The scale of floodwater (control)

Although I was in Albuquerque yesterday to give a public lecture on my upcoming book, which addresses private cattle ranching in northern Mexico, a special afternoon treat was in store. I jumped into Paul Matthews' pick-up and we did a quick and selective survey of urban flood control structures on the east side of the city that sprawls up the Sandia Mountains.

It reminded again how scaled water is, whether it's about delivery or flood control, too little or too much, in the greater Southwest. The first shot shows some upslope watershed control features, many using the natural channels of arroyos, while the later ones emphasize the accumulating scale of urban flood waters in a city that has seen its fair share of flooding in the past.

What's grim about a few of these obvious hydrologic settings is that real estate doesn't care too much about flood issues. It's not just the Mississippi where people have set vulnerable, if pricey in this case, housing smack in the middle of an emphemeral floodplain. Even the mid-slope structures that seem over-built are not, and are a subtle reminder of how quickly flash-flooding can affect a city that is typically concerned about too little water. Albuquerque has its own urban agency for flood control structures (AMAFCA), apart from MRGCD, apart from water treatment...and that's not even mentioning the state agencies or the regional water authority that combines city and county functions.

I close with this shot that, by all accouts, could pass for the Los Angeles River. This lovely view was right by the Applebee's (how appropriate). Now, I wonder when this system will be tested by a natural high water event. Are these built for 100-year floods? Many of the upslope houses have only appeared in the last 5 years and so have not been exposed to a severe flood threat. I'll post a more historical entry about the middle valley and its flood experiences soon.