[OSM-newbies] desert "streams"

[Cartinus]

On Saturday 17 October 2009 02:21:47 Charlotte Wolter wrote:
>          Also, I saw the sugestions that "drains" be used, but to me
> a "drain" is not something natural. Most of these streams are natural
> formations that have become encased in concrete only recently.
> Usually, only part of the stream course has concrete walls, and the
> rest is often natural. And, as in the case of the LA River, the whole
> thing  may be returned to a natural state some day.
>          What does everyone else think of "drain."

I don't know where some peoples associations:
concrete banks -> drain
"soft" banks -> stream
come from.

If a swamp gets drained to turn it into farmland, then you have lots of 
drains, but (almost) none of them will have concrete banks.
<http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=52.059824&lon=5.081575&zoom=17&layers=B000FTF>

If a stream gets partially canalized it is still a stream to me.
(nothing near here, so no example ;)
_ _ _ _ _ _

If the stream holds water intermittently on a seasonal basis, then you can 
also use seasonal=yes. There are no rendering rules for that either, but ....

-- 
m.v.g.,
Cartinus