Our large-scale public infrastructure is very expensive to build and maintain. We are currently in the midst of heightened public awareness for public infrastructure funding woes. A very entertaining look into the issue of public infrastructure...

http://time.com/3727970/john-oliver-last-week-tonight-infrastructure/

Not only are we faced with funding issues (a small part of a larger concern among engineers) but we face the fallout from decades of misguided design principles. This next article outlines just one example of public infrastructure systems that are causing more harm than good. The truth is that most public infrastructure systems are designed with good intention and public safety in mind, but in practice these systems fail to serve the public in the long term.

http://theadvocate.com/news/11707631-123/special-report-how-new-orleans

The real solution moving forward is reinventing public infrastructure systems that integrate with the ecology of a given locality. The system of flood control levees and dams mentioned are not limited to New Orleans, but are used ubiquitously along the Mississippi River, coastlines, and throughout the nation's interior. A regenerative design methodology is desperately needed at the community, local government, state, and federal level.

The infrastructure issues that we face today are a direct result of our past actions. It is up to us to choose whether we simply fund repairs to obsolete infrastructure that will continue to draw vast resources, or that we begin to retool or replace our outdated infrastructure with the next generation of ecologically integrated infrastructure.