How many miles of dikes does Holland have to maintain in comparison to the US? I think you could fit quite a few “Hollands” into the current midwest flood zone.
Given the bumper crops after 93 it’s not a good idea to protect everything 100% of the time... you will get diminishing returns. It’s better to have occasional flooding... your land gets renewed and it keeps down excessive non agricultural floodplain development which can be ridiculously expensive to insure and protect in an area the size of the current Midwest flood zone.
How many miles of dikes does Holland have to maintain in comparison to the US?
I’m unsure of the answer to that. Probably fewer but it’s not the length I was referring to but the manner in which dyking is done in the Netherlands.
I agree with you about what most of what you say in the rest of your post. I’m no expert. Flooding may be beneficial for the replenishment of land but at what the human cost?