Ah Venice!. . .is sinking?

For those of you who haven't heard, Venice is sinking into the muck on which it was built.

This isn't exactly breaking news. It's been happening for centuries, as this will happen when people who are escaping political persecution choose to build their new town in a swamp, literally. The buildings, the bridges, the priceless artwork- everything that is Venice- is constructed on top of pilings that were driven into the murky waters and thus a city was erected.

However, to quote W.B. Yeats's poem, "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;" -"The Second Coming"

I had first heard of Venice's slow sinking when I was in junior high to high school while watching one of those evening news shows. I don't remember exactly when it was broadcast, but I do remember that it was on 20/20 as I was a big fan of Hugh Downs and Barbara Walters. I have since stopped watching those shows because they make me too nervous to ride on commercial buses, whose brakes haven't been checked in twenty years, which has been verified due to their investigative reporting, or the faulty structural strength of bridges that cross mile-wide canyons and plunge unsuspecting travelers into the ravines, as evidenced by hard-hitting journalism. And let's not talk about what really makes one's dirty water hot dogs so yummy.

In any case, despair lept into my heart and I vowed that I must see Venice before it sank and disappeared forever.

I count myself inordinately fortunate that I have been able to see Venice twice since viewing that news report, once as a college student abroad and another time with my mom and grandparents.

I was in Venice in late May/early June both times and I was pleased to note that the city was still holding strong.

This however, was apparently not the case last December 2008.

I picked up an old TIME magazine (December 15, 2008) at my work and was leafing through it when I noticed an article by Howard Chua-Eoan entitled, "the Moment 12-02-08" under their "Briefing" section. In the article Mr. Chua-Eoan noted that rain, wind, and the tides conspired together to raise the water levels, covering the already minimal ground cover. At one point, the sea level was five feet above normal.

This makes the "MOSES" project all the more vital. MOSES is a flood-control system designed specifically for Venice's rising water problem, including contributions from the dean of engineering at UC Irvine. MOSES is an acronym of its Italian name. The good news, it's half done. The bad news is that it costs about $5.3 billion, funding has run, er, aground, and its not estimated to be done until at least 2014. (all facts summarized from Mr. Chua-Eoan's article) A more detailed summary can be found through Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOSE_project

On the news report from long ago I remember hearing about the various attempts to staunch the rising waters of Venice, including one giant engineering project, which is best akin to a hinged door, or a lock, in the nautical sense. This was apparently that project, working like a giant door, attempting to literally shut out the rising waters.

Here's hoping that some freakishly wealthy benefactor considers Venice his or her spiritual home and is able to enhance the funding of this project. A place so beautiful should not have to drown.