginal land, which they reclaimed to grow fine crops, was evacuated and flooded at the last minute to protect downstream cities. Afterwards, the landowners were not allowed to rebuild on the floodplain. Eventually they got new homes. But what of the man we meet right at the beginning, whose flood compensation was so long delayed that he refurbished his house with $100,000 of his own money and then decided not to take out flood insurance any more? Who would do that? Obviously the increasingly heavy and frequent rain kept increasing and frequenting, and he was flooded out again in no time.
I like best the tip to plant trees along the riverbanks. The trees absorbed the force of the rising water and helped silt to settle on fields. After one landowner did this and prospered, the Army Corps of Engineers followed suit for miles.
Be ready for engineering and construction detail, hard work and many seeming contradictions, like why people live in floodplains. Because that is where the good soil is, and river transport, of course. But straightening the bends, clearing the snags, and raising levees instead of wide floodplains, have made this a perilous undertaking in the face of climate change. The book will suit hydrologists and potamolgists, engineers, geographers, geologists and agri students.
We get a helpful map or two of river basins, and notes on P204 - 229. I would have liked photos, but these might be included in the book on sale. I read an e-ARC from Net Galley. This is an unbiased review.
November 14, 2020
*This book was received as an Advanced Reviewer's Copy from NetGalley.
So I never really realized just what all goes into the infrastructure in our country (or any country for that matter). Sure I have some vague idea about highways, bridges, etc. But something I had never thought about were the waterways. Up until a few years ago, I didn't even know what a lock was. And I only had vague ideas about dams and levees.
This book takes you behind the scenes with all those aspects of river infrastructure and how it is used. And in some cases, why it is failing or the troubles with it. Covering topics like the locks and dams along the Ohio river, to the levees and flood-ways along the Mississippi. And a bunch of other issues and topics as well.
Even though this is non-fiction, about a subject that involves a lot of bureaucracy and technical jargon and notions that you don't run into in day to day life (unless you work in the industry), this was still a compelling book. While I had trouble keeping track of who was who sometimes, in general that didn't really matter for me as I was more interested in the machinery, workings of the river, and other information presented.
I also appreciated that this book went into the socio-impacts of the infrastructure and how it affects different groups of people. Specifically, Black Americans, who were only given limited opportunities for buying land or raising towns are disproportionately affected in flood-ways and in regards to insurance payouts. The effects on Native American land and water rights were also discussed.
A very informative book, on a subject that I'm sure only a rare few think about if they aren't in the industry.
Review by M. Reynard 2020
So I never really realized just what all goes into the infrastructure in our country (or any country for that matter). Sure I have some vague idea about highways, bridges, etc. But something I had never thought about were the waterways. Up until a few years ago, I didn't even know what a lock was. And I only had vague ideas about dams and levees.
This book takes you behind the scenes with all those aspects of river infrastructure and how it is used. And in some cases, why it is failing or the troubles with it. Covering topics like the locks and dams along the Ohio river, to the levees and flood-ways along the Mississippi. And a bunch of other issues and topics as well.
Even though this is non-fiction, about a subject that involves a lot of bureaucracy and technical jargon and notions that you don't run into in day to day life (unless you work in the industry), this was still a compelling book. While I had trouble keeping track of who was who sometimes, in general that didn't really matter for me as I was more interested in the machinery, workings of the river, and other information presented.
I also appreciated that this book went into the socio-impacts of the infrastructure and how it affects different groups of people. Specifically, Black Americans, who were only given limited opportunities for buying land or raising towns are disproportionately affected in flood-ways and in regards to insurance payouts. The effects on Native American land and water rights were also discussed.
A very informative book, on a subject that I'm sure only a rare few think about if they aren't in the industry.
Review by M. Reynard 2020
April 20, 2021
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers Avid Reader and Simon & Schuster for an advance reading copy of "Holding Back the River" by Tyler Kelley. This is a quality entry in a growing collection of books on the history of public works and water in the United States, ranging from shorter works such as those collected in "The Control of Nature" by John McPhee through "Rising Tide," the deep and extensive study of the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 by John Barry. Both of those works make appearances later in "Holding Back the River," in which the author covers the ongoing efforts of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to manage the Mississippi River and its major tributaries for navigation, flood control, and seemingly above all else, economic stability. That's not to suggest profitability or even cost recovery for the Corps, as the author makes clear covering how thinly the Corps' efforts have been spread just to keep a lock-and-dam complex operating on the Ohio River just downstream of Louisville. Starting with that vignette and following with another tale of unintended consequences on the upper Missouri River, the focus of Kelley's narrative becomes significantly more clear: the Corps' biggest problem in the Mississippi watershed, from top to bottom, is sediment. For decades while attempting to meet their stated goals, the Corps' projects on the upper rivers have starved the system of the sediment that washed from the upper tributaries in all directions through the major confluences around St. Louis to nourish the lower Mississippi River valley for centuries before. The author proceeds then to catch us up on recent Corps efforts along the lower river, from the 2011 floods that saw the activation of the Birds Point-New Madrid floodway in southeastern Missouri to continuing issues in Louisiana. These include a worthwhile recap of several topics from Barry's work on issues related to flood protection that still linger from the early 20th century to McPhee's masterful coverage of the Atchafalaya and its denizens, connecting these to recent Corps work following Hurricane Katrina and the state's renewed recognition of the value of sediment in efforts to rebuild the lower river delta where land loss has slowed, but certainly not stopped, in recent years. Though I wish the author had delved deeper into several issues, especially with growing attention to environmental justice and the ever-present racial divides that the Mississippi River watershed encompasses across much of America, the information and vignettes provided do serve to summarize well the issues faced by the underfunded, and sometimes under-recognized, Corps of Engineers. This arm of the federal government, essentially a public-private partnership, works hard to hold together the center of our country and the foundations of our national economy, with little attention from Congress or the American people except when they're asking for huge (but still underestimated) funding packages or some natural disaster leads to a structural failure or controversial decision that makes national news. "Holding Back the River" by Tyler Kelley makes a worthwhile effort to bring these issues facing the Corps, often relegated to the shadows, into the light of national attention.
