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Show Manny (positions I (Editor's Note: Many of the flood plains S ' in Utah are highly developed and require S flood protection. Other streams have 8 limited flood plain development and S: might be protected. This is the first in a S series of articles denoting the problem i and outlining the potential for flood plain 8 protection for recreational pruposes.) S Flooding in Salt Lake City and canyons S; leading into the city this spring has been : a reminder of the power of water and man's inability to completely control it. S BECAUSE, even though the many : streams flowing into the valley from the ;:: Wasatch Mountains have been channeled ; and maneuvered into pipes under the :$ city's streets, the water overflows onto the SI city's streets and into basements during heavy spring runoff. Sandbags are apparent in many sec-tions sec-tions of the city and in front of homes in the Emigration Canyon area. With renewed storms last week, the problem : looks likely to continue for a while. S FLOODING is a. natural phenomena that has helped shape the natural world around us. An extreme flooding period : might disrupt a particular aquatic eco- S: system. Some fish and other small aqua- ; tic wildlife are lost. The impact, however, is temporary. The same flooding can : provide habitat for other water-using wildlife, such as shore birds and water-fowl water-fowl that thrive on the marshy areas left in the wake of flooding. The river stabilizes, and life goes on. SI One of the obvious characteristics of a natural "stream is that water does not flow S; in a straight line. One edge of the channel is the cutting edge and the opposite side is ;j the depositing edge. It is in the shallow waters on the depositing side of the meanders that abundant aquatic life SI develops. Fish feed and spawn in these areas, and the young of the year are SI raised there. ;:! OTHER IMPORTANT shallow water IS, habitats are entrapped floating debris and IS trailing branches from trees with their Si associated leaves. Large fish populations IS often congregate under these areas and S; under log jams because of the high food : production and cover they offer. i; In a cold desert state like Utah with only IS, 5,000 miles of stream, flooding problems seem an oddity. It is the scarcity , ! J that concentrates people into a J the water is located, it couidL ! flooding problems are a result in Sail1 9 ? man's manipulation of stream! Mrt' 01 if willingness to build on the his ? -1 streams where flooding is mos g M f occur. Ill!ely to if J I UNFORTUNATELY, Utah has nn i i "", protect streams so they can comi!, I Sl their natural course. "Almost an" T 11 1 7 can be done in the name of flood . f ' says Glenr , Davis. Division i Resources fisheries biologist "l( i ri For example, Utah law reads: "tv, board of county commissioners ? remove any obstacle from any na. ' i channels within the county and the in i I1 porated municipalities in the countv i: may plan for and construct new chan , ;! to serve the same purpose as the nai ! channel to provide for the carry a" I and the safe disposal of natural storm2 : flood waters..." "" f "HABITAT FOR aquatic wildlife is m mentioned on the list of things to be n tected," said Davis. pr0, i The problem with current law stem, ' from the fact that the means of tol ! control that are employed only mJl : temporary solutions and quite 0t(, ; i create problems for adjoining iand : .Q owners, Davis explained. Ut "FOR EXAMPLE, when a stream!! s it lowered with bulldozers to protec property, the water moves at a higher velocity. This causes sediment from the disturbed area to be carried downstreae and be deposited in some other sectionol the river. This material not only blanks A the streambed, causing any aquatic lieo, fish eggs to suffocate, but quite ote raises the streambed enough to cans flooding in areas that previously did K ffj have a flooding problem." n The stream will try to stabilize itself :: f"1 the disturbed area. Natural or mil caused sediment will begin to deposii i: u the stream section that was channelize: Often it is not long before the stream!: 0W has raised enough to flood the are: ? t originally protected. "It's a case whe- man violates one of nature's laws, and : f JJ long term results are negative for a t concerned," said Davis. wc |