On 4/30/2013 10:05 AM, Bill wrote:
Lew Hodgett wrote:
"Leon" wrote:


Typical flash flooding in the streets. Some areas got 5~7 inches in
fewer
hours.. Swingman's street flooded but that is not unusual and his
house
sets considerably higher than the street, by design. He is in side
the
Loop. I am out side the loop about 20 miles west, got 2.5" over 5
hours
and hardly saw any water in the streets at all.
--------------------------------------------------------------
No harm, no foul.

Glad to see damage was limited.

To bad, but it appears about the only good thing that happens
in urban areas is that heavy rainfall clears the streets before
finding the drains.

If some type system existed to capture heavy rains and send them
back to the aquifer, it would eliminate a lot of water rights fights.

Lew

In newer development (at least some of the time), those "run-off ponds"
are required. I don't know the details.
But cities Have Learned from experience.

In the words of a civil engineer (not me), if you strip the land and
remove the natural flow of the water,
you have to create somewhere for the water to go (now).

Bill




Actually since the great flood in Houston 12 years ago developers have
been putting in retention ponds for the sewer water to collect before
eventually ending up in of of the many bayous. Many retention ponds
don't retain water for the purpose of conservation but mainly for added
value for a lot that is adjacent to one.

The biggest reason for these ponds is not so much because of the
disruption of the natural water flow so to speak, concrete simply does
not let water reach the ground. The ground would soak up the water if
it could.