April 10, 2021
A powerful blend of the deeply biographical and intensely technical backdrop of Midwestern waterways and the engineering solutions in place to control them, Holding Back the River is captivating from its opening pages and extraordinarily readable for its technical depth (although I will admit I had to pull up some YouTube videos of how wickets work, among other things). I highly, highly recommend this book for anyone loosely interested in infrastructure, civil engineering, cost-benefit analysis, or just life in the Mississippi floodplain or in towns built around maintaining locks and dams.
Part one focuses on locks and dams, and specifically on Lock and Dam 52 and the men whose job it is to keep it up and running in a barely functional capacity. Through the eyes of Luther Helland and those who work alongside him, the clear danger, the sense of duty, and the immense frustration of the men who kept the most important important dam in the United States operating well into old age come to life. As the dam slated to replace No. 52 -- Olmstead -- was saddled with skyrocketing costs and a timeline that seemed to never near completion, the risks associated with keeping No. 52 in service only got greater. Meanwhile, engineers were capitalizing on the government's blank check to pilot completely new techniques for building dams and were innovating on the spot instead of relying on tried-and-true techniques that would have seen the cost at a fraction of the final bill and the timeline extended by only a few months--a drop in the bucket for a project already 20 years behind schedule. As the Army Corps of Engineers relied on cost-benefit analyses that were heavily manipulated and at times even outright fabricated to justify the spending, Kentucky congressmen were burying the final cost figures in high-stakes legislation needed to end a government shutdown. The lack of accountability was staggering, the results were subpar, and the dismay of the men who built their entire careers and livelihood on Lock and Dam 52 was palpable.
In part two, we meet Twan Robinson, a Black resident of Pinhook, Missouri, smack dab in the middle of the Birds Point-New Madrid floodway that was activated in 2011. When her town was evacuated for the intentional levee breach, no one bothered to inform Twan or her neighbors, who began to suspect they needed to take action when they noticed white farmers expeditiously moving their equipment out of the area. The floodway had not been activated since 1937, but at least at that time the Corps had dropped leaflets from airplanes to warn residents. And then after the water came through and decimated everything in its path, disaster relief was clearly designed to the benefit of those who already had capital. FEMA payments were doled out only to homeowners, and even among them, only to those who owned their homes free and clear. If you had a mortgage, your payment went to the bank. Kelley quotes Professor Junia Howell here: "Natural disasters do not just bring damages, they also bring resources...equal aid is not equitable aid, especially when it is systematically designed to restore property rather than communities." He adds at the end: "In this way, FEMA rewards the wealthy more than the poor, the white more than the Black."
Part three centers on an apparently underacknowledged component of river control: sediment. Sedimentation is a slow-moving threat with next to no intragenerational impacts, leaving it to be excluded from most government BCAs and planning. While the Netherlands, as discussed in the conclusion, plans for floods that have a chance of occurring just once in 1200+ years, the US plans 100 years ahead at the high-end, with 30-50 years a typical benchmark. As our infrastructure ages, these longer-term impacts begin to come into play. Aside from dams getting clogged, water stripped of its sediment behaves differently and carves a deeper path through the earth, and it starves vegetation along its banks. Other policy decisions had an impact here as well: the Clean Air Act regards sediment as a pollutant to be purged, viewing the filtering of the dams as beneficial to the ecosystem. Harvesting sand into lakes became an intentional process--lakes that were sometimes existing sources of potable water for entire communities. Among those impacted by these decisions were the Santee Sioux whose wells were overtaken by "the nastiest water you ever washed your clothes in" as sediment pushed bodies of water near the reservation higher and higher. And while the Santee lost their federal takings lawsuit, white farmers in Iowa and Missouri mostly won theirs.
The book closes with an exploration of water management in the Netherlands, a country about a third the size of Louisiana, with all the flood risk of the Louisiana coast. While the Dutch plan far into the future with a huge margin of error, recognizing the inherent unpredictability of climate disasters, the United States seems to rely on betting on good times.
Anticipation is the ideology of manifest destiny, of "fill the earth and subdue it." Climate change is uncertain, dynamic, and volatile, yet American planners are still determined to outsmart nature as if the planet were a chessboard. Engineers build something big and expensive, and tell the public they're protected. Then a Hurricane Katrina or a Missouri Valley Flood comes along and tears their expensive defenses apart. The public feels betrayed. The engineers excuse themselves, saying "Sorry. We didn't anticipate that, so we didn't plan for it." ... America's problem is more than just technical--it's cultural. Katrina inspired the Dutch to rethink their relationship with nature. It inspired the U.S. to build higher walls.
My sincere appreciation to Avid Read Press / Simon Schuster and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for the review.
