More on debris in creeks

While we were on our most recent hiatus I had the chance to talk about the most recent flooding on the Delaware River with an environmental scientist. I learned some thing about debris in stream and creek tributaries of rivers. Since I wondered about local media reports of the flooding of creek–tributaries of the Delaware River and the River itself in late June and the concern that debris in these creeks may have contributed to the flooding, I am writing about what I learned from my friend.

I took an opportunity to steer our conversation to the issue of debris in the creek–tributaries of the Delaware because I was curious about what she would say. She told me that leaf litter absorbs water. Thinking about the sometimes pain in the you know what that wet leaves can be, this made a lot of sense. Who among us hasn’t slipped on wet leaves at one time or the other?

I recall that a fair amount of the debris that I spotted a few weeks ago and wrote about in earlier entries was leaf litter. Much of the rest was tree branches and or tree trunks of varying sizes. My friend pointed out that trees as well as leaves absorb water. The stated implications of our conversation being that leaf litter and tree branches and/or trunks in creeks may actually help reduce the flooding problem as opposed to contributing to flooding of these creeks and tributaries.

Of course, all this is academic when you consider that neither of us had seen the affected creeks in the days leading up to the most recent floods or in the days immediately after the flood receded. Perhaps the debris in the creeks did create enough of a “damming effect” to force the creek waters to rise and flood earlier then they would have other wise. I also recall that in July 6, 2006 article, the Hunterdon Democrat reported that pipe leading to the Delaware in the vicinity of the Swan Creek –– one of the tributaries of the Delaware –– was clogged with debris, leading to flooding in the area of the Swan Creek. The article did not report on the nature of the debris.

I did learn something from my friend. However, I find myself left with a lot of unanswered questions. At this point, I don’t think that I have any easy answers. When and if I come upon information that may shed light on the issues that I have raised, I will offer them here. Or, if any of you have any experiences or insights, please share them in the comments section

In the meantime, my curiosity is now sufficiently aroused that I may want to take the time to walk along some of the creek–tributaries in Lambertville and the other River towns to see how much debris is still left in these tributaries and the nature of the debris.