A new day
Five issues that should be on Tulsa’s radar in 2015

BY RAY PEARCEY

Jan. 7, 2015 – Tulsa Voice

2 // A critical river review
We need sensible, achievable, affordable objectives for making the Arkansas River a greater asset. We also need clarity on the cross-impacts of the damming/engineering schemes under consideration, particularly as they affect Tulsa’s ever-present floodplain management challenge. Veteran engineer and former Public Works director Charlie Hardt is also a hydrologist. Prior to his tenure at City Hall, Hardt spent much of his career in engineering, consulting for flood management in U.S. cities. Along with land-use planner Ron Flanagan and writer and public policy expert Ann Patton, Hardt has played a major role in Tulsa’s decades-long flood management efforts. Patton wrote the book, “The Tulsa River,” an extremely thoughtful meditation on Tulsa’s intimate and longstanding connection to the Arkansas River, which I highly recommend. Recently, Hardt has spoken publicly about the dangers of over-developing the river. His conclusions are sobering and ought to play a hefty role in the ongoing deliberations about the future of the river and the various capital projects being discussed.

http://www.thetulsavoice.com/January-A-2015/A-new-day/