Different take on Iowa Floods

xrated · Jun 26, 2008

Interesting read and take on the flooding in Iowa.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/outdoors/20584544.html?location_refer=Bios

Flame away I'm sure...

ruffryder · Jun 26, 2008

xrated said:
Interesting read and take on the flooding in Iowa.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/outdoors/20584544.html?location_refer=Bios

Flame away I'm sure...

I would tend to agree. It is the same thing with New Orleans..... The states are doing it to themselves.

Here is a question, Where is a river supposed to flood if it's flood planes have been blocked off?

Answer: Your house!

It is the typical, short sited, what can the land do for me, how can I make another buck. You know why you guys are having so many 500 year floods? Because the statistics for those water levels were from before all the levies and earth berms were built. People in general seem to have a hard time view the incremental changes that they make on the world around them. They forget that the world is much much smaller than they think. You get enough people making incremental changes in the landscape and look what happens.

A good quote from New Orleans - The difference between a flood and a catastrophic event - one has a levee in it. Stop fricken building in flood planes!

That is the closest thing to a rant I think I have gone on. Nice little trip.

xsummitx · Jun 26, 2008

it is the same reason you dont play in the freeway....you going to get hit

skidooer1 · Jun 26, 2008

you guys don't have a clue what happened here.when you get storms that drop 10 inches of rain in a few hours, it don,t matter how high of elevation your house is, your still fuked.

ruffryder · Jun 26, 2008

skidooer1 said:
you guys don't have a clue what happened here.when you get storms that drop 10 inches of rain in a few hours, it don,t matter how high of elevation your house is, your still fuked.

Some of us do have a clue. Most of you land has been tiled right? That system has very little water storage capability so it all gets to the rivers real quick, instead of making swamps and marshy areas.

xrated · Jun 26, 2008

ruffryder said:
Some of us do have a clue. Most of you land has been tiled right? That system has very little water storage capability so it all gets to the rivers real quick, instead of making swamps and marshy areas.

Bingo. read the article and check the Iowas DNR numbers on how much of the original wetlands have been removed, etc. The natural filtering system does it's job and does it well, hence the 500 years.

Also think about all the chit, literal and other things like fert, etc that are now floating around or sinking into the ground water.

I'm not hating on farmers, but there is a reason rivers, etc have wetlands around them and why the wetlands had such fertile soil after they were tiled and drained.

Oh and check my location...we had hella flooding last fall and I'm encircled by farms. I saw the water running down the tile drainage paths last fall and piss pounding into the creeks and rivers.

skidooer1 · Jun 26, 2008

ruffryder said:
Some of us do have a clue. Most of you land has been tiled right? That system has very little water storage capability so it all gets to the rivers real quick, instead of making swamps and marshy areas.

farmland gets tiled.but when the gound is so saturated it doesn't help much.

ruffryder · Jun 26, 2008

skidooer1 said:
farmland gets tiled.but when the gound is so saturated it doesn't help much.

Tiling = reduction in water storage away from rivers and streams

xrated · Jun 26, 2008

damn i hate days where I agree with all of what ruffy posts on a topic.

yammadog · Jun 26, 2008

xrated said:
damn i hate days where I agree with all of what ruffy posts on a topic.

Now you are completely screwed!!

I lived in KC during the floods of '93 and my dad lived over in st louis. Mother nature is going to do what she does and if we live in areas that have been flooded before, around the rivers, like lots of communities, then you're going to get wet!! If the levies help every once in a while, you should be thankful they helped that time. But don't ***** when they don't, otherwise move uphill!!

The floods of the past are one of the reasons the land is fertil for planting.

Beels · Jun 26, 2008

skidooer1 said:
you guys don't have a clue what happened here.when you get storms that drop 10 inches of rain in a few hours, it don,t matter how high of elevation your house is, your still fuked.

No kidding. Where I'm at, nothing is tiled and we still had flooding for 3 or 4 of the last springs due to high ground water from record rainfall & runoff, and all the natural basins were full.

