Soil Erosion
In a message dated 9/25/99 3:11:47 AM EST, theryans@xtra.co.nz writes:
<< It sounds to me as though farmers in those "islands" are well overdue
for a change of basic technique in preparing their soil. >>
Moira:
Most of the agricultural islands in the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta region
are actually reclaimed freshwater swamplands, protected by high levees. Due
to wind erosion and subsidence, many of them are now well below sea level
(Stockton, where I live, is only 12 feet above sea level), and it's rather
disorienting to be driving along a levee road with a river on one side
perhaps five feet below the level of the road, and a vast stretch of
agricultural land on the other side that is clearly 20 feet below the level
of the river! We have had a number of disastrous levee breaks in recent
years that have flooded large tracts of land. One interesting proposal I've
heard recently is the idea of purposely flooding some of the low-lying
islands for use as reservoirs. It is still a controversial idea, and it
remains to be seen if anything will come of it.
Kurt