Part one focuses on locks and dams, and specifically on Lock and Dam 52 and the men whose job it is to keep it up and running in a barely functional capacity. Through the eyes of Luther Helland and those who work alongside him, the clear danger, the sense of duty, and the immense frustration of the men who kept the most important important dam in the United States operating well into old age come to life. As the dam slated to replace No. 52 -- Olmstead -- was saddled with skyrocketing costs and a timeline that seemed to never near completion, the risks associated with keeping No. 52 in service only got greater. Meanwhile, engineers were capitalizing on the government's blank check to pilot completely new techniques for building dams and were innovating on the spot instead of relying on tried-and-true techniques that would have seen the cost at a fraction of the final bill and the timeline extended by only a few months--a drop in the bucket for a project already 20 years behind schedule. As the Army Corps of Engineers relied on cost-benefit analyses that were heavily manipulated and at times even outright fabricated to justify the spending, Kentucky congressmen were burying the final cost figures in high-stakes legislation needed to end a government shutdown. The lack of accountability was staggering, the results were subpar, and the dismay of the men who built their entire careers and livelihood on Lock and Dam 52 was palpable.
In part two, we meet Twan Robinson, a Black resident of Pinhook, Missouri, smack dab in the middle of the Birds Point-New Madrid floodway that was activated in 2011. When her town was evacuated for the intentional levee breach, no one bothered to inform Twan or her neighbors, who began to suspect they needed to take action when they noticed white farmers expeditiously moving their equipment out of the area. The floodway had not been activated since 1937, but at least at that time the Corps had dropped leaflets from airplanes to warn residents. And then after the water came through and decimated everything in its path, disaster relief was clearly designed to the benefit of those who already had capital. FEMA payments were doled out only to homeowners, and even among them, only to those who owned their homes free and clear. If you had a mortgage, your payment went to the bank. Kelley quotes Professor Junia Howell here: "Natural disasters do not just bring damages, they also bring resources...equal aid is not equitable aid, especially when it is systematically designed to restore property rather than communities." He adds at the end: "In this way, FEMA rewards the wealthy more than the poor, the white more than the Black."
Part three centers on an apparently underacknowledged component of river control: sediment. Sedimentation is a slow-moving threat with next to no intragenerational impacts, leaving it to be excluded from most government BCAs and planning. While the Netherlands, as discussed in the conclusion, plans for floods that have a chance of occurring just once in 1200+ years, the US plans 100 years ahead at the high-end, with 30-50 years a typical benchmark. As our infrastructure ages, these longer-term impacts begin to come into play. Aside from dams getting clogged, water stripped of its sediment behaves differently and carves a deeper path through the earth, and it starves vegetation along its banks. Other policy decisions had an impact here as well: the Clean Air Act regards sediment as a pollutant to be purged, viewing the filtering of the dams as beneficial to the ecosystem. Harvesting sand into lakes became an intentional process--lakes that were sometimes existing sources of potable water for entire communities. Among those impacted by these decisions were the Santee Sioux whose wells were overtaken by "the nastiest water you ever washed your clothes in" as sediment pushed bodies of water near the reservation higher and higher. And while the Santee lost their federal takings lawsuit, white farmers in Iowa and Missouri mostly won theirs.
The book closes with an exploration of water management in the Netherlands, a country about a third the size of Louisiana, with all the flood risk of the Louisiana coast. While the Dutch plan far into the future with a huge margin of error, recognizing the inherent unpredictability of climate disasters, the United States seems to rely on betting on good times.
Anticipation is the ideology of manifest destiny, of "fill the earth and subdue it." Climate change is uncertain, dynamic, and volatile, yet American planners are still determined to outsmart nature as if the planet were a chessboard. Engineers build something big and expensive, and tell the public they're protected. Then a Hurricane Katrina or a Missouri Valley Flood comes along and tears their expensive defenses apart. The public feels betrayed. The engineers excuse themselves, saying "Sorry. We didn't anticipate that, so we didn't plan for it." ... America's problem is more than just technical--it's cultural. Katrina inspired the Dutch to rethink their relationship with nature. It inspired the U.S. to build higher walls.
My sincere appreciation to Avid Read Press / Simon Schuster and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for the review.
January 3, 2023
Really interesting look at the consequences of how America has manipulated their waterways. It does a great job of showing snapshots of different parts of the country that are affected by this manipulation. However, I wish there had been a more comprehensive look at the history of how the people changed the rivers over time - what they did, how it affected the land and different species, the consequences of doing so, and what the future may hold. I also thought some of the science wasn't as fleshed out as I would have liked. Solid book though, so 3 stars.
January 27, 2022
Informative read and a good example of the sociological impacts of civil engineering.
June 2, 2021
Reading something by a person you know and interact with is a balancing act. I wanted to approach this book with no bias for the best chance to be honest, but I have to admit I was hesitant as non-fiction is not necessarily my typical reading fare.
So while a copy sat on my coffee table as I vacillated reading it, I realized I had also made the request for the ARC on Netgalley, and I owed the publisher a review.
And am I so glad I overcame my hesitancy. This book was astonishing. I know the bare minimum about infrastructure in America. With most of that revolving around roads and the taxes that pay to fix them because they have impacted me directly at one point or another.
Besides that lack of understanding, I have no real knowledge of the history of our infrastructure. After reading this book, I really feel that is a gaping hole in my education. I had made some serious assumptions about river transport as roads and airfare were developed. This book was a kick in the teeth to how goods are moved from coast to coast.
