Can you help me answer these questions about floods?

Question

Don't worry, it's not for homework or anything like that. Just for fun. = )

1. Name an event that can cause a flood?

a. Heavy rainfall in a short period of time

b. Melting from a deep snow

c. Soil that has too much water in it

d. Frozen soil that doesn't allow water to soak in

e. High rivers, streams, or reservoirs

2. What are the two types of floods?

a. Regular River Flood

b. Flash Flood

c. Both a & b

d. None of the above

3. What is the flat area on either side of a river or stream called?

a. Flood zone

b. Dam

c. d**e

d. Flood Plain

4. What is the name of the structure an engineer would build to protect a community from flooding?

a. Wall

b. Flood Zone

c. Dam

d. Levee

e. Both a & b

f. Both c & d

5. Name a natural feature that protects a community from floods?

a. Wetland

b. Stream Buffer

c. Natural Open Space

d. All of the above

Answer 1

forrests act as sponges

they absorb 60% of all rainfall and the rest that flows over the ground is slowed down and filtered by the trees

the rest 40% is called thru fall and it is a different quality of water enriched with sugars and excrements of insects etc.

when the trees are removed the 100% of the rain flows quickly over the ground in to the streams and rivers picking up speed and arives down stream far to quickly.and far too much

this is the cause of most floods

in the past people also made straight cannals which have the same effect ,

rivers and streams are always winding throwing water against the absorbing banks ,in straight cannals too much water too fast arrives down stream also causing floods .

but draining of wetlands and deforestation with the subsequent farming ,have removed these natural safeguards.

WATER MANEGEMENT AND HARVESTING

Any given landscape tends to be convex shapes that guide the water floes into creases which becomes ravines and then streams and rivers

we must reverse the effect and build a series basins that absorb water intead of repelling the water and draining the lands ,so that the whole place becomes like a sponge

Making terrazes is part (slightly concave )is part of this concept

the best long term safe guards,are as many dams as posible in a catch ment area most of the dams to be porrous ,so that the water is redirected into the ground instead of over it .

this suplements surface aquifers and brings up ground water levels ,

the water still reaches the rivers ,but much slower and for far longer (by many months)ensuring more constant river levels .

when all of the rain water is redirected into the ground before it reaches the rivers ,this is called zero run off ,and the whole concept is called water harvesting

large blocking dams in catchment areas are very bad they always end up full of silt ,they interupt natural ecosystems and fish movements ,and change the country side ,somebody always being the looser and big companies profit by the power they provide

the numerous small dams like,saddle dams ,(between mountainpeaks),horseshoedams (mountain slopes)and turkey nest dams(on the straights),are the only reasonable ,eco friendly and water efficicient solutions in the big picture in the end .

more ways are to build contour swales that absorb water and accomodate excess ground flow in huge rainfalls

to find out more about Water harvesting I recommend:

the designers manual by Bil Mollison,which cost about 40 dollars.

and is the best all round book you can get.(tagiari publishing, [e-mail])

your questionaire has many irrelevant points to confuse ,eg,dikes are used to keep back the sea of coastal swamp areas that have been drained and are used for settlement and agriculture

Mountain snow looks like a thing of the past ,and when it is there the melting  tends to be  a slow proces