Nothing to Do? How About a Nature-Based Scavenger Hunt?
June 18, 2020
In a traditional scavenger hunt, teams search for a dozen or two unusual items within a time limit between 2-6... Read More →
Nothing to Do? Make Some Fishing Lures!
June 11, 2020
When I was 10 years old, to supplement the holiday excitement, a friend and I spent part of Christmas vacation... Read More →
Nothing to Do? The Adventures of Captain Pebble
June 4, 2020
For schoolchildren, summer break came two months early this year, thanks to COVID-19. And by now even the allure of... Read More →
Big Ponds Need Professional Design and Sound Construction
May 28, 2020
My three recent blogs about spillways have featured variations of little ponds in little watersheds, small enough and in locations... Read More →
Alternative Spillways – Rock and Concrete
May 21, 2020
A few weeks ago, my sketches about building spillways for small ponds in small watersheds focused on using our most... Read More →
Rat Island: A Book Review
May 14, 2020
When you are trying to rescue species from the very edge of extinction, you have to play hardball. This is... Read More →
Designing Little Ponds Without Spillways
May 7, 2020
Some small ponds, retained by berms and with very small watersheds, can be designed to work adequately without a separate... Read More →
Spillways Cope with Excess Water
April 30, 2020
While it is relatively simple and inexpensive to design and build a grassed spillway to cope with overflow from a... Read More →
Tree Roots Damage Septic Systems
April 23, 2020
Over the past half-century, I have seen several local instances where trees have gotten their roots into rural septic systems... Read More →
The Iowa City Constructed Wetland Stormwater Corridor
April 16, 2020
When you think you have a good green idea, you never know whether it will fly until you offer it... Read More →
