We live near a natural spring - or at least we used to.

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Last November, our area experienced two floods - the first was very severe, followed by another, less severe, but still we had a good 'drenching'.

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It seems the effects will be long-lasting.  Yesterday, we took a visit to our local springs, and were dismayed and shocked at what we found.

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Here's a photo taken of the springs in flood.  This is the second flood, and you can see where the level of the first flood was, by the twigs and leaves lodged in the tree in the foreground.

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Now, here's a photo of the same springs, taken yesterday, 13 of Jan 2008 -  two months after the floods.

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That's the same tree on the left;  but this shot is taken from the opposite direction.  You can see the line on the rocks where it changed colour;  this line is where the water level of the springs has been for as long as I can remember - the springs are gone!  There's only a small amount of water left in the bottom, and it seems that it is slowly evaporating.

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I'm not a naturalist, so I don't know exacty how these things happen, or whether the springs will somehow restore themselves, but it is very sad to see.  These springs are the life-source for a host of plants, birds and animals.

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Here is one more photo, which was taken in April, 2005.  The children are on the very rock that was pictured in the photo above, showing the previous water line.  You can see how calm the water was, how the reeds grew, and now we can see just how deep the water used to be.

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It's so amazing how a flood can change a landscape so much.

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