What really made this book an easy read for me, though, was its feeling of an essay I would have read during my English undergraduate. The similarities drawn to Mark Twain throughout the entire narrative were exactly how a literary doctoral thesis would have been formed. It made the book enjoyable. I felt for the people the way the author wants you to connect to those across America that fight this fight nobody seems to know about.
But they should. The United States are more connected then we are getting presented to us, and we should really understand what effects us in all the infrastructure, not just one politically motivated segment. I have already recommended this to all my co-librarians, but I now recommend it out to the worldwide web.
So while a copy sat on my coffee table as I vacillated reading it, I realized I had also made the request for the ARC on Netgalley, and I owed the publisher a review.
And am I so glad I overcame my hesitancy. This book was astonishing. I know the bare minimum about infrastructure in America. With most of that revolving around roads and the taxes that pay to fix them because they have impacted me directly at one point or another.
Besides that lack of understanding, I have no real knowledge of the history of our infrastructure. After reading this book, I really feel that is a gaping hole in my education. I had made some serious assumptions about river transport as roads and airfare were developed. This book was a kick in the teeth to how goods are moved from coast to coast.
What really made this book an easy read for me, though, was its feeling of an essay I would have read during my English undergraduate. The similarities drawn to Mark Twain throughout the entire narrative were exactly how a literary doctoral thesis would have been formed. It made the book enjoyable. I felt for the people the way the author wants you to connect to those across America that fight this fight nobody seems to know about.
But they should. The United States are more connected then we are getting presented to us, and we should really understand what effects us in all the infrastructure, not just one politically motivated segment. I have already recommended this to all my co-librarians, but I now recommend it out to the worldwide web.
June 18, 2021
(Audiobook) Infrastructure. It is a topic that on the surface, everyone agrees is important, but when it comes to the details, people tend to ignore it and move on to something sexier and more interesting. Yet, it is important for the lifeblood of this country, In particular, the national infrastructure when it comes to interior waterways. In Holding Back the River, Kelley manages to bring to life various personal accounts of people whose livelihoods depend on the status of the local waterways, from the Great Lakes all the way down the Mississippi to the Louisiana Deltas. Along the way, Kelly blends in history, politics and technical details to give the narrative depth and focus.
It is worth the time to read, regardless of politics. There are no simple answers, and solutions that help one group of people present others with existential threats to their livelihoods. Yet, it is an issue that is not just a Washington insider joke. Maintaining and improving our infrastructure is a critical requirement for our national existence. This work takes that seriously and you should read this just as seriously.
It is worth the time to read, regardless of politics. There are no simple answers, and solutions that help one group of people present others with existential threats to their livelihoods. Yet, it is an issue that is not just a Washington insider joke. Maintaining and improving our infrastructure is a critical requirement for our national existence. This work takes that seriously and you should read this just as seriously.
December 29, 2020
The book is a great one for making you think about the way we try to harness nature. Most specifically here with the major rivers of the US. Most of the focus is on the Missouri, Mississippi and the Ohio, but others are mentioned too. The overuse of dams and locks (which I admit I am not a fan of) and the crumbling infrastructure of highways and bridges in our country gives a different POV.
A lot of reference to Mark Twain, so if you've read some of his work you will understand the comparisons and contrasts of discussion more. As someone who grew up seeing and hearing of the flooding of Native American lands for the Garrison Dam, and seeing the work done by the CCC during the depression era, and all the residual effects to this day, make this book one to give thought to. I am sure you can find examples near you too, and the issues that are still influencing us today.
highly recommend this book - it does a great job of presenting issues that many do not think about, but we all should.
A lot of reference to Mark Twain, so if you've read some of his work you will understand the comparisons and contrasts of discussion more. As someone who grew up seeing and hearing of the flooding of Native American lands for the Garrison Dam, and seeing the work done by the CCC during the depression era, and all the residual effects to this day, make this book one to give thought to. I am sure you can find examples near you too, and the issues that are still influencing us today.
highly recommend this book - it does a great job of presenting issues that many do not think about, but we all should.
November 8, 2020
Modern Day Life On The Mississippi. This book frequently references Twain's famous work Life On The Mississippi and essentially constitutes a modern retelling of this text, focusing on the more modern issues and problems of trying to "manage" one of nature's untamable forces. Rather than a dense scientific tome, Kelley instead focuses on the people involved and their specific issues, expanding through time and geography as and where needed to show how the issue at this time and place came to be. Ultimately many of his recommendations are more of the "your mileage may vary" level, but the work he does in establishing the people he speaks of in their times and places is truly breathtaking and will make you want to go back and read Twain's own works to see just how much of life on the Mississippi has changed - and remained constant - over the last 150 or so years. Very much recommended.
July 4, 2021
Unless you live near the Ohio, the Mississippi, the Missouri, or their tributaries, you might not realize the impact these rivers have on our economy and on the lives of millions. And you'll learn a lot about locks, levees, sediment, and the awesome power of water. Mr. Kelley is a fine writer: clear, concise, entertaining, and informative. You really feel like you know the people he meets, interviews, and writes about. Until we get smarter Congressmen and Congresswomen, until we recognize that the climate is changing, until the bureaucrats in the Corps of Engineers pull their heads out of the sediment, we're pretty much toast as far as our waterways are concerned.
