WIND ENERGY SYSTEMS - Cd3wd

Chapter 9—Wind Power Plants 9–46
conveyance of water.
waterway: a river, canel, or other body of water serving as a route or way of travel or
transport.
A second definition for waterway that is not in the unabridged dictionary is “natural or
constructed channel covered with an erosion-resistant grass, that transports surface runoff to
a suitable discharge point at a nonerosive rate.” The agricultural concept of a waterway is an
area that can be driven across by a four wheel drive vehicle in dry weather. It is conceivable
that a wind turbine could be located in a waterway, although a few feet away on ground a
few inches higher would be a wise choice. There is no reason for a technician to be standing
in water while working on a turbine after a heavy rain.
The general size progression of terms would be rill, gully, ravine, draw, and canyon. A
rill in a plowed field is a small eroded channel that can be smoothed out by plowing across it.
If it gets wide and deep enough that it cannot be farmed across or driven across, then it is
called a gully. A ravine is a large gully, which may be difficult to even walk across. In Eastern
Kansas, ravines usually have brush in the bottom. The word draw may be used as a synonym
for gully or ravine, but often implies an eroded area that is wider and shallower. An eroded
area two feet deep and one hundred feet wide would be a draw, while one four feet deep and
six feet wide would be a gully.
Canyon refers to a large channel, with no limit on size. This term is rarely used in Kansas,
but is common to the states west of Kansas. The term rill is a technical term used by people
who have studied agriculture. The other terms are commonly known and used by most rural
Kansans.
When the emphasis is on the water rather than the results of the water flowing, the
progression of size goes as brook, creek, and river. Stream may be used as a generic term.
Water flow is continuous during years of normal rainfall. One needs a bridge to cross a brook,
creek, or river. Brook is seldom used in Kansas. It may be that people think of a brook as a
flow of clear water in the mountains, with trout swimming. A creek then would be a flow of
muddy water with catfish in it. A creek in Eastern Kansas usually has trees growing on both
sides of it. If water flow is not continuous, then it is called an intermittent creek.
The terms such as creek and river are relative in nature. A river is a large creek, but
the water flow in a river in Western Kansas may be smaller than the water flow in a creek in
Eastern Kansas.
The word valley is often used with a modifier, such as river valley or mountain valley. A
river valley may be several miles wide, usually with fertile farm land, extending to hills or
bluffs on either side. A mountain valley is probably smaller, but a relatively flat region with
perhaps a small brook flowing through the center. There are no mountains in Kansas, but
there is upland (as opposed to lowland or river bottom land), so perhaps the corresponding
term is “upland valley”.
Wind Energy Systems by Dr. Gary L. Johnson November 21, 2001