Desert Boy Throws Rocks

When we see water in the desert, it's hard to pass it up. Desert Boy, Henry, and I were heading out for a hike and somehow ended up on a little detour to this lake by the side of the road. During part of the year, it's a reservoir with a dam holding the water back. This time of year, the water level is down so much that the water doesn't even touch the dam, so it's a lake with big beaches full of cockleburs.

Henry, a labrador retriever, absolutely loves the water and didn't hesitate at all getting in the water.

Desert Boy, a fearless toddler, decided to follow Henry. 

Mom said, "No, you already got your other pair of shoes wet this morning and you don't have any more. Stay out of the water." 

What a mean mom.

Desert Boy keeps on heading down the rocky shoreline to the water's edge.

Before he gets to the water, he realizes that these rocks would be really good for throwing.

The best place to throw rocks is into the water. Sometimes the water and mud even splash so he can get wet without getting into the water. He's already figured out how to technically obey his mother but still get what he wants!

One rock is too big and as he pulls his arm back to throw it, he loses his balance and sits down.

He doesn't let that stop him for long, but keeps on throwing more rocks.

Some folks in an inflatable canoe decide to check out the fun. The lake is so shallow Henry can nearly run right out to them. Do you like the mountains in the background? They created a bit of their own weather, and those thunderheads you see building even produced a little rain a few hours later. Desert Boy and Henry had another chance to get wet, so it was a good day.

Flash Flood II

Not long ago I wrote this post about a flash flood that occurred on part of the ranch. The flash flood overflowed a creek channel and was probably the 100-year flood. A 100-year flood doesn't occur exactly every 100 years; instead, a flood of that large a magnitude has the statistical chance of happening once every 100 years. So after the flash flood we weren't expecting more water. 

But only nine days later, a second flash flood went through the same area. Fortunately it wasn't quite as large, but it was probably a 50-year flood. It cut the channel even deeper and washed out roads, including one the county road department had spent the last week working on.

Yesterday Desert Boy and I went down to the creek to see the work that was being done. All you guys who love heavy equipment, this post is for you!

Because so much sediment washed away from the flood control structures, dirt was needed to pack in around the concrete and redirect the water over the structures. The ranch's huge Volvo excavator dug into a nearby hill and poured dirt into the dump truck.

The dump truck made many trips with 10 cubic yards of dirt each trip. 

Then the driver dumped the dirt at the edge of the creek. 

Next the Hitachi excavator made a work area by smoothing down the dirt into a level platform.

Then the excavator drove out onto the dirt, filled a bucket with water, and wetted down the next dump truck load of dirt so that it would pack better.

Here's the excavator packing in dirt next to the washed out side of the flood control structure.

A few hours later, the wall of dirt had been built back up and the flood control structure was back in business.

Then it was time to head upstream, to the flood control structure that was washed out so much that it had tilted over on its side. The concrete structure weighs about 50 tons, so some big equipment was needed.

The ranch has some big equipment, like the huge loader and track excavator, but even these machines weren't big enough to do the job.

Plan B was to dig out the higher side of the structure to try to get it to settle lower. If it works, then the sides will be filled in and additional concrete will be poured higher to make an extra step in the structure.

Here's the excavator at work again. It sure is a fun machine to watch. Desert Boy was thrilled.

You can see in this picture the cables that are around the structure that were used in trying to move it back into place. Will Plan B work? We don't know yet;  this job will take awhile to complete. Stay tuned...

Flash Flood

Last Sunday evening dark clouds filled the sky to the north of us, lightning flashed, and thunder rumbled. I got all excited and convinced my husband to take me and Desert Boy out into the desert to watch nature's show. We spent over half an hour watching the clouds rush by, dumping their contents on the mountain range and desert to the north. We felt a few sprinkles, but we were pretty much right on the edge of the storm and could see blue skies to the south.

Eventually it got dark and we went home. My husband was happy that part of the range where our cattle graze was getting some moisture. We didn't think much more about the storm.

The next day we learned that the storm had packed a punch in an area to the northwest of us. Torrents of rain had fallen in a short time, overwhelming a small creek. Four people live on that small creek in two houses separated by several miles. Both reported that their roads had been washed out by the flood water.

I wanted to find out more so I asked one of the folks who lives by the creek, Blake. He said that he had a foot bridge over a the dry streambed. It had survived all the previous floods, but this one had washed it away and he couldn't find it. The high water mark was two to three feet higher than the bridge. That meant a wall of water about 10 feet high and 20 feet deep came rushing down the normally dry creekbed--probably more than 200 cubic feet per second of water.

The water flowed right over this main road, eating away at the road and surrounding banks. The main part of the flood came between 8:30 and 9:00 p.m. that Sunday evening, although Blake noted that the water kept flowing all night long.

This is the other side of the same road, where water flowing over the road eroded sand and dirt that had been covering most of this culvert. The culvert was nowhere near large enough to handle the quick flash of water.