June 30, 2022
As I was reading this, I was staying at a Corps of Engineers campground at Desoto, Wisconsin, along the Mississippi River. In this regard, I appreciate what the COE does for camping consumers. Great campgrounds on the river. The Mississippi River is a great river camp besides and watch river traffic travel through the locks.
However, the history of the COE and the Ohio, Missouri, and Mississippi rivers is fraught with projects that didn't work out well, due to politics, personalities or just that the rivers didn't cooperate. I really is man's folly to think that rivers can be contained and managed. The rivers are really in charge and we must keep that first-most in mind. Note to the author: in writing about dams and 'wickets' it would have helped to have a diagram, and expand the maps sections so the reader could follow along with the writing.
Sometimes the writing could delve into the technical, but I did gain a lot of knowledge about the Mississippi. The human stories added so much to this book.
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Passages like this go a long way to explain how our country lags behind in maintenance everywhere...
"Since the 2016 election the word 'infrastructure' has almost always been preceded by adjectives such as 'aging,' 'decrepit,' and 'crumbling.' These phrases have become bywords, repeated by politicians and the media so often that an average news consumer could be forgiven for thinking that every bridge they drive over is about to fall down, and that most municipal drinking water is laced with lead.
All infrastructure ages, and much of America's infrastructure has surpassed the length of time it was designed to last. Some is, indeed, crumbling, but most of the talk seeks merely to reset the clock, to rebuild everything just as it was, if not bigger and stronger. Moving dirt and pouring concrete benefits the politicians who want to bring pork home to their districts; it benefits civil engineers and construction companies. It does not necessarily benefit taxpayers or the planet.
Returning to the glory days of American civil works, the New Deal 1930s or the Interstate 1960s, would be a mistake, especially along the waterways, because we no longer live in that America. Back then, we did not understand the effects of man-made climate change; coal was our number one commodity; we had no Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act, or Environmental Protection Agency; and we did little when poor, Black, and indigenous people were flooded, evicted or left to live in high-risk areas. Before America rebuilds, America needs to rethink its infrastructure ideology. Without long-term planning--liberated from politics, special interests, and old assumptions--a New New Deal (or a Green New Deal) will be a colossal waste of resources. Americans are rarely willing to give up something in the near term for a benefit in the long term; our economic models aren't built this way, nor is our political process. The United States, as a country, is so young. Another century feels like forever."
However, the history of the COE and the Ohio, Missouri, and Mississippi rivers is fraught with projects that didn't work out well, due to politics, personalities or just that the rivers didn't cooperate. I really is man's folly to think that rivers can be contained and managed. The rivers are really in charge and we must keep that first-most in mind. Note to the author: in writing about dams and 'wickets' it would have helped to have a diagram, and expand the maps sections so the reader could follow along with the writing.
Sometimes the writing could delve into the technical, but I did gain a lot of knowledge about the Mississippi. The human stories added so much to this book.
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Passages like this go a long way to explain how our country lags behind in maintenance everywhere...
"Since the 2016 election the word 'infrastructure' has almost always been preceded by adjectives such as 'aging,' 'decrepit,' and 'crumbling.' These phrases have become bywords, repeated by politicians and the media so often that an average news consumer could be forgiven for thinking that every bridge they drive over is about to fall down, and that most municipal drinking water is laced with lead.
All infrastructure ages, and much of America's infrastructure has surpassed the length of time it was designed to last. Some is, indeed, crumbling, but most of the talk seeks merely to reset the clock, to rebuild everything just as it was, if not bigger and stronger. Moving dirt and pouring concrete benefits the politicians who want to bring pork home to their districts; it benefits civil engineers and construction companies. It does not necessarily benefit taxpayers or the planet.
Returning to the glory days of American civil works, the New Deal 1930s or the Interstate 1960s, would be a mistake, especially along the waterways, because we no longer live in that America. Back then, we did not understand the effects of man-made climate change; coal was our number one commodity; we had no Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act, or Environmental Protection Agency; and we did little when poor, Black, and indigenous people were flooded, evicted or left to live in high-risk areas. Before America rebuilds, America needs to rethink its infrastructure ideology. Without long-term planning--liberated from politics, special interests, and old assumptions--a New New Deal (or a Green New Deal) will be a colossal waste of resources. Americans are rarely willing to give up something in the near term for a benefit in the long term; our economic models aren't built this way, nor is our political process. The United States, as a country, is so young. Another century feels like forever."
December 16, 2021
Tyler J. Kelley does a fine and passionate job describing several of the inland waterways of the USA. He gives many impressions from interviews and visits with the various stakeholders of these waterways: homeowners and residents of the adjacent lands, and farmers; the men (no women were quoted in this job) who worked at the locks, civil engineers, Army Corps of Engineers managers, politicians, businesspeople. Some have lost, most are treading water (pun intended.) The only steady winners seem to be those in the commercial sector who get the contracts to build.
The areas of focus include the Mississippi River and its major feeder rivers: mostly the Ohio and the Missouri. Louisiana gets focus especially as the Mississippi nears the Gulf of Mexico. Other areas touched on include the Arkansas River and the Tennessee River.
The reader gets plenty of reporting on the beleaguered condition of the the locks along the Ohio River. (I didn't know what a wicket lock was - I know now.) Politics, up to the federal government level, play an essential part in the health of this waterway system. If the USA Congress doesn't appropriate, then the workers at the locks need to make do till more money comes. This story played out in exhaustive detail at Lock and Dam #52 on the Ohio River.
