I really found this read intriguing. Thank you Megan. Meddling with the natural order of ecosystems rarely ends well. I think one of our biggest human failings is the inability, or perhaps the refusal, to look ahead and acknowledge that we are a part of a huge system that doesn’t revolve around our individual needs.
You articulated the short term gain of settler land use so well. I grew up in a part of Ontario dominated by rivers and farm land. We had conservation areas that had been set up to control flooding after Hurricane Hazel in the 50's, when people realized that the land clearing and urbanization they were doing upstream was impacting what was happening down stream, and that they needed a watershed based approach. I think it is a really great model, and I'm always surprised it isn't implemented in other provinces (and as I reflect, I only know about how it worked on the Grand river, which was my local watershed). It was still a lot of dams, though, as well as preservation of forest land along rivers.
It was interesting to move here and try to understand the seasonal cycles of weather. I do a lot of work with Civil engineers where we are designing to accommodate the water from 100 year storms into bio-swales or re-created creeks, but we are also discussing how those storms are coming more frequently, and how changes even locally can impact how much water arrives on your site at once.
I did a creek daylighting project a number of years ago that had a huge logistics warehouse upstream. It was an acre of asphalt with a building in the middle of it. Now it is condos with underground parking with green space above it, so there is actually significantly more soil to hold water up stream from my little creek (even though it's all complicated with housing and industry and development, etc. Sigh.).
I might try your nettle beer recipe, too, we have lots of nettles in our yard and in the 707 now. I'll keep you posted about that.
Living, as we do, in the visual glory of a human-made, naturalized pond, I ponder what impacts we will face this year, aside from the second annual infestation of nesting Canada geese. Until recently, when we heeded pollen season warnings, the pounding of rain on the roof has inspired thoughts of our filling cisterns.
You can drive out nature with a pitchfork, But it always comes roaring back. (Tom Waits)
I really found this read intriguing. Thank you Megan. Meddling with the natural order of ecosystems rarely ends well. I think one of our biggest human failings is the inability, or perhaps the refusal, to look ahead and acknowledge that we are a part of a huge system that doesn’t revolve around our individual needs.
Thank you so much for the shout-out, Megan! A lovely surprise, and very much appreciated.
You articulated the short term gain of settler land use so well. I grew up in a part of Ontario dominated by rivers and farm land. We had conservation areas that had been set up to control flooding after Hurricane Hazel in the 50's, when people realized that the land clearing and urbanization they were doing upstream was impacting what was happening down stream, and that they needed a watershed based approach. I think it is a really great model, and I'm always surprised it isn't implemented in other provinces (and as I reflect, I only know about how it worked on the Grand river, which was my local watershed). It was still a lot of dams, though, as well as preservation of forest land along rivers.
It was interesting to move here and try to understand the seasonal cycles of weather. I do a lot of work with Civil engineers where we are designing to accommodate the water from 100 year storms into bio-swales or re-created creeks, but we are also discussing how those storms are coming more frequently, and how changes even locally can impact how much water arrives on your site at once.
I did a creek daylighting project a number of years ago that had a huge logistics warehouse upstream. It was an acre of asphalt with a building in the middle of it. Now it is condos with underground parking with green space above it, so there is actually significantly more soil to hold water up stream from my little creek (even though it's all complicated with housing and industry and development, etc. Sigh.).
I might try your nettle beer recipe, too, we have lots of nettles in our yard and in the 707 now. I'll keep you posted about that.
Living, as we do, in the visual glory of a human-made, naturalized pond, I ponder what impacts we will face this year, aside from the second annual infestation of nesting Canada geese. Until recently, when we heeded pollen season warnings, the pounding of rain on the roof has inspired thoughts of our filling cisterns.