Leaves and Flooding

Ever notice how heavy wet leaves can be? They're heavy, of course, because water is heavy, and the leaves can absorb a lot of water. Now, look at the mountains of leaves that people place on the street this time of year. Are these not essentially giant sponges that we are asking the city to haul away? And what happens when a heavy rain falls upon land that has been deprived, year after year, of these large helpings of spongy material? The water, with nothing to absorb it, flows into streams, increasing downstream flooding.