Be prepared to absorb terms for later understanding: trackhoe, the sill, lever rack, and wicket (locks.) Or sand boil, aggradation, floodway, spillway, cutoff, the CPRA (levees.)
For all the people, places and geologic and man-made formations described, the book includes only two photographs, one on the book jacket top cover and another of the author. Also, while Kelley included 23 pages of notes, the book has no index. These two points, no photos and no index, seems to me, point to a publisher who is managing costs. The content of the book earns five stars; alas, the needed peripherals are lacking.
But don't let that stop you from reading Holding Back the River - just have your tablet handy to look up a term or find the picture.
The areas of focus include the Mississippi River and its major feeder rivers: mostly the Ohio and the Missouri. Louisiana gets focus especially as the Mississippi nears the Gulf of Mexico. Other areas touched on include the Arkansas River and the Tennessee River.
The reader gets plenty of reporting on the beleaguered condition of the the locks along the Ohio River. (I didn't know what a wicket lock was - I know now.) Politics, up to the federal government level, play an essential part in the health of this waterway system. If the USA Congress doesn't appropriate, then the workers at the locks need to make do till more money comes. This story played out in exhaustive detail at Lock and Dam #52 on the Ohio River.
Be prepared to absorb terms for later understanding: trackhoe, the sill, lever rack, and wicket (locks.) Or sand boil, aggradation, floodway, spillway, cutoff, the CPRA (levees.)
For all the people, places and geologic and man-made formations described, the book includes only two photographs, one on the book jacket top cover and another of the author. Also, while Kelley included 23 pages of notes, the book has no index. These two points, no photos and no index, seems to me, point to a publisher who is managing costs. The content of the book earns five stars; alas, the needed peripherals are lacking.
But don't let that stop you from reading Holding Back the River - just have your tablet handy to look up a term or find the picture.
January 5, 2021
A great history on the trials and tribulations of America's waterways, and coast's past, present, and potential future. A great read full of facts and information on the current issues facing major rivers in America, essential since their engineered conceptions. Covering locks and dams on Mississippi, to floodways and all the issues and controversy surrounding them, to the persistent imposing danger facing the gulf coast as it continues to sink and water level rise.
Not knowing much of river systems on the East coast, I was curious to read this and see some of the environmental issues and engineering that went into taming something that seems so untamable. Little did I know, we do not have as great a hold on Mother Nature's immense power as I previously thought. Through the book, it shows time and time again, that the infrastructures put into place to engineer and protect people from rising waters and lowering land levels, was created with only a short term precedence rather than anticipating for even more drastic, seemingly more common, disasters as an effect of climate change. Time and time again these structures failed against 1 in a 100 year stores that they thought they would never experience. Instead of innovating and addressing issues of more imminent threats, they rebuilt using the same systems susceptible to catastrophic failure.
A bit of a dense read, but still incredibly fascinating, and filled with a plethora of amazing facts about the people who suffered due to these failures, people who were made unkept promises, and those fighting for innovation and experiencing resistance at every turn.
If you are interested at all in environmental sciences, engineering, or the history of the United States waterways, this is a must read for you.
Not knowing much of river systems on the East coast, I was curious to read this and see some of the environmental issues and engineering that went into taming something that seems so untamable. Little did I know, we do not have as great a hold on Mother Nature's immense power as I previously thought. Through the book, it shows time and time again, that the infrastructures put into place to engineer and protect people from rising waters and lowering land levels, was created with only a short term precedence rather than anticipating for even more drastic, seemingly more common, disasters as an effect of climate change. Time and time again these structures failed against 1 in a 100 year stores that they thought they would never experience. Instead of innovating and addressing issues of more imminent threats, they rebuilt using the same systems susceptible to catastrophic failure.
A bit of a dense read, but still incredibly fascinating, and filled with a plethora of amazing facts about the people who suffered due to these failures, people who were made unkept promises, and those fighting for innovation and experiencing resistance at every turn.
If you are interested at all in environmental sciences, engineering, or the history of the United States waterways, this is a must read for you.
August 22, 2025
For a long time I've had a running sense of dread about one particular inevitable natural disaster; what happens the next time the New Madrid Fault goes bang and, in all likelihood, breaks the complex of water-control structures preventing the Mississippi River from changing its course. It really will be all hell let loose.
That brings us to this journalistic account looking at various aspects of the state of water control in the greater Mississippi basin, and the picture isn't very pretty. A case of great works that were built out of a sense of expediency, which do have a finite expectancy of useful service, a public that is mostly in denial of what can reasonably be promised, galloping climate change, and now add a political wave which has declared war on the "administrative state," the only force that can hope to stand up to a river that is ultimately not controllable. Good times.
Kelley always works at keeping things at the human scale, as he looks variously at the custodians, the beneficiaries, and the victims of the American history of flood management, and why real change is so hard. In the end, Kelley uses the example of the Netherlands who, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, collectively realized that they had to change, or the country could literally be lost. It's a matter of abandoning what can't be preserved in the long run, fortifying what can be protected, and sucking up the monetary cost. Whereas in the United States we have an elite political class that is only concerned with personally cashing in fast; this will not end well.
