A Dark and Stormy Side of Life, Indeed

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May 14th, 2014 at 7:33:59 AM permalink
Face
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 61
Posts: 3941
Quote: Nareed
Floodplains and the slopes of volcanoes are two of the most fertile kinds of lands on Earth. That's why people settle there in the first place. But it makes sense to me to keep the farms on the actual flood zone, but build houses higher up.


To be fair, this hasn't been an eternal problem.

Back in the 50's and 60's, my town never experienced this. Sure, the football field and dump would take on water (labeled "Athletic field" on the map), but that was it. That was sort of the escape route FleaStiff was talking about. And really, that's not a big deal. I've seen that part flood several times. Other than some sticks caught in the chain link fence and a few carp on the 50yd line, the damage is mostly inconsequential.

But changes to the infrastructure, I believe, is mostly what's been exascerbating the situation of late. First off, there's three bridges downstream of that bend that were all redone in the late 80s / early 90s. They used to be suspended deck, just attacked to each end of the road. They've been replaced with that sort of "box culvert" cement pipe, which was placed in the crick as a base for the road bed to lie upon. You can see it when you're down in the crick, it sort of has a funneling effect. Obviously, when it comes to storm water, you want to give it an avenue to spread, not condense. Second, the DEC regs are throwing a wrench into everything as well. Since it is a spawning trib for steelhead, you're no longer allowed to touch it. You can't dig out any silt, you can't remove blow downs or log jams, you can't really do much to it. Sure, you could go down with a chain saw and remove a tree that fell, but you can't use heavy equipment. Even if land owners and the town had no problem with you going down with excavators and blowing it wide open, and widening it two fold and digging it deeper by feet, the State, specifically the DEC, won't have it.

About the only solution is to get an old fashioned labor group to go down with shovel and saw and do it up by hand. And there's actually a movement starting up as we speak to do just that.

Quote: Nareed
On the other hand, there's no benefit at all to Mex City's terrain, less so since the lakes and rivers were drained. So using it to stash the government is a good idea, as uselless alnd should support useless functions.


XD
Be bold and risk defeat, or be cautious and encourage it.
May 14th, 2014 at 9:23:15 AM permalink
Fleastiff
Member since: Oct 27, 2012
Threads: 62
Posts: 7831
The Pacific NorthWest had the famed Spotted Owl which supposedly put all the lumberjacks and truck drivers out of business though I'm sure other reasons contributed too.

Towns do have superfund sites but look around and you can find bioremediation should help even though it takes time.

Treatment centers, halfway houses, etc. bring friends of druggies as well as druggies. And people released from such places often have no place to go so they just stay more or less on the surrounding streets. Towns that value the salaries of prison guards often find that not all that much money flows to the local economy and surely not enough to pay for increased welfare and crime costs.

But as you say.... its home.
Although there is much to be said for other small towns that have equally helpful attitudes.

I think someone transported from upstate New York to the Northern California's Siskiyous would find little difference. Small towns, not much industry, lots of pot being grown and transported, a few breweries and restaurants of note, a few stores selling Grow Lights and Tractor parts. I had an acquaintance who was used to the open country around Santa Barbara with its cowboys and oil workers and working man's bars. Suddenly he recieved orders to a Los Angeles AF base and had to deal with traffic and greater liklihood of a DUI, and different standards in bars, restaurants and music. It was quite a transition but people adapt and seek out what is familiar to them. So if you were transported, star trek like, to the Siskiyous, it would be different streams and different fish, but pretty much the same. Different game wardens and perhaps different rules and dates, but just about the same as upstate New York.

Alot of the Pittsburg union workers who accepted jobs in "agricultural security" when the steel mills closed, found out that moving to Mendocino and guarding pot farms beat all to hell staying in Pittsburg and collecting unemployent insurance. They had to guard it, they didn't have to smoke it.
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