Wet christmas

[Skybird]

The flood situation in my region has eased in the last few days, but in Lower Saxony, which lies further downstream on the rivers, there is a state of emergency, dykes have broken in several places, and in many more places they are threatening to break, they are completely soaked. The media describe the state as "completely flooded".



Now, however, continuous rain has started again and the river levels are rising again in my region. Nothing is seeping away any more, the ground is so full, it couldn't be fuller. Satellite settlements in the south-east of Münster are back on high alert and the water is rising again, after falling slightly in the last few days, by around a third (still well above normal).


Some say the worst is yet to come.

[Ostfriese]

Originally Posted by Skybird

The flood situation in my region has eased in the last few days, but in Lower Saxony, which lies further downstream on the rivers, there is a state of emergency, dykes have broken in several places, and in many more places they are threatening to break, they are completely soaked. The media describe the state as "completely flooded".

That's media exaggeration for you. I live in Lower Saxony, at least two of the regions mentioned by the media quite often are quite close to me (Heidekreis and Celle).

Yes, there are floods, and dykes are soaked (which is nothing unusual - that's one part of their "job"), and some people still have water in their basements, but it's far away from "completely flooded". I was perfectly able to drive through the entire county of Celle today.

[Skybird]

I know Meppen and Lingen, and there it was/is anything but harmless. Media exaggeration it may be when they write the "whole state is under water". But there are big zones where the situation is very critical. Some dikes have broken for sure. And what we had up rivers here in Northrhine Westphalia, soon get down to them - and it was more water in this region around Münster than during the heavy rain flooding 2014 - and that one was spectacular. When a week ago I did a little bike tour aorund the town in the East, the water blocked me off my planned courses earlier than nine year ago. Which surprised me.



Two or three dikes also have been intentionally broken up beyond preset plans, to flood fields and acres to save towns and villages elsewhere.



I wonder what such floods mean for agrucluterla famrland? I mean its not all clear so-called "green" water, but "grey" water consisting of sewage water and industrial waste water as well, also the fertile sediment layers get washed away, but to what degrees?

[Dargo]

Extra measures are being taken against high water in several places in the Netherlands. Sandbags have been laid down in Aldeboarn (Friesland) and Hoorn to protect houses. Several windmills and pumping stations are running at full speed to pump water away. In Hoorn, two hundred sandbags were placed today on Visserseiland, the municipality's artificial peninsula. Tuesday night residents there were again confronted with high water that almost reached homes. Residents then laid down sandbags themselves to protect their homes. The peak of the high water is expected tomorrow or the day after. In Aldeboarn this afternoon 1200 sandbags were laid down over a length of 240 meters. The water in the river Boarn is almost to the brink, writes Omroep Fryslân.

Pumping stations are running at full capacity to pump the water away. The Steam Woudagemaal (The largest functioning steam pumping station in the world dates back to 1920 and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998.) in Lemmer has also been on again since yesterday. Four floodgates in the De Lege Wâlden area near Joure have been closed. An extra pump has also been deployed to pump water out of this area. The water board still has fourteen Frisian polders that can be used as water storage. Tomorrow it will be decided whether these will be deployed. That would give room for seven million cubic meters of water.

Polder mill Eolus near Den Ham has been turning daily since the end of October to keep the polder on the right level. Excess water is thus drained from the Fransumerpolder towards the Aduarderdiep. "This doesn't happen very often," miller Rob Hoving tells RTV Noord. "There is also a pumping station on this polder, which just can't handle it. That's why I jump in with the mill. For us as millers, this is only fun. The mill is working well, and I love it." In Megen (North Brabant), Water Board Aa and Maas is working to remove a large badger sett in the Maas dike. The animal has dug a corridor of about ten meters. Because of the high tide, this is risky. Because of the holes, the dike can be damaged or even collapse if water hits it.

"Not only Megen has a problem then. The water then flows from here to Den Bosch," dike manager Sjaak Daverveld tells Omroep Brabant. In Eindhoven, a cemetery will be closed for the next few days because of flooding. Rainwater can no longer flow away from the cemetery in the Woensel district. Also, on other cemeteries in the city there is a lot of water, warns the municipality. Some paths are badly passable.

In Maastricht, a spillway near the Stuwweg has been damaged. As a result, water is flowing into the Meuse at an accelerated rate. Several houseboats have been evacuated. The Limburg Water Board has taken several measures. For example, the valves under the barriers have been closed. Normally, these pipes provide drainage for streams flowing into the Meuse. Closing the valves prevents water from the Meuse flowing back into the streams and causing nuisance there. To get the water from the streams flowing to the Meuse there anyway, pumps have been placed in several places. Additional inspections of the dikes have been made, but these have not revealed any peculiarities. According to current measurements by the Department of Public Works, the highest level in the Meuse near Maastricht is expected at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning.

[Dargo]

Originally Posted by Skybird

I wonder what such floods mean for agrucluterla famrland? I mean its not all clear so-called "green" water, but "grey" water consisting of sewage water and industrial waste water as well, also the fertile sediment layers get washed away, but to what degrees?

In the Netherlands the potato and sugar beet fields that had already much rain now on some places getting flooded meaning farmers need to harvest with special equipment (track instead of wheel harvest equipment) that means harvest costing much more and with all that water 40% is lost. Flooding does not mean always a bad thing. Flooding a field to control nematodes, so-called inundation, depletes the soil of oxygen and kills the nematodes. This is necessary because some worms are harmful to crops such as potatoes and onions. When a field is infested, it costs a farmer thousands of dollars in damage. The Vecht water flows through calcareous rock in Germany, absorbing a lot of lime. That lime is deposited again on our sandy soils, which are poorly buffered against acidification." Thus, the German lime in the eastern Netherlands creates unique conditions in which very specific plants thrive, such as stone carnation and yellow wallow. It all depends on what the soil composition is, how the groundwater flows and what kind of nature occurs there. And especially: how clean that river water is.

[Skybird]

What is with the top soil layer, what in German is called "Krume" or "Ackerkrume" - this layer of fine fertile earth that is the basis of nutrients and minerals and is housing the microbiome regenerating the field after harvest? When a soil erodes due to desertification and dryness, the wind blows this fine dirt away, what is left then is practically unusable for farming purposes again. What amount of damage does water do to this Krume layer? Isnt it this layer that its all about and what separates good famrming ground from bad one?


I am no farmer, thats why I ask.



And you said the tractors will drive n ot on wheels, but tracks. But isnt that also coming at a cost, an increased densification of the ground?

[Dargo]

Originally Posted by Skybird

What is with the top soil layer, what in German is called "Krume" or "Ackerkrume" - this layer of fine fertile earth that is the basis of nutrients and minerals and is housing the microbiome regenerating the field after harvest? When a soil erodes due to desertification and dryness, the wind blows this fine dirt away, what is left then is practically unusable for farming purposes again. What amount of damage does water do to this Krume layer? Isnt it this layer that its all about and what separates good famrming ground from bad one?


I am no farmer, thats why I ask.



And you said the tractors will drive n ot on wheels, but tracks. But isnt that also coming at a cost, an increased densification of the ground?

All depends on how clean that water is if it has too much fertilizer, medicine, PFAS etc it will do more harm than good rivers are full of sediment that stays behind that was always good soil for farmers. Farmers also use ditch water that is also river water. The kind of tractor has a different cost in money but for the soil not that will be prepared before seeding same as with wheel or track use.