That brings us to this journalistic account looking at various aspects of the state of water control in the greater Mississippi basin, and the picture isn't very pretty. A case of great works that were built out of a sense of expediency, which do have a finite expectancy of useful service, a public that is mostly in denial of what can reasonably be promised, galloping climate change, and now add a political wave which has declared war on the "administrative state," the only force that can hope to stand up to a river that is ultimately not controllable. Good times.
Kelley always works at keeping things at the human scale, as he looks variously at the custodians, the beneficiaries, and the victims of the American history of flood management, and why real change is so hard. In the end, Kelley uses the example of the Netherlands who, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, collectively realized that they had to change, or the country could literally be lost. It's a matter of abandoning what can't be preserved in the long run, fortifying what can be protected, and sucking up the monetary cost. Whereas in the United States we have an elite political class that is only concerned with personally cashing in fast; this will not end well.
December 29, 2022
I read this for the Cape Fear River Watch book club.
This was an interesting book. It describes the history and present of different parts of the Mississippi river system. It does this by going over some specific examples, the lock and dam system on the Ohio, Lewis and Clark Lake on the Missouri, the Bird Point - New Madrid Floodway on the Mississippi, and Lafourche Parish in Louisiana. The author interviewed a lot of people to write this book, fishermen, local elected officials, farmers, water managers, Army Corps colonels, boat captains and lock operators. I learned a lot about, for example, how important the lock systems on the Ohio are for the national and even global economy, how sediment is a major problem in dams but badly needed to prevent land from sinking in the delta, or how the ongoing loss of land in Louisiana is actually good for oyster fishermen. Google Maps is an essential reading companion to this book.
Despite this, I found the book at times disjointed. It would jump from one location to another without any transition. Some of the language got overly specialized. This was a special problem in the description of the operation of the locks on the Ohio. I could not visualize the author’s description, and so skimmed much of that. Perhaps some pictures, drawings or diagrams would have helped. Maybe these are included in the hardcover edition. Better maps would have been useful too.
This was an interesting book. It describes the history and present of different parts of the Mississippi river system. It does this by going over some specific examples, the lock and dam system on the Ohio, Lewis and Clark Lake on the Missouri, the Bird Point - New Madrid Floodway on the Mississippi, and Lafourche Parish in Louisiana. The author interviewed a lot of people to write this book, fishermen, local elected officials, farmers, water managers, Army Corps colonels, boat captains and lock operators. I learned a lot about, for example, how important the lock systems on the Ohio are for the national and even global economy, how sediment is a major problem in dams but badly needed to prevent land from sinking in the delta, or how the ongoing loss of land in Louisiana is actually good for oyster fishermen. Google Maps is an essential reading companion to this book.
Despite this, I found the book at times disjointed. It would jump from one location to another without any transition. Some of the language got overly specialized. This was a special problem in the description of the operation of the locks on the Ohio. I could not visualize the author’s description, and so skimmed much of that. Perhaps some pictures, drawings or diagrams would have helped. Maybe these are included in the hardcover edition. Better maps would have been useful too.
July 24, 2023
(3.5) kelley offers great insights into the management of main american waterways told through the people directly involved in the action and affected by said waterways. by following the narratives of the actual people who live in high-risk areas, rather than government officials who are far removed from the consequences of their governmental decisions, we gain a deeper understanding of what it means to live and work near flood-risk areas at the dawn of an immense climate crisis. overall, kelley does a good job of maintaining the balance between narrative work and the science and politics, yet the books gets both too technical at times, to the point where it becomes difficult to understand the workings of, for example, the locks, and at times skims over the complexities of the climate science as the people he’s following themselves ignore the “political” term “climate change” - which is not to say he trivializes the very valid and distressing concerns that are raised in the book. kelley’s careful criticism of the american way of thinking that’s grounded in a greatest-country-on-earth mentality as lacking a certain ability to make short-term sacrifices for long-term good is especially important as water levels continue to rise and we are faced with the inevitable realization we cannot save it all - but if we continue on this way, we will lose everything.
March 2, 2023
The world is constantly changing. Our infrastructure is screaming for help. Those in charge are just maintaining never replenishing or rebuilding.
We are in dire straits across the board and the time to act is upon us!
Flooding, global climate change, and the battle to keep our waterways within their banks is becoming increasingly dangerous and is depleting our land.
Having a government come in afterwards to merely buy out land isn't working! As noted, "America’s infrastructure is old and underfunded. While our economy, society, and climate have changed, our levees, locks, and dams have not. Yet to fix what’s wrong will require more than money. It will require an act of imagination."
It will more than likely take an act of Congress but sadly they're too busy arguing amongst themselves to accomplish much at the moment.
Rather than delve into polical opponents perhaps we can focus in on what's important such as the concerns brought through this work.
We are in dire straits across the board and the time to act is upon us!
Flooding, global climate change, and the battle to keep our waterways within their banks is becoming increasingly dangerous and is depleting our land.
Having a government come in afterwards to merely buy out land isn't working! As noted, "America’s infrastructure is old and underfunded. While our economy, society, and climate have changed, our levees, locks, and dams have not. Yet to fix what’s wrong will require more than money. It will require an act of imagination."
It will more than likely take an act of Congress but sadly they're too busy arguing amongst themselves to accomplish much at the moment.
Rather than delve into polical opponents perhaps we can focus in on what's important such as the concerns brought through this work.
June 12, 2025
I stumbled upon this at the library and added it to my growing stack of books for my environmental studies honours research. When I got home, I started skimming it and realized that 1. this book wasn’t related to my research at all and 2. I should read it properly. I found it be a brilliant biography of the Mississippi River and our attempts to control it and its tributaries.
