largest artificial body of water in the state” upon it’s completion around 1910 contained the headwaters of Paxton Creek and released water at a steady volumetric discharge. The Harrisburg Telegraph later boasted the efficacy of the new Wildwood Lake in the summer of 1915 claiming that the lake is the sole reason “why floods are no more” in Harrisburg. This early example of large-scale engineered flood control in the Susquehanna Valley begins a century long narrative of combating the forces of this mighty river. The efforts of Dock were primarily motivated by the Progressive Era conservation movement, which largely began in Pennsylvania as a result of “the problems engendered by late nineteenth century industrialization and urbanization.” Ironically, the demolition of Wetzel’s Swamp, a wetland which was likely several hundred acres, further contributed to the destruction of Pennsylvania’s unique ecosystems and fragile wetlands rather than having promoted their conservation, which is what Dock is historically known for. Although this is an exception to the story of Dock in her grand efforts towards conservation it shows that, in this case, she favored the progression of cultural landscapes at the cost of sacrificing natural ones. Wildwood Park is now a physical memorialization that once attempted to preserve urban space in floodplains rather than allowing ecological processes work together to naturally mitigate the natural and healthy function of flooding. Twenty years later, this early method of flood control failed to keep Harrisburg free from inundation at the height of the Depression. Until 1972, the flood of 1936 was once known as the most devastating natural disaster in Pennsylvania. Known as the St. Patrick’s Day Flood, this flood was the high-water mark of natural disasters in Pennsylvania throughout the twentieth century until 1972. A disaster of this magnitude during the Depression intensified the cry of poverty stricken Pennsylvanians, and a call for a more organized and regulated public response
Red Tape and Relief Even though the implementations of non-structural flood mitigation were gaining recognition, they continued to be a secondary method to that of structural methods. All existing measures of flood mitigation, disaster preparedness, relief, and recovery were thoroughly tested when Tropical Storm Agnes brought unprecedented amounts of rainfall to Central Pennsylvania. The towns and cities within the Susquehanna Valley ravaged by flooding far more resembled the carnage of war than a place called home. Although no matter how well prepared the citizens of the Susquehanna Valley could have been, adequate measures to combat the extent of destruction from Agnes could never have been developed. Following the President Nixon’s tour of Harrisburg, he demanded that the Office of Emergency Preparedness and all other agencies “provide all Federal assistance needed, and do it immediately by cutting through red tape.” Similarly at the state level, Governor Shapp sent out a memo to all state employees to exercise the broadest “administrative discretion in the elimination of red tape” and to allow any possible resources available to those in need. A few days after the President visited Harrisburg, Governor Shapp stated that he was getting “double-talk and zero action” when referring to the federal government’s inability to cut through red-tape to speedily provide flood relief. Although both the President and the Governor urged the elimination of the sense of urgency could not instantaneously eliminate measures of standard operating procedures within these existing agencies. Flood victims and politicians alike had developed unrealistic expectations about the capabilities of state and federal agencies to flawlessly distribute assistance into Central Pennsylvania. While state and federal governments quarreled over policy and pointed fingers, the citizens of Pennsylvania were simultaneously developing a collective memory of unwanted