Pretty much irrelevant actually

[Peter S]

We face not unrelated issues here, though at the same time very different. Every two or three years we are getting severe flooding in various places, prompting dramatic new footage, anguished hand wringing, and instant amnesia when the flood waters recede. The events are blamed first on heavy rain (unsurprisingly) and then on what has been done to the landscape. This ranges from bad land management at high levels which means the rain doesn't stay in the hills but rushes off them, to inadequate river dredging, which means the rivers overflow in the wrong places. This is all inevitably followed by the news that insurance companies are either increasing premiums or refusing to insure flood-threatened homes.

And at the end of all that, more homes get built on the flood plains, which are called flood plains because, guess what, THEY FLOOD!!

[Greenbare Woods]

And at the end of all that, more homes get built on the flood plains, which are called flood plains because, guess what, THEY FLOOD!!

My home is built on top of the highest land in several miles.  It is sad to see how those nice picturesque homes along the creek end up flooded when it rains.   

Farm the flood plain, let the river bring in more top soil, and build your home on the hill.  There once was a time when people understood that.

[JOhnGw]

The really sad thing about some UK flooding is that it was certainly made worse by some recent deforestation high in the catchment area for which the landowner received several million pounds worth of government subsidy.
There are also many cases when the local authority has refused planning permission for housing developments in flood plains only to be overruled by central government.

[jbeegoode]

Speaking of the Colorado/Mexico flow, we may be heading that way in November. Perhaps I'll post some representative some pics.
Jbee

[eyesup]

I recall years ago when the midwest was flooded yet again, several towns chose to move to higher ground. Some out of frustration and some where FEMA refused to remediate and others where insurance companies drew a line in the mud before they would re-insure.

Sometimes people do learn from repeated mistakes! 

Duane

[Peter S]

The town decided to move to higher ground!!

That can only be achieved with reasonably unlimited land and a mobile form of construction. Not here.

[nuduke]

We have had some flooding in parts of my village and as a result I have learned a lot about watercourses, management and the like.
The most worrying statistic I've learned is just how much interference with natural rainwater drainage occurs from building houses and creating impermeable tarmac, asphalt and concrete driveways and the like.  Apparently the impermeable surfaces created simply by paving and roofing send huge amounts of water onto less area of land that can naturally drain it by normal absorption. The reduced land area gets saturated and floods, sending its excess water burden wherever it can find a way downhill.  In the path of the water from a bad rainstorm there is terrible damage and devastation wrought to property.

John

[jbeegoode]

My favorite story is Pittsburgh many years ago. They straightened out the river made it deep with straight sides. When it rained there was flooding because a large, faster, and more powerful flow was created, so not far downstream the raging torrent caused havoc.
Jbee

[nuduke]

There are so many examples of man 'taming' nature yet nature rising from captivity and biting the botty of civilisation!  The 1930s dust bowls, Aber Van, Lake Eyrie eutrophication, Aral sea to name but a few.
John

[eyesup]

That can only be achieved with reasonably unlimited land and a mobile form of construction. Not here.

The original properties were dismantled and hauled away. Most of these communities were small and were able to negotiate reasonable reconstruction expenses it they would only GET OUT OF THE FLOOD PLAIN. The people enjoyed being near the river as long as it didn't invite itself in. Moving UP on the bluffs solved the problem.

When I lived in Houston, the San Jacinto would flood when the storm would come in and dump a foot or so on Harris Co. the head north up the river and continue to add more water to the already flooded river bottom. All that water would head back down to Houston which was still waiting for the water to leave.

In some areas you couldn't buy flood insurance if you lived in the flood plain. Period.

Duane

[reubenT]

it was a real mystery to my why people built a sea wall and then made streets and housing behind it, below sea level.     Since the sea is the lowest drain on the earth,  where will the rain water go?   All have to be pumped out.    And new orleans is built on very soft swampland which keeps sinking.   People who call it home,  born and grew up there,  won't consider leaving.   Just stay until they sink or get drowned.      Yah people are not operating by common sense a lot.  Just going by their society tradition and what feels good. 

As for the desert cities,  I don't see why they don't eliminate all flush toilets,   (composters work fine)    since that is the biggest waste of water.   And do whatever limiting of water is possible.   No lawns,  that's a wet climate tradition.  Landscape with traditional desert plants.   Reserve all the water possible for food production.   Did they forget where their food comes from?  I think many people have forgotten since they've become so distanced from it in their lifestyle.

[Greenbare Woods]

As for the desert cities,  I don't see why they don't eliminate all flush toilets,   (composters work fine)    since that is the biggest waste of water.   And do whatever limiting of water is possible.   No lawns,  that's a wet climate tradition.  Landscape with traditional desert plants.   Reserve all the water possible for food production.   Did they forget where their food comes from?  I think many people have forgotten since they've become so distanced from it in their lifestyle.

Laundry washing uses about 1/3 of all domestic water in desert cities.  Laundry also contributes tons of detergent into wast water outflow.  Most of that could be rapidly eliminated by giving up the dirty laundry they insist on covering themselves with.   Clothes are horribly non-green.

[ric]

people seem to get through multiple sets of clothes in  day, all of it has to be washed and tumble dried before it can be worn again. the energy and water wasted is colosal.

[nuduke]

Anti-intuitively, when I am at my highest level of naturist activity, in the summer, I tend to use more clothes!
This is because in the course of things I rarely get a whole day naked and so am constantly pulling on some clothes to answer door, go in front garden, go out somewhere etc. Having different outfits for different purposes is required.  I can answer the door in wrinkly shorts, bare feet and a singlet but I need respectable shorts, flip flops and a t shirt for the local shops and jeans, shoes and a shirt for the local town.  These might all be worn in one day with nude intervals between and whilst and hour worn does not require washing, the more chaotic lifestyle does tend to drive up the rate of fill of the laundry basket!

I try hard not to wear socks and minimise use of underpants from April to October!

John

[John P]

I keep a clothes stand beside the bed, and when I've worn something for what doesn't seem like very long, I hang it up there and plan on wearing it again after a while. John Nuduke is right, you can actually wear more different clothes in summer than in winter. When it's cold we just tend to get dressed and stay that way all day.

It's a suggestion that would probably get a lot of people frowning, but you really don't have to wash clothes every time you wear them, and it's an arbitrary question when to change the sheets on the bed or the towel you use in the bathroom (or to sit on, for naturists). We also don't need to take a bath every single day. It used to be that "Saturday was bath day" and other days were no-bath days, yet people managed to survive. I'm not against reasonable cleanliness, but sometimes I wonder if the world has fallen into hygienic mania!