The Argentinian river that appeared suddenly in 2015 aerial video

[Judi Lynn]

The Argentinian river that appeared suddenly in 2015 – aerial video

Source: European Forest Institute/Uki Goni

Sun 1 Apr 2018 01.59 EDT

Video at link:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/video/2018/apr/01/the-argentinian-river-that-appeared-suddenly-in-2015-aerial-video

[Judi Lynn]

1. When nature says 'Enough!': the river that appeared overnight in Argentina

A new watercourse is playing havoc with farmland and roads and even threatening a city – but also highlights the potential cost of the country’s dependence on soya beans

Uki Goñi in Villa Mercedes
Sun 1 Apr 2018 02.00 EDT

After a night of heavy rainfall, Ana Risatti woke to an ominous roar outside her home. Mistaking the noise for a continuation of the night’s downpour, she stepped outside to look.

“I nearly fainted when I saw what it really was,” said Risatti, 71. Instead of falling from the sky, the water she heard was rushing down a deep gully it had carved overnight just beyond the wire fence around her home.

The sudden appearance of a network of new rivers in Argentina’s central province of San Luis has puzzled scientists, worried environmentalists and disheartened farmers. It has also raised urgent questions over the environmental cost of Argentina’s dependence on soya beans, its main export crop.

“The roar was terrifying,” said Risatti, remembering that morning three years ago. “The land had opened up like a canyon. Water was pushing through as far as I could see. Huge mounds of earth, grass and trees were being carried along the water surface.”

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/01/argentina-new-river-soya-beans

[sandensea]

2. And who can blame her!

Big Argentine landowners have been illegally creating irrigation/drainage canals for 100 years.

Most of these unauthorized canals have been created with no planning whatsoever, other than to cater to the landowner's particular needs.

The result: exacerbated flooding in general, flooding concentrated in urbanized areas (away from the farmland), and phenomena like the one described above.

There were two governors, Alejandro Armendáriz and Daniel Scioli of Buenos Aires Province (the largest and most agriculturally productive), who since the 1980s have tried to crack down on illegal canals in a serious way. I understand it was like whack-a-mole - a real exercise in frustration.

Thank you for posting this, Judi. Here's footage of San Luis Province (where the above story took place): Enjoy!