Friday, August 7, 2009

Keep the water where it falls is more than a motto: It is a necessity if flooding and erosion are to be prevented

Please click on August 5, 2009, image to ENLARGE view (after a severe thunderstorm passed through south Fayetteville) of clear water running off Pinnacle Prairie with red-dirt runoff from right and left along the new trail being constructed. The water is being sucked into a culvert and allowed to flow through Soup Branch to South Duncan Avenue and on through Stanley Sullins' yard and into the Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River. Meanwhile, a greater amount of water is being allowed to flow down the portion of the trail that opens at 12th Street, allowing muddy flow down the street and into the same stream from a grassy swale on Duncan.

Please click on the image to ENLARGE view west from new trail through Pinnacle Prairie on August 7, 2009. Two days after the rain ended, the flow is falling back to normal. Seep springs near the Pinnacle Foods Inc. buildings and near the railroad keep a minimum flow in the Soup Branch except in the very driest times. When storms hit after extended dry spell, the runoff is limited because the tall grass and native forbs slow the flow enough to allow water to soak into the rich, black prairie soil. This process insures that runoff is clean and harmless and decreases the threat of flooding downstream.

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