Hydrology observations

Our Property Owners Association is about to hire a company to perform a hydrology study to determine why Little Sugar Creek floods the Berksdale, Kingswood, and Country Club golf courses each spring and what we can do about it.

This company will no doubt tell us that we really don’t have a problem east of the highway. The creek flows unobstructed and easily handles the spring rains there.

However, west of the highway, Little Sugar Creek begins to twist and turn, not allowing the water to flow in a straight line. The eroding is the creek naturally trying to straighten itself out. It would be cost prohibitive, however, to try to eliminate some of the turns, like the “S” curve by the old number 9 and 18 greens.

We also have a problem with the bridges being flat and at ground level, causing them to catch debris and act as dams.

But the study will probably tell us that the worst thing contributing to the flooding is caused by us.

I am sure many of us have enjoyed the beauty of the waterfalls created by the runoff from the lakes on the spillways of the dams after a spring rain. We have even built a bridge across the Lake Ann spillway so everyone can get a better view. Millions of gallons of water flow out of Lake Ann, creating what most of us think is a natural wonder.

Tanyard Creek also has a lookout where you can watch tens of millions of gallons of water rush over the falls of the Lake Windsor spillway. After a hard rain it looks like a mini-Niagara Falls.

Our POA Lakes Department often draws down the level of our lakes. They usually do this for maintenance reasons. However, if we would take Lakes Ann, Windsor, and Avalon down to minimal levels going into the spring rainy season, they would not overflow and add to the flooding problem.

When we get a heavy rain, Little Sugar Creek could handle the water from the rain if we were not adding overflow from the lakes to it. Once the level of water in the creek recedes, we could open the dams to allow water to flow out of the lakes at a controlled level that would not overflow the creek. We would take the lakes down to the minimal levels again in preparation for the next rain.

We cannot economically redirect the flow of the creek, but we can fix our bridges and control the overflow of water from our lakes. By doing these two things we can resolve 90 percent of our flooding problems.

So there you have it. I think I will create a new business card and call myself a hydrologist. I could then send the POA a bill for my hydrology observations.

I would say with that and a buck and a quarter, I could get a cup of coffee at Papa Mike’s.

Larry Blech Bella Vista