Flood defences

Walk with the dogs this morning near Markt Rettenbach. Blip is one of the flood defence systems being advocated in recent years. A "natural" dam which is only used in emergencys to hold back excess water and allow it to be released in a control manner. Would greatly help if there were masses of these along the alps which all drain in to the Danube.

On the honey front (I haven't yet done any comment reviewing on yesterdays Blip), I returned to MrB's this evening and we filled the rest of the jars. In total:
40 x 500g jars
2 x 1kg pots.
Making a total of 22kg and on trying it, found it very tasty & mild but freely admit I am no expert, having avoided eating the stuff for most of the last 58 years or so. Took along some tomatoes, radishes and spring onions trying to "repay" for yesterdays heavenly cakes & Pimms. However I left again in "debt", MrsB presenting me with a whole loaf of the zucchini/almond cake! The B's being more up to date on Blip than I am, said Angelique had commented that "Winter Pimms" would soon be taking over. Being the B's they are, they already have a stock of Pimms Winter Cup AND Pimms Blackberry & Elderflower in the cellar! I will seriously have to consider organising a croquet tournament next year and they can organise the catering - Cucumber sandwiches, Zucchini cakes and Pimms. Croquet is probably better than cricket as the only likely participants will be the B's, Angie & myself.

Oh dear I have rambled on again and it's now the next day. Not entirely to blame as Angie stole the notebook all evening, not going to bed until midnight. Luckily she only has one weeks holiday and things will be back to normal on Monday when she has to be in bed by 9:00pm to get up at 4:30am!

Have a great day and please, please send us some sun & warmth from somewhere in the Blip world.

FOLLOWING IS JUST A PERSONAL DIARY ENTRY FOR MY RECORDS AND NOT FOR GENERAL READING (ESPECIALL BORING)

One of the big debates over the last few years and most recently during the flooding in June, is the building of "Hold Back" Dams so that in the case of flood warnings, large amounts of water can be held back from freely running in to the rivers. The dams are usually about 7 meters high and allow non inhabitated farmland to be flooded. The farmers of course get compensation if the fields are flooded. The dams are built as naturally as possible, where possible even allowing grazing/mowing of the grass. There are loads of suitable sites in our mainly grassland area and indeed one is planned on our doorstep but there is a lot of opposition from "interested" parties, probably to try and get higher compensation for the few meters of land they have to give up for the dam. In one often flooded village near here, the inhabitants took to demonstrating at the one farm that was blocking their project until he gave in. I am very much for these dams as I am sure the flooding problem will be getting worse and it seems like a sensible & ecological good thing.

Angie & I had to go to nearby Markt Rettenbach and then went for a walk with the dogs just outside the village and came across one such completed project. Quite simply it's a small grassland valley with a normally tiny stream, which then flows in to a forest. The dam has been built alongside the forest edge. The photo collage tries to show this but it was difficult to document. The dam can hold back 48,000 cubic meters. It was the first time I had actually seen one and strengthened my view on the subject.
Top Left: Car parked on the dam, to the left valley rises slowly.
Top Right: Taken from the dam wall, stream ("piddle") in the middle.
Lower Left: The reverse side of top right again with stream on down side.
Lower Right: Flood defense built 2006 on Rothmoos Stream capacity 48000m³