Other areas may be interested in using our idea of moveable gates to control water flow, either on canals or on larger bodies of water. Sluice gates are an effective method of controlling water flow because they can be left open in normal circumstances to let regular processes proceed, but if extreme threats or conditions are present, they can be manipulated to protect an area from storm surges.

The flood system failures in New Orleans mainly serve as a wake-up call to all other vulnerable areas in the United States . A federal agency, the Army Corps of Engineers, was responsible for the construction and maintenance of the system; however, the flood protection system was nowhere near adequate to protect New Orleans. Other cities need to inventory their own flood protection systems to make sure they will be protected in the case of a natural disaster.

They can also look up to our maintenance, monitoring, and governance system as an example to base their own after. Flood protection needs to be constantly on the minds of the residents and governments of susceptible areas, even after the destruction of Hurricane Katrina is forgotten. Any slacking or corner-cutting in the system could come at a huge price of lives and destruction.