Taking care of things – our that’s something we are not very good at. We grouse and complain when we have to take detours if a road is being repaired, even if a vitally important bridge repair forces us into a detour. Remember the Mianus River Bridge collapse in Connecticut bringing down apportion of I-95? Fortunately, it happened at night. Imagine the death toll had it occurred at 8 in the morning.
The same is true with our old dams. Right now, due to heavy rains, the Rapidan Dam on the Blue Earth River, built in 1910, faces imminent collapse. The so-called “administrative state” that some politicians want to eradicate would keep government from repairing this dam.
The November election isn’t just about culture wars. It’s also about the need to keep a viable government functioning so a dam collapse doesn’t happen. It seems we’re so concerned about our own individual needs that we have forgotten there is a larger society out there that we are part of and needs our support.
Prayer for the Day
Caught up in our own individual worlds,
We often confuse desire s with needs;
Focused only on ourselves, we forget the world,
Those who depend on our societal structures.
Move us, O God, beyond thinking only of ourselves,
And help us consider the lives and needs of others.
In the name of the One who shows us how to care,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
All of the sudden, you've got older dams with a lower design criteria that now can potentially cause loss of life if they fail. The number of deficient, high-hazard dams is increasing.
Del Shannon, engineer, President of the U.S. Society on Dams
New Jersey dams are regulated by the Dam Safety Act which oversees dams both privately owned and those under state or municipal entities. About 60% of the dams in New Jersey are privately owned.
NJ DEP
You visit the earth and water it, you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water;
You provide the people with grain, for so you have prepared it.
You water its furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers.
Psalm 65: 9-10