Remembering the Mother’s Day Flood of 2006
May 17th, 2013 | by Middleton Stream Team
Peabody St Landing, Mothers’ Day Flood, 2006. This flood broke all records for the Ipswich River. J. Schneider photo
The Water Closet, May 17, 2013
Since mid-March this year, the start of spring, we’ve had fewer than three inches of rain. The Ipswich River is a couple feet lower than usual for mid-May. This Mother’s Day in the Closet, after finally receiving some much needed and welcome rain after six weeks of very little, we hearken back to the record Ipswich River flood on Mothers Day, 2006. Here is the Water Closet published in the Tri-Town Transcript the week after the great flood that swept two people to their deaths. Especially note the amount of precipitation in just 23 days of that May. (more…)
Water Down, Herons and Who Knows What Else Gone
May 10th, 2013 | by Middleton Stream Team
This man made cut in a large beaver dam caused the long flooded wildlife habitats above it to drastically change. Stream Team photo
The Water Closet, May 10, 2013
CORRECTION – This week’s WC implies that the breaching of the beaver dam was legal without a permit from the town. It is NOT legal to breach a beaver dam without such a permit.
In late March a properly licensed trapper cut two 2-ft. wide 2 ½-ft. deep notches in a 170-ft. long beaver dam in the northern tip of Middleton. This dam and the rich wildlife habitat it produced are often featured here in the Water Closet. The trapper set two traps, legal by human law, near these breaches. He did this with the permission of one of two landowners whose land was affected by the dam and resulting impoundment. (more…)
Water Ups and Downs Around the World
May 3rd, 2013 | by Middleton Stream Team
In mid-May 2006 Ipswich River flood waters cover much of Peabody Street landing in Middleton. Judy Schneider photo
The Water Closet, May 3, 2013
There is nothing unusual about changes in water levels in our ponds, rivers and oceans. Now the Mississippi and her tributaries are running high. Nightly we watch TV reports of the flooding along much of their lengths. Streets in the floodplain towns and cities are again under water. Last summer the barge transport industry on the Mississippi was suffering from low lows. Now 40-feet higher in places and flowing fast, barge traffic is hard to control and dangerous.
Here on the Ipswich where canoes and kayaks are our vessels, we have no such worries. (more…)
River, Water, Beer, Sweat, Then Blood and Tears
April 26th, 2013 | by Middleton Stream Team
3 of 5 canoes move down the Ipswich River for the annual Patriots Day paddle near the where once colonial “Log Bridge” (1673 to 1973) crossed from Danvers. Judy Schneider photo.
Ten old timers, ages 57 to 90, once again got together for the 70th or so annual Patriots Day paddle down the Ipswich River. Francis Masse whose mother started the once family outing has kept the tradition going. Friends have been added as family members left. This year Stream Teamer, Bob Lemoine, organized the paddle that always culminates midway in a riverside feast cooked over an open fire. At the same time in Boston and surrounds thousands of excited, apprehensive, and happy runners, crowds of spectators and media gathered for the famous 114 year old marathon. (more…)
