Most of what I’d call a drain around here would be large underground pipes designed to carry storm water. Empty most of the time except perhaps for a trickle of water from various urban/suburban watering overflow. Used most of the time by raccoons, possums and rats as away to navigate through or shelter in an area without having to worry about being attacked by neighborhood dogs, though the larger ones could be attractive for adventuresome teenage boys to explore.
I’d call the open air, usually concrete lined, versions “storm channels” though that might be a local colloquial. Many/most of those follow reasonably close to the alignment of the original natural waterways and often carry the same name as the original (e.g. “Santa Ana River”, “Los Angele River”, etc.). Again “river” would be a historic term as they are often dry except during or immediately after a storm. Cheers! > On Jan 11, 2019, at 10:18 AM, Eugene Podshivalov <[email protected]> wrote: > > Tod, what would be definition of "drain"? > > Eugene > > пт, 11 янв. 2019 г. в 21:10, Tod Fitch <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>>: > > > On Jan 11, 2019, at 8:36 AM, ael <[email protected] > > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > > > > As a native speaker, I do not recognise "canal" as appropriate for > > irrigation. That is not to say that some canals may also be used > > partly for irrigation. > > > > But the phrase "irrigation ditch" is common and understood. Bear in > > mind that the UK is mainly a fairly wet place, so the need for > > substantial irrigation is not high except in some special cases. The > > unqualified word "ditch" would normally be understood as an artificial > > unlined and usually small watercourse. But also, in certain contexts, > > for a historic trench acting as a defense or fence, not necessarily > > containing water. > > > > That seems to accord with a the sub tag irrigation=yes on ditches - > > and maybe on other waterways if that is one of the uses/functions. > > > > ael > > > > +1 > > In the desert where I was raised the cotton fields were surrounded with > “irrigation ditches”, or “ditches” for short. The fields were watered from > the ditches by either syphon hoses or sluice gates. > > Later, when working on road projects, I found that the low areas on the sides > of roads (often used as “side borrow” areas during construction of the > roadway) were formally called “drainage ditches” or just “ditches” for short. > > So to me a ditch is simply a channel dug to move water. > > But I am an American and our terms diverge somewhat from UK usage. So I > looked it up in my older paper version of the OED to find the first two > definition are “1. An excavation narrow in proportion to its length; the > trench or fosse of a fortification, etc.”. “2. Such a hollow dug out to > receive or conduct water, esp. to carry off the surface drainage of a road or > field, etc.” > > Based on the second, I can see the reason why some would conflate “drainage > ditch” with simply “ditch”. But I don’t see from this where even in UK usage > a ditch has to be for drainage. It is simply a long narrow excavation and, in > the waterway sense, dug to conduct water from one place to another. > > > Cheers! > tf > > > _______________________________________________ > Tagging mailing list > [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/tagging > <https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/tagging> > _______________________________________________ > Tagging mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/tagging
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