I’ve been taking 6th graders to our little stretch of Chimacum Creek to gather water quality data since 2001! In all those years we’ve seen our stream flow go from pretty low to really low. In all those years, we did have one year where after some major rain the water level went from ankle and calf deep to waist deep! The water level was that high when we got there but this year, after some heavy raining, I expected to see deep water again. On November 19 after some heavy raining, when we got to our site and the water was still ankle to calf deep I was perplexed. Then the following happened:
That was THE COOLEST THING EVER! OMG how fun and exciting that was! As surprised as I was to see the water level still low after so much rain, I never expected the water level to rise right before us!
Normally, kids stand here:
As we came up out from under the bridge, most of that standing area was under water:
As the boy in the video mentioned, we had fish traps set when the flooding happened. I decided to wait until the next day when we were due to check the traps anyway, hoping that they were still there and okay.
At no time were the kids in danger and even though the water was rising right before our very eyes, we were able to leave the area with no problems. It was more of an adventure than a scary event and is the stuff memories are made of. Oh, and the traps were empty so no fish ventured in during this flood of 2020!
This event is providing some great wonderings as kids come up with questions as well as explanations for what caused the water to rush us all of a sudden. Inquiry at its best!
