During the very wet and snowy winters of 2008-9, 2009-10, and 2010-11; the National Weather Service was already issuing early predictions for spring flooding in late December. The three extraordinarily wet years were the peak of a three-decade long wet period which increased the water table throughout our region to the point that rivers simply stayed high. Dryer conditions starting in 2012 have returned the water table to a more historically average level. Take a walk along the Red River from the Midtown Dam to Lindenwood Park and you will see the frozen remains of willows well over ten feet high. For many years, plant life along the river has been stunted by the lack of oxygen in the soil. But this riparian environment has responded extremely well to the absence of flooding.
