The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ recent presentation on flood protection alternatives for the Skagit Valley brought this message — every potential solution has its consequences.

Also, said the corps’ chief planner for the region, there is no clear-cut solution that can satisfy the expectations of all parties. Complexity, the enemy of simple answers, is the unavoidable reality of flood planning for Skagit River communities.

Local officials who believe that they can craft flood projects for their own cities without considering the impacts both upriver and down should take note. The only way to develop a flood-protection plan that considers the interests of all constituencies in the Skagit River basin is to work cooperatively with the county as lead agency and the corps, which sits at the gateway to federal money.

The corps’ chief planner, Linda Smith, shared information in Tuesday’s meeting in Mount Vernon that came as news to many of the more than 80 attendees.

Ring dikes, which are dike systems that encircle a localized area, can be dangerous to residents if they fail — a lesson learned from Hurricane Katrina’s assault on New Orleans.

Smith said that because of the Katrina experience the corps now has a “philosophical issue” with ring dikes. She said that should a ring dike fail, residents could become isolated, making rescue difficult. Thus, she said a “very good evacuation system” would have to be in place if ring dikes were to be employed.

It wasn’t clear exactly where that might leave future projects such as Mount Vernon’s downtown revitalization plans or Burlington’s recently announced initiative to develop its own flood-protection program.

Smith also noted that setback levees could reduce flood heights through the cities, but would send more flooding downstream —another of those consequences that can spring from what seems on the surface to be a good idea.

Most noteworthy, however, was the revelation of the corps’ policy against levees for the purpose of protecting rural land. One of the options for a setback levee would virtually sacrifice the rural Riverbend area.

Riverbend is a long finger of farmland that stretches west from Freeway Drive, and it is the planned location for a new Wal-Mart superstore. The river makes a sharp U-turn there, putting considerable stress on the west bank levee.

Yes, flood planning is a complex process. It can’t be rushed to satisfy any single agenda. We will be living with the results for generations to come. We must get it right.

• Editorials reflect the consensus opinion of the editorial board and are written by its members: Publisher L. Stedem Wood, Editor Don Nelson and City Editor Dick Clever. Signed columns reflect the authors’ viewpoint.