This is my very first time posting, and I’m inexperienced with OSM in general, so please be gentle. And also, I’m super sorry if this question is in the wrong place.
Here is my scenario:
There are several waterways in the area where I live that flow naturally as streams (and occasionally even flood) thanks to melting snow and runoff during the transition period between the wet season and the dry season. Throughout the dry season they are used as drains for irrigation runoff and various other water overflow mechanisms, so that they continue to flow throughout the season where before farming arrived, they would have gone dry. But in the cold, wet season when there is no farming, they do not flow. But because it is the wet season, the water table is high enough that there is permanent, standing water in the bottom of these waterways. At no point are they ever empty/dry. So: Should I tag them as intermittent=yes?
The wiki article for the intermittent tag is ambiguous. At one point it says that waterways should be tagged intermittent if they do not “permanently contain water.” This definition is elsewhere maintained for water areas only, and waterways should be tagged intermittent if they do not “have a permanent flow”.
I guess the underlying question here is, what is the purpose of the intermittent tag? Does it mean “can one expect this waterway to flow year-round so, for example, it can used to turn a wheel?” or does it mean “can one expect this stream bed to be dry at times so, for example, it can used as an informal walking path?”
Thanks for reading my confusion!
