The Tragedy of the Commons: New Orleans Levees

The Tragedy of the Commons: New Orleans Levees

(New Orleans Levee)

Understood as the common depletion of a resource at the expense of a community's overall well-being and personal gain, the Tragedy of the Commons is, ironically, very common. Whether it be in Oklahoma with the use of Lake Thunderbird for luxury gains and not caring enough for the state of the water, to the depletion of the Ogalala Aquifer to feed the overuse/wasting of water the each person participates in, the Tragedy of the Commons is everywhere. New Orleans is no exception. The Tragedy of the Commons is not as evident in this city, but once pointed out, there is no going back.

The tragedy in this city is the depletion of available land by the implementation of levees. This may seem far-fetched, but let me explain.

This land was not meant to be above sea level in the first place, so the fact that there is land at all is a force of human kind, not nature. Residing eight feet below sea level is a feat that is constantly being achieved by the use of levees. The levees are in place to keep the water out and channeling the excess water through canals and containing it as best possible. This necessity in order to maintain water levels has taken away a lot of available land for residents. Land that is used for levees is not available for anything but grass to live on and it is in the people's best interest that it stays this way. No one wants to give up the land that they already have in New Orleans, and in order to keep it for personal gain, levees must be used. While this is happening, the overall well being of the land is diminishing due to the previously stated fact that it naturally should not exist in the first place and the creation of levees is destructing to the land as well.

The Tragedy of the Common land is a necessary force for this culture of America to stay alive. This tragedy would not exist if the French had not needed a port town way back when!