>But what the Corps tells itself about the Lewisville Dam is different from what it tells the public. “We want to get the message out that there’s a potential for something bad to happen, but we don’t want to unduly panic the public,” says an official involved in the communications. “So we sugarcoat the message a bit.”

It may be time to change strategy. Is it the politicians holding the purse strings of the Army Corps of Engineers? It may be time to light a fire under their asses. Panicked constituents can do that.