KOKOMO, Ind. (AP) — In town, floods are a mess. All of the roadside litter gets swept up and channeled into flood areas, where it snags and looks disgusting. Flood waters, laden with raw sewage from combined sewer outfalls, gets into walls and flooring, creating a stench.

But out in Jerome, where state officials turned a logjam into a fish habitat, the marshy flood plain looks the same as ever. Stinging nettles grow up everywhere in the soggy bottom, forming an effective barrier against human encroachment.