While I agree with the part about not building on natural floodplains, it's tough to blame man-made water control when you're getting that amount of rain over a short period of time.

coyoteman · Jun 26, 2008

ruffryder said:
Some of us do have a clue. Most of you land has been tiled right? That system has very little water storage capability so it all gets to the rivers real quick, instead of making swamps and marshy areas.

The same people *****ing about the farmers tiling and clearing land are the first ones to cry when their price of food goes up. Virtually everything we eat or use for that matter comes from crops we grow.
The only way to lower prices is to supply more, hence tiling and clearing land to put into production.
When you get that much rain in that ammount of time, it does not matter what has been done, it is going to flood.

xrated · Jun 26, 2008

Beels said:
No kidding. Where I'm at, nothing is tiled and we still had flooding for 3 or 4 of the last springs due to high ground water from record rainfall & runoff, and all the natural basins were full.

While I agree with the part about not building on natural floodplains, it's tough to blame man-made water control when you're getting that amount of rain over a short period of time.

With super sturation of the soil, yes it's gonna happen, but with natural watershed habitat, etc it will be lessend dramatically.

You may not have tiling in your exact area, but a watershed is a huge area and there could be tiling else where. Also it's not just tiling to blame. Develepments, parking lots, they all play a part.

xrated · Jun 26, 2008

coyoteman said:
The same people *****ing about the farmers tiling and clearing land are the first ones to cry when their price of food goes up. Virtually everything we eat or use for that matter comes from crops we grow.
The only way to lower prices is to supply more, hence tiling and clearing land to put into production.
When you get that much rain in that ammount of time, it does not matter what has been done, it is going to flood.

Yeah I complain about tiling and clearing, but then again I hae concern over the affects on natural habitat and the critters that live there. What will happen to pheasant populations as fields are turned to corn? What happens to the fish down stream from tiling or the ducks that used to nest in the wetlands?

ruffryder · Jun 26, 2008

coyoteman said:
The same people *****ing about the farmers tiling and clearing land are the first ones to cry when their price of food goes up. Virtually everything we eat or use for that matter comes from crops we grow.
The only way to lower prices is to supply more, hence tiling and clearing land to put into production.
When you get that much rain in that ammount of time, it does not matter what has been done, it is going to flood.

I agree something is going to flood, but you take away natural flood planes and what are you left with? That is the problem, the flooding issues are cause by lots of factors. People draining marshes and filling them in, filling in ponds and other wetlands, building dikes and whatnot. The problem is you need incremental storage areas for the water. Once it gets to a large river it is too late.

BTW, I am not complaining about prices. Charge what you must, I will pay it!

ruffryder · Jun 26, 2008

xrated said:
Yeah I complain about tiling and clearing, but then again I hae concern over the affects on natural habitat and the critters that live there. What will happen to pheasant populations as fields are turned to corn? What happens to the fish down stream from tiling or the ducks that used to nest in the wetlands?

By god won't anyone think of the poor duckies?

I am hungry....

xrated · Jun 26, 2008

Charge what you must, I have to pay it

fixed it for ya.

coyoteman · Jun 26, 2008

I'll agree on the wildlife suffering, it is a fact of life. the more population grows, the more habitat will suffer. does farming practices infuence wildlife worse than urban sprawl?

xrated · Jun 26, 2008

coyoteman said:
I'll agree on the wildlife suffering, it is a fact of life. the more population grows, the more habitat will suffer. does farming practices infuence wildlife worse than urban sprawl?

I would say the both affect in a proportionate manner, as it seems growth would correlate...but then again with ethanol I'd say farming could have teh ability to outpace urban sprawl.

ruffryder · Jun 26, 2008

coyoteman said:
does farming practices infuence wildlife worse than urban sprawl?

Hell no, well, if the farmer filled in a swamp and all the animals got displaced, they (the animals) probably don't see it as being any different than when a swamp gets filled in to make a subdivision. I do see a difference though, a pretty large one. I think the argument was made that it would be another benefit (besides helping to relieve all the flooding problems) from changes in land usage/management.

Different take on Iowa Floods

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