Big Dry Creek runs just north of my apartment complex. The complex is perhaps 100 feet above the creek, which runs all year out of Standley Lake, just east of Boulder, Colorado. Today, Tuesday August 16, 2022, it flooded.
The creek flooded in a matter of minutes this morning. After the rain, at around 11:30, I decided to take my morning walk (bi-weekly to the liquor store) when the rain abated. Because I was out of whiskey. It turned into a somewhat serious strenuous stroll.
Flood Management
here in North Westminster, where I live, appears to be a priority. And, I consider where I live the apex of civilization. Because the powers-that-be seem to place such a high value on “quality-of-life” living. I share those values. (Which is why I don’t mind the high taxes and rent.)
Quality Of Life
values vary, of course, depending on individual preferences. For me (and it appears the powers-that-be) that means: beautiful vistas, open spaces, and easy access to shopping. Part of that is the trail system, for walking and bike riding. The trail system is extraordinary. The amount of resources (money and labor) spent on making that an accessible, easy part of the experience of living here is also extraordinary.
And Yet
my walk to the liquor store was perilous. Because of a little rain? Notwithstanding all the time, money, and labor invested in flood control? What’s going on?
The walk, or stroll, took me almost twice as much time, and double the distance! In addition, I had to zig and zag across busy roadways and wade through dangerous, rushing, waters!
All for a bottle of whiskey (That soothes my soul and makes living easier in these troubling times.) Because of a failure of the powers-that-be, the “experts”, to understand nature. Or, how rain and water and creeks (and people) flow. What!
Our Tax Dollars At Work
or something else? I love where I live, don’t get me wrong. However, when Mother Nature (or human nature) just does what it does – people seem stupid. Flood control? Open space? Safety? Accessibility?
Makes ya think – what the hell is going on?
The larger flood from May 12, 2023. And still more rain forecast. So far, over 4 inches in two days.
Does that happen every time it rains a little, or was this an especially heavy rain? I can see a city system being overwhelmed by an unusually heavy rainfall, but if this happens “at the drop of a hat” then, yeah, what’s up with that?
That is beyond my purview. This was which was not an “unusually heavy rainfall”. Such happens all the time here in the Rockies and on the Front Range.
And so … make it of what you will? Mather Nature is a bitch. Of that … my Psych-girl does not always disagree with. Cheers
Well, maybe they channeled the civil engineers who designed the Los Angeles freeway system. It was designed only to handle average heavy traffic and they were fine with it overloading during rush hour. (When they infamously become parking lots.)
It could be worse. Our earthy mom could be throwing lava at you… 🌋
A perilous whiskey walk. Glad you prevailed. Inflation and inconvenience, sure doom for the next election.
And so today: the creek is back to “normal”, quite within its banks. AND, the Open Space Patrol put out cones – to warn travelers of a little left-behind mud?
It wasn’t an out-of-the-ordinary downpour, so I don’t know why it flooded. The water level rose at least six feet, flowing over the dam at “Turtle lake”.
I’ve seen people sleeping under some of the overpasses, along side the creek – if that was the case yesterday morning … Uh-oh. Because all such underpasses were flooded out.
Yes, inflation here is out-of-control. Rent, food, gas, and energy all way up 10 to 100%. Even whiskey 🙁
We had something sweep through here yesterday, and it created some brief flooding. It got me to wondering if global climate change has something to do with this. Short intense atypical rainfalls that overwhelm a system that was designed based on historical rainfall levels. 🤷🏼♂️
More the latter than the former, I think. I did a dive into the history of Big Dry Creek and it is a natural waterway that got its name because it was mostly dry. (Not uncommon out here in the forever arid west.) But now the folks have been paving over more land which increases runoff and so now the creek is never dry. Is their explanation. And so, “they” try and manage that. The explanation does and doesn’t make sense. Okay sure, during intense rainfall the creek-bed fills up and sometimes overruns its banks. Now more often because of the pavement. But that doesn’t explain why it always has water in it now. Especially because mostly, they say, we’ve been in a drought.
Crazy weather events have always happened. Check out the Big Thompson Flood of 1976, nearly 50 years ago. 144 people died. It happened because of a freak storm over Rocky Mountain National Park. 12 inches of rain fell in less than 2 hours. The cause? Speculation at the time was because of “cloud seeding” to increase snowfall for the ski resorts. Who knows? The 70’s, here in Colorado, were wild times. Doomsday was coming, “they” predicted.
Anyways, I was the only human out and about and I survived. As far as I know.
Today, Thursday 11 May 2023, it’s raining cats and dogs. Overnight 3/4 of an inch of rain fell, according to the NWS. I just returned from my walk and Turtle Lake (my name) has risen five feet and is overflowing the damn. Big Dry Creek is rising, too. Another 1 & 1/4 inches of rain is forecasted for the next 24 hours. And daily intermittent rain for the next week.
We’ll see what happens.