Driving across the Mississippi near Crosby, in Brainerd, or in the Twin Cities is vastly different than driving across the bridge near Vicksburg, Miss. or cruising down the river out of New Orleans. It seems like either unimaginable tectonic forces were involved in creating the mountain ranges, or glaciers, rivers and streams carved out the rest of the features.

I've followed the Colorado River through that state and then visited it from a far different perspective at the Grand Canyon and then farther south at Hoover Dam. A number of years ago my travels took me over St. Louis, Mo., where the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers turned that area into a vast lake through which the Mississippi flowed. Last week's treatise that dealt with bottled water pales in comparison to water as a ubiquitous force in our lives.

As we have seen in Iowa and Indiana, the substance that we will die without in seven short days can also be one of the most destructive elements of nature. Unfortunately, our new savior, Mr. Gore, has proclaimed that global warming is the cause of this flooding.

Unfortunately for him, the climatologists have already explained that the colder water of the Pacific has led to cooler than normal temperatures across the northwest and north central portions of the United States. When this cooler air meets up with the normal influx of moist air from the south - violent storms and high rainfalls result. This is exactly what's been happening for the past several weeks in the north and central parts of the United States.

Whether we know it or not, we all live in a watershed. If rain falls where you live, you're in a watershed. In Minnesota alone, there are 81 major and more than 5,600 minor watersheds. Understanding those watersheds and monitoring the quantity and quality of the water resources, lets the DNR folks who study them know what's happening and allows them to identify trends and forecast events - like how long the excessive rainfall in Minnesota will take to reach St. Louis, Mo., and how high the river will rise as a result.

The folks in Iowa are experiencing severely damaging flooding along the Iowa and Cedar rivers. There's lots of talk about five-year floods, 50-year floods, 100-year, and even 500-year floods. How many of us have witnessed a 100- or 500-year flood event? Or did we even know what we were witnessing? We all are wont to say whatever we've witnessed is the worst we've ever seen. And although it's probably true, it's also very misleading to think it's the worst it's ever been.

Have you ever noticed how along the channel of a river or a stream, there's a fairly extensive low lying area that follows the river. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, that's called a floodplain. And I'll bet you can guess why it's called a floodplain. That's right - when the river or stream overflows its banks, the water is going to go there first.

And that's where a lot of people live - the land is probably very fertile, there's plenty of water and on large rivers, there's probably ready transportation. And it works just fine as long as there's not too much water.

One of the reasons that things seem worse than they might have previously is what has happened to a watershed since the last major event. When precipitation falls on an area, it can do three things - run off into lakes, streams and rivers; be absorbed into the soil; or evaporate.

If it's raining, the chances of evaporation are pretty slim. If it's been raining a lot and the ground is saturated, it's not going to be absorbed. If there has been an extensive amount of development of the land, it will further inhibit the absorption of the water. That leaves running toward a lake or the stream or river that is the main feature of the watershed. In the extreme case, you get a flood.

Every new house that's built creates more water runoff. Each new mile of paved road creates more runoff potential. Every new parking lot, driveway, apartment complex, condo development, ad infinitum does the same. Just as each snowflake in an avalanche pleads not guilty, we blithely believe our little 2,000 square-foot house, garage and driveway have no impact on what happens tomorrow, next week, or next year.

Or perhaps we just fill in a small wetland that's preventing us from using our land the way we want to. I mean, who cares? And this allows us to perform our mental Pontius Pilate act when the next major flood occurs, blame it all on Mother Nature/global warming and expect Uncle Sam to pay for our damages.

We are a part of the recurring flooding problem - and it's not from our carbon footprint, it's from our cumulative, increasing impervious surface footprint. For certain, that's not the only cause, but we do make a bad situation worse. I wonder who's going to take up this cause and start selling impervious footprint credits. Probably someone named Gore.

In the battle between man and water, man may win a few battles, but water will always win the war. New Orleans and all you well-intentioned, but clueless politicians, please take note.

Well, that's what's been on my mind.