The final chapter compares flood prevention in New Orleans versus the Netherlands: “Anticipation is the ideology of manifest destiny, of ‘fill the earth and subdue it.’ Climate change is uncertain, dynamic, and volatile, yet American planners are still determined to outsmart nature as if the planet were a chessboard…America’s problem is more than just technical—it’s cultural. Katrina inspired the Dutch to rethink their relationship with nature. It inspired the United States to build higher walls.”
The final chapter compares flood prevention in New Orleans versus the Netherlands: “Anticipation is the ideology of manifest destiny, of ‘fill the earth and subdue it.’ Climate change is uncertain, dynamic, and volatile, yet American planners are still determined to outsmart nature as if the planet were a chessboard…America’s problem is more than just technical—it’s cultural. Katrina inspired the Dutch to rethink their relationship with nature. It inspired the United States to build higher walls.”
August 16, 2025
A great book if you have any sort of connection or interest in the two systems discussed in this book, whether personal connections or general or academic interests. I enjoyed the incorporation of stories/interviews and that it gives a history on both systems too. I only wish that there were more diagrams/maps through the book when diving into specific areas, since the one map at the beginning is a lot to keep having to flip back to if you aren’t familiar with the area and sometimes isn’t detailed enough in reference to what is being discussed in the book. Really enjoyed getting to read about the Mississippi River again in the last half of the book and was a good way to jog my memory again on the area and river and its problems.
January 22, 2021
Read if you: Are interested in the infrastructure crisis in this country.
I grew up in a New Orleans suburb (and still have family there), so issues about levees, spillways, etc are a big concern. Kelley expertly combines history, technical details, and personal stories to create an important read.
Librarians/booksellers: Definitely purchase if you live in a community near a major American river. Others--this is a good introduction and account of the infrastructure issues facing major river communities in the United States.
Many thanks to Avid Reader Press/ Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.
I grew up in a New Orleans suburb (and still have family there), so issues about levees, spillways, etc are a big concern. Kelley expertly combines history, technical details, and personal stories to create an important read.
Librarians/booksellers: Definitely purchase if you live in a community near a major American river. Others--this is a good introduction and account of the infrastructure issues facing major river communities in the United States.
Many thanks to Avid Reader Press/ Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.
April 25, 2022
This is very good book and well written. The book is divided into chapters discussing locks along the rivers, floodplains (and lack therefore of) and levees, and management of sediments. Basically it discusses the different concepts of how the Mississippi River and its tributaries are managed. My one criticism of the book is that I don't feel like it tied everything together as well as it could have. It discusses consequences of the river management, but more of on an individual scale. This is important, but I feel like a slightly longer and better discussion on how everything affects everything would have improved the thesis.
February 24, 2022
I stumbled upon this book in the new releases section of my library. I knew I had to read it having grown up on the Ohio between Brookport and Olmsted flooding is something I have known my entire life. My great grandfather worked on the River and my dad was a pilot. When they completed Olmestead my piece of the Ohio changed dramatically. The rock bars I grew up swimming off of are gone. I wanted to learn more about how the Corps has shaped what I love so much and see what is in store for the future. I found this to be very informative and interesting.
July 25, 2022
Great book on waterways and protection problems. The book does a great job going through different water area and issue types. Great education and thought and while it's probably a topic most people don't think much about and don't want to, it's important for more people to hear and at least have an idea about what these concepts are, for these issues will be a major driver in how we do or don't move forward in the future.
February 12, 2023
Great history and current stories about the locks, dams, and levees of the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio river systems. Great writing makes the characters, both historical and current, engaging and sometimes seat-of-your-pants exciting. You’ll learn a lot about the topic, enjoy a fast paced read, and at the end wish that our government wasn’t so damn cheap on repairing our infrastructure. They’ll be some terrible disasters coming down the pike. 4****
December 25, 2023
This book could have been titled "Dummies Guide to Civil Engineering 101--Rivers." I'm thankful that I have lived long enough to read and learn about the world that I gave no mind to in past years. I mean I live a couple hours from the Ohio River, and I never knew that it had locks and dams. I had to look up pictures in Wikipedia. I'm also thankful for thorough and clear writers like Tyler J. Kelley who are gifted teachers for those of us who are ready to learn.
September 7, 2023
This was the second book in a row where I appreciated the author's diligence and research but just couldn't get invested in the work.
Kelley did an amazing job chronicling the interior waters of America, especially the dangers to people and commerce posed by our aged infrastructure.
I would highly recommend this to anyone interested in water and water policy.
Kelley did an amazing job chronicling the interior waters of America, especially the dangers to people and commerce posed by our aged infrastructure.
I would highly recommend this to anyone interested in water and water policy.
March 12, 2022
It was a short and interesting look at the difficulties facing floodplain residents as climate change and aging infrastructure means that flooding is increasingly likely. Focuses mainly on the Mississippi River basin. I like that it featured a wide variety of perspectives. Recommended read.
May 4, 2024
Lots to imagine.
To echo another review, if there was ever a book that needed photos and illustrations, this is it. I spent a lot of time on Google and YouTube following along with the authors' technical descriptions. A very good story though.
To echo another review, if there was ever a book that needed photos and illustrations, this is it. I spent a lot of time on Google and YouTube following along with the authors' technical descriptions. A very good story though.
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