Week 3 - Rivers

Although I have visited the location very often, it's intriguing to observe and study how our family farmland is affected by the perennial Missouri River which flows from the West to East, as well as right next to our fields. Depending on the weather, every visit down to our bottoms is diverse as the water level decreased or increases based on rainfall and other numerous factors. Although there are no sandbars near this part of the Missouri River, they do stretch out in numerous areas where the water levels are below 7-8 feet, making it easier for the sediment to collect and create elevated beds of white sand. Our crops are protected by an artificial levy my deceased grandfather built, which also helps ensure that our land isn't turned into a flood plain and keeps the soil nutrient rich, but it also has its faults. In the case of this past year (2019), the Midwest received a great deal of precipitation and caused a mass flooding of the area. In our case, our levy had a hole punched in it due to the high than usual discharge (velocity) of the meandering Missouri River and the water hitting the bends of the river which happens to be where our farm land is positioned. Typically, the river flows faster than normal due to its high surface area (wide channel) and the fact it flows over mud/clay, creating less resistance. Although, it's amazing to think that even though rivers only contain 1/4 of the Earth's annual precipitation, the high discharge (which is not usual for this part of the Missouri) was caused by high rain levels and other sources of water being dumped into the Missouri River from other areas such as Nebraska and Iowa. As a result, we not only had to fill the hole in the levy once the water levels decreased, but we couldn't plant crops in the spring because we had to wait for the sitting water to evaporate; we have a drainage system in the corner of our land for excess water to drain into the Missouri River, but it doesn't help with sitting water in the middle of the plain. An enormous blessing was that in the slow evaporation of the river water, the soil became more nutrient rich than usual. Thankfully, insurance companies offered financial assistance to my family and many others farmers across the Midwest.

 Atop the bluff over-looking our bottoms nesting next to the Missouri River during the flood of 2019.

Photo Credit: William Irvin-Linneman

Standing on top our artificial levy, observing the mass flooding of our fields during the flood of 2019.

Photo Credit: William Irvin-Linneman