Word: floodplain
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Dates: during 1992-1992
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Also working in the Pantanal's favor is the inaccessibility of the central core of the huge floodplain. The enormous, uninhabited wetlands provide a refuge where animals can retreat from hunting and other human intrusions. Munn notes that the area has survived deforestation in large sections of its watershed and that the effects of industrialization in the surrounding states have so far been minimal. "If this glass is half empty," he says, surveying the wild diversity of wading birds, flycatchers and kingfishers feeding at the flooded edge of a pasture, "I can't imagine what it would look like full...
...other water is there on top of it," observes Fred Liscum, a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. Levees built to protect towns can also restrict river flow, which in turn can force the waterway to crest and wash out the barriers on either bank. Says Robert Cox, Louisiana floodplain administrator: "You don't get rid of the water; you just pass it on downstream to the next...