Misk Lake, the sarcastically named sewage retention pond to the east of Saudi Arabia’s second city, is the subject of several pieces in Saudi Gazette/Okaz. The lake presents a number of hazards, from a collapse of retaining walls to providing a breeding ground for disease-carrying insects. Various proposals are being offered to deal with the problems. Fixing the problems, though, is only part of the overall need to fix Jeddah’s water-based infrastructure, the failure of which led to the deaths of over 100 people and billions of riyals in damage last month.

In this piece, Saudi geologists say they issued warning about the lake six years ago and made concrete recommendations on ways to fix the problem. The piece also notes recommendations for mitigating the dangers of future flooding in Jeddah, primarily through the use of building dams. This, rather than moving people out of flood zones, argues one, is a reasonable solution. I disagree: letting people continue to live in danger zones is not wise. It isn’t wise in the case of American cities built too close to rivers that occasionally flood, nor is it wise in the case of cities like New Orleans, built below sea level, which has historically seen flooding due to hurricanes. It is the same thinking—it’s easier and cheaper to keep the water out—that leads to disasters.

Misk Lake threat: ‘We warned them 6 years ago’

Another piece discusses the public health and environmental hazards raised by the floods:

Floods may have negative effect on environment: Expert