The Stick in the Stream

Summary

Come winter in the Santa Cruz mountains, the rain runs down the hills. When the rains start, I throw on my rain gear, grab my shovel, and tromp around the property. My goal: make sure the run-off creeks and streams run unimpeded and in a better direction. At the beginning of the season, this is work. There’s almost a year of fallen detritus in these small run-off creeks. Leaves, sticks, and branches. Often, small plants have grown. Sometimes I leave them, sometimes I remove them. During that first rain, the detritus clogs the usual run-off streams, which is where I show up. With my shovel in hand, I quickly shovel the detritus away, and the water runs down the hill. I like to solve problems, and the act of fixing creeks directly links effort to a satisfying outcome. The Thing About Water Here’s what you need to know about water running down the hill. It’s going to do its thing whether I’m tinkering or not. The combination of gravity and the stubborn erosion provided by water means a creek will slowly be carved into anything, regardless of my good intentions. Think the Grand Canyon… except way smaller. During the early rains, when a year’s detritus is sitting on the ground getting in the way, there is a critical blockage that does matter. Mountain roads. The ideal state is that water runs alongside the road to the nearest outlet or drain, which redirects the water under the road and into a stream that eventually flows into a lake or ocean. When the run-off next to the road is blocked, it can either go around the blockage or, and this is the problem, run across the road. In heavy rain, this cross-the-road blockage scenario can be an issue. See, water is just going to do its thing. Problem is, on this new side of the road, water hasn’t been running, so it’s making up a new path dictated by gravity. This newly directed flow merrily crosses the street, finds the lower part, and runs down the hill. Sometimes, usually, this is a non-issue, but sometimes the run-off on the ...