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When the flood waters recede, the next step is deciding how and where to rebuild. This will be decided at several levels. By the Army Corp of Engineers and the federal government, by small towns, and by individuals.
The first step should be deciding what changes, if any, need to be made in the Mississippi River to insure good water flow. If some land is needed to provide more flood overflow space or better flow, it should be bought under eminent domain and kept free of buildings. Land near the river can be used for parks and wild life preserves.

The Army Corps of Engineers used to be considered the experts in this field. Now their opinion is questioned by scientists who think they are too pro-development on one side, and people wanting the highest degree of protection on the other. The Army Corps of Engineers released a comprehensive list of plans for the upper Mississippi in 2006 as a result of the 1993 floods. Plan G got the most support, it was the plan that gave the best protection. But it required some areas to give up some of their protection, and be sacrificed as an area to store floodwaters. So the Corps of Engineers came up with another plan, Plan M, which does not give so many people "500 year" protection, but nobody lost protection. The Army Corps of Engineers should have a conference with the scientists, but for now work should focus on fixing the most obvious problems. New construction which narrows the river should be avoided. It will take years of study to get another plan based on new studies developed.
Communities which participate in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) must also comply with some floodplain management rules. FEMA and other branches of the government often decide whether or not to offer people a buy out after a flood. The insurance rules may change based on the lessons from this flood. When the rules do change, it is often with a theme of buying people out instead of paying them to rebuild in the same flood prone location again and again. There have been some success stories moving small towns to higher ground. Soldier's Grove, Wisconsin moved up the road from its old location in 1978. The town bought land with its own money, but got $900,000 federal money when they were flooded again. The project took 4 years to complete. This year they were relatively safe from flooding, the worst damage was to a park where their downtown used to be. The towns of Valmeyer, Illinois and Pattonsburg, Missouri moved to higher ground after the 1993 flood. FEMA provided $35 million to Valmeyer and $12 million to Pattonsburg, but residents also payed some of the cost. Gays Mills, a town near Soldier's Grove which chose not to move in 1978, was flooded twice in the last 10 months and is now considering moving. Encouraging people to move to higher ground and helping to pay for it is a good plan.
Everyone in the floodplain should buy flood insurance. Most people do not buy insurance unless they are told they have to. Even then people would rather stall than pay. The levee protecting East St Louis was judged not up to the 100 year standards by FEMA last year, and had some minor leaks during the flood. A spokeswoman for Sen. Durbin says it is not fair to make people in East St. Louis pay for flood insurance yet, because the new risk map for the west side isn't done yet. Is that really the most important issue here? True, it would be better to fix the levee than rely only on flood insurance, and a sales tax has been approved to pay for fixing them. But even people behind adequate levees should have flood insurance. Levees can fail before any problems are noticed. Renters should have their own flood insurance to cover their belongings.

Learn more about this author, Eric Puravs.
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