The water came so fast that some animals, like this little fawn, didn't have a chance to get out of the way. My husband says that in the 1992 flood in a nearby creek, 20 cattle died in the gully when they didn't have a chance to get out of the way of the powerful water.

These old cars had previously been put in the stream channel as flood control, to help slow it down and trap sediment. Not exactly high tech flood control. I scoffed when I saw them previously, but they were still in pretty much the same positions as the last time I saw them, earlier in the summer.

The new flood control structures, installed by the ranch this year using modern design methods, didn't fare so well. The three concrete structures, each weighing about 50 tons and designed for 200 cubic feet per second of water, were washed out. This one had gullies on both sides. When I visited it yesterday, some water was running over the main part of the flood control structure, so at least it is working again. The other two aren't so fortunate.

At first this flood control structure didn't look too bad. It has a gully along the right side of it and extra sediment at the bottom. You can see that the stream channel is dry again.

From the top it doesn't look so good--the stream took away the sediment from underneath the structure, so any water that flows this way will just bypass the structure, and erode more of the sand and dirt. There's a lot of backhoe work to be done to make it functional again. 

The third flood control structure may not be salvageable without a lot more than backhoe work. One whole side was washed out, causing the very heavy concrete to tip over sideways. 

Here's another view of it. A pool of water still sits at the base of it, but no water is flowing anymore. The flash flood came and went, leaving just signs of its passing. To the left of the flood control structure you can see the bank that was cut out by the flood waters. The structures were installed to prevent this downcutting, but even they have their limits.

Out of the streambed, I found many more signs of the flood, like cracked and flaking mud. I could see animal tracks in some of the mud.

When the torrents of rain came down, the water started flowing downhill in what hydrologists term "overland flow," when the precipitation rate exceeded the infiltration rate. The water just flowed in a sheet, carrying debris with it, until it got into or formed rivulets that became larger and larger and eventually reached the formerly dry stream channel. The debris pictured here was about two inches high on a relatively flat part of the desert.

Next time I see the clouds open up, I will definitely be thinking more about where that water is going. The flash flood that came down over this little section of desert didn't get any news coverage because so few people live out here and relatively little damage was done. In a city, this amount of water would probably have endangered many people's lives. Flash floods are part of the desert's ecosystem, distributing seeds, reworking the desert terrain, and providing a quick energy input to some plants and animals. We don't get flash floods often, but when they do come they leave reminders of their force for years and even decades.

This is How We Go Swimming in the Desert

We all know that water is scarce in the desert, after all that's what makes a desert a desert. So it's just smart to try and conserve water and use it wisely. The other day these three brilliant, up-and-coming contributors to our society found a wonderful way to conserve water. It was a simple idea--go swimming in the swimming pool without any water. 

The swim was great. It took no time at all to get the water to the right level--none. Throw in the pool toys, and they immediately began using their imaginations. They never argued about someone getting them wet accidentally and they didn't have any splash fights. They didn't get too cold, they didn't worry about their swimsuits not fitting properly, and they didn't get any water up their noses.

When they finished their swim, they didn't need towels or a change of clothes. Their moms were pleasantly surprised by how simple it was for them to go for a swim.

We can all learn from these three creative tykes. It will be interesting to see what they think of next.

Desert Boy Plays in a Puddle

We haven't been experiencing the effects of Hurricane Eduard or the tornadoes of the Midwest, but we did have a nice dowsing monsoon rain this afternoon. After the rain stopped, Desert Boy, Henry, and I headed out for a walk. Before long we found this nice puddle, and I just had to let Desert Boy have some fun.

I have fond memories as a kid going out after storms and unclogging sewers. We don't have any sewers around here, but the water is still a big attraction. At first Desert Boy is content to walk in the puddle.

He starts picking up rocks and throwing them into the water. I figure this might go on for awhile and settle back to enjoy the show.

I sure wish I could squat like that! He throws rocks into the puddle, gets them out, throws them again.

Henry isn't too far away, investigating the smells.

Desert Boy loves to play in the water, and he usually isn't content to stay very dry...

...so before long he's sitting in the puddle. Like the little wave he creates as he plops down? He doesn't make a sound, but a content look appears on his face. Now he can really play. 

He twists and turns in the water. I'm just grateful that he's not trying to blow bubbles. I should mention that this puddle is along the side of the main road through town, so everyone who is going by is going extra slow and giving us strange looks. I'm sure more than one thought, "What is that crazy mom doing, letting her kid play in a mud puddle?"

I like to think that I'm just letting Desert Boy expand his horizons in a supervised activity. I know I can wash the clothes. And this is only his third outfit for the day--he's been going through four outfits a day recently, so it's no big deal.

This is one of Desert Boy's mischievous looks. I wonder what's going through his little head right now.

And here's another one of those looks. In about 15 years he will be sweeping the girls off their feet with looks like these.

Finally Desert Boy goes too far and starts eating the mud in the mud puddle. It's time to leave. But we'll be back after another rainstorm!