Steve,
You are absolutely correct. The field is in flood plain. It is at a bend in the river, and when river comes up... it comes in. simple as that. It has been planted for as long as I have lived on the place, (17yr) and I know that the previous owner farmed it for the 30yr they lived here. I will continue to keep it planted. If I did not I would have to mow it or it would return to trees and shrub in a few short years.
Jinman,
No levee in the future for me. Much to expensive to build and maintain for so small a field. If the field were larger or the crops more important, or it threatened some real property damage I would consider the levee. Best thing for me to do is just go on letting nature take its course, and do the cleanup afterwards as best I can.
Thcri,
The creek bank is lined with trees and mock honeysuckle probably 30 ft from stream edge inward. I need to keep this buffer to keep erosion down. We had a large sycamore come down across the creek, and it backed things up and made a huge dam in the creek for about one season. Next spring and when the water came up again, it washed MOST of the trash on down stream.

Still have the uprooted stump in the creek but it is at least pointing in the right direction, and doesn't back up as bad as it was.
Steve is right, there isn't really any practical solution to this problem. Short of building a levee or widening creek there isn't a good answer. Another thought that I won't go into is the fact that there are some very strict laws about what I can and can not do to the stream. Regardless of where my property line is and what the creek is doing to my property.
