OT MN flooding

teddy52food · Mar 17, 2010

It seems like on the news, there is a lot of flooding this spring. Is there any reason we couldn't save some of that water for next summer by putting it in the aquafiers? It would be a construction project that would put some people to work. Dig a large hole down to the aquafier , then fill it with sand & gravel to filter the water. Anybody else have a better idea? Next summer when it gets dry, the farmers will be pumping it out again.

just another old geezer · Mar 17, 2010

Government can't do that, It makes too much sense.

Bob · Mar 17, 2010

Do you know of any place in the RRV area that's SHORT of water and need an aquifer replenished?

teddy52food · Mar 17, 2010

I am in central Mn. & when the summers get hot & dry they only let the farmers irrigate so long out of the rivers & lakes & when the crops need it the most, they can't pump anymore. We have a lot of milk cows around here & they use a lot of water too.

big fred · Mar 17, 2010

I guess I don't understand how your idea works. Are you saying you'd dig a hole hundreds of feet deep (in mud, the Red River Valley is the remains of Lake Agassiz) and hope it doesn't collapse while you're digging it, and then hoping the water will somehow drain into that hole? Where would it go?

paul · Mar 17, 2010

Surface water has a lot of 'things' in it. needs to filter through the ground for 50-200 feet, plus the decade or so that can take, to get it clean.

You just wrecked everyone's water by pumping the bacteria & other stuff straight into the aquifer & contaminating the whole thing.

Looks good on paper, but - bad idea.

--->Paul

paul · Mar 17, 2010

Aside from the contamination of aquifers, this is a river that gets 40 feet high, and wider than that.

How big a well are you going to dig to make a dent in the flow??? A 2 foot well won't be a drip compared to the total flow....

--->Paul

big fred · Mar 17, 2010

I was assuming he meant something on the order of a hundred feet across. That 40 ft depth is only in the channel itself, but since flood stage is 18 feet, there's 22 feet above flood stage, and that can be several miles across. Yeah, when the Red River floods, there's a lot of water to get rid of. Better option would be to just bomb the icepack along the river all the way to Lake Winnepeg and letting it flow along its natural course.

CWL · Mar 17, 2010

Near Wichita, Ks flood water is actually treated and pumped into the equus beds. It is still a concern to some that the water is not as pure as it would be naturally.
http://ks.water.usgs.gov/studies/equus/

Scott 730 · Mar 17, 2010

(quoted from post at 09:56:24 03/17/10) It seems like on the news, there is a lot of flooding this spring. Is there any reason we couldn't save some of that water for next summer by putting it in the aquafiers? It would be a construction project that would put some people to work. Dig a large hole down to the aquafier , then fill it with sand & gravel to filter the water. Anybody else have a better idea? Next summer when it gets dry, the farmers will be pumping it out again.

Alot of that water could be saved if alot of folks weren't so bent on draining every possible patch of ground they own. Wetlands do serve a vital purpose if man would leave them alone.

ChrisinMO · Mar 17, 2010

Got to agree about wetlands (aka swamps). Bayous and wetlands along rivers serve the valuable purpose of storing during floods and releasing it gradually later.

Christopher

Eric SEI · Mar 17, 2010

Seems to me I read that in Iowa some drainage tile were hooked up to wells. Don't know if they still do that.

OT MN flooding

teddy52food

Well-known Member

just another old geezer

Member

Bob

Well-known Member

teddy52food

Well-known Member

big fred

Well-known Member

paul

Well-known Member

paul

Well-known Member

big fred

Well-known Member

CWL

Member

Scott 730

Well-known Member

ChrisinMO

Member

Eric SEI

Member

Similar threads