St. Landry democrat., 1882-03-25
THE OVERFLOW AND THE LEVEES.

The present disastrous overflow of the
Mississippi river, makes the question Of
levee building very prominent one.
People are divided in opinion as to
whether levees do any good. There
are now two parties before the national
government, one clamoring for a gene
raj levee system to be supported by the
general government, and the other
opposed to this, but in favor of making
more and keeping open all the natu-
raj outlets for the water to run from
the river into the lakes and gulf.
We publish an article from the n. o.
Times-Democrat, showing the extent
of the present overflow in the States OF
Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana.
The water is said to be as much as for
ty miles wide in some places, and to be
eight or ten feet in depth. Now how
high would levees have to be built to
hold this water within the channel OF
the Mississippi river? No one, not in
sane on the possibilities of science, will
believe for moment that such levees
can be built, unless they are several
miles apart, which would include and
destroy the plantations on the river.
| With therefore, a big overflow like
the present, the general leyee system
would amount to nothing. Those who
believe the water could be held between
the leyees, hold the theory for their be-
lief that the contraction Of this great
volume Of water would greatly increase
the current which would wash out the
channel Of the river SO very deep as to
enable it to hold all the water. When
the river overhows, the mud or silt al
ways in the water, is deposited over a
large extent Of country, sometimes a
foot or two thick if the water was
confined to the channel Of the river,
this silt would be deposited on its bot
tom, and in short while the bottom OF
the river would be no deeper from the
top Of the levees than formerly from
the top of it's natural banks, and the
river would get higher and higher,
while the land back Of the levees would
remain low as before. The current
cannot be increased sufficiently to cut
the channel deeper, unless the fall Of
the river to the gulf is greatly in
creased, which it is not in the power OF
man to do. The river is as deep as it
can be with it's present fall, and man
can devise nothing to change it.
We have heard it stated that before
the levee system was begun, there was
more cultivable land on the Atchafa-
lava river than there is now the levees
and stopping up Bayou Plaquemine
| and other outlets have forced more wa
ter in the Atchafalaya, which over
flows it's banks, and has cut it's channel
SO much deeper that the closing of it
as an outlet of the Mississippi is Sc
riously considered in certain ! .>rters.
The closing up of the Atchafalaya nuld
certainly cause the overflow of all the
country below the mouth Of Red river.
Levees may do good to a limited extent in
certain localities; but the walling in Of
the Mississippi river, from Memphis to
the gulf, and stopping it's outlets from
tho mouth of Red river down, can not
be done. The opening of all the natu-
raj outlets, and making artificial ones,
from Red river down, will draw off the
water as rapidly as possible, and afford
the earliest relief after an overflow.
Nature may be modified, but not abso-
lutely changed. A man may work at
night and sleep during the day, but he
cannot live without sleeping. The
Mississippi river cannot be walled in SO
that the water, now eight or ten feet
deep, that flows over its entire bottom,
in some places forty miles wide, will be
forced to run in a comparatively mar
row channel only one mile wide +; but
with plenty of outlets, the overflow
will not be so high and will run down
quicker. With the Atchafalaya, Bayou
Plaquemine, Bonnet Care crevasse,
Bayou Lafourche, and other natural
outlets open and kept clear of obstruc-
tons, and an outlet made into Lake
Borgne, as Capt. Cowden proposes, the
damage caused by overfows would be
reduced to minimum.