The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-11-14
TO PREVENT FLOODS.
Lake Washington Canal Will
Drain q Great Basin.
WILL DRAW FROM BOTH WAYS.
Engineer q. r. Wesener Suggests . Way
to Keep Floods From tho White
River and other Valleys.


to Keep Floods From the White
River and other Valleys.
O. F. Wegener, the civil engineer who
has been employed by the county TO de-
wise ways and means of preventing the
floods which SO frequently pour over the
lands adjacent to White, Cedar and Black
rivers, in his report to the board Of COM
missioners makes the following impor-
tant Suggestions:
Before concluding this report deem it to be
my duty to lay before your honorable body
matter which came under my observation when
investigating the question of putting food gates
to the White river valley bitches l mean the
floods which Lake Washington, Cedar and White
rivers pour oyer the adjacent lands, and the oaiy
manner in which the occurrence OF the same
can be and finally must be prevented.
Lake Washington has two regular food tides
each year-one late In the fall, the other early
in the summer The fall food has to carry on
the rainfall on 800 square miles OF land which
drains ntoLaxe Washington. This water reaches
the lake quicker from year to year, in the same
ratio in which the land IL cleared aud thus made
to shed its surfacs water IN many hours as 1t
did take days when the land, In its uncultivated
state was covered with brush, moss. leaves and
timber And Black aud Duwamish rivers,
which form the only outlet OF Lake Washington
into Elliott bay. have not increased in with or
depth-that is, in discharging capacIty-to cor
respond with the quicker rise and increased
volume of the lake water, the consequence Is
that the latter. having no SUFFICIENT outies, floods
the lands adjacent to Lake Washington. SAM
mamish slough and Cedar, White. Black and
Duwamish rivers.
no m ia
the snow in the mountains. When the spring
season is warmer than usual Cedar and White
rivers bring down enormous volumes OF water,
nearly all of which seeks the outlet shrough the
Duwamish river. with the same result as in tae
case of the fall floods. The Duwamish, with its
narrow, tortuous, ten-mile long channel and its
low banks. il utterly insufficient to carry on
the food, and thus the icecoid waters are fdeced
to inundate the adjoining fields, destroying
every crop within reach of the overflow.
The worst feature of these floods is that with
the ever-increaaing. area of cultivated land they
increase in volume and suddenness OF appear
ance. And as the lands threatened by them are
not In the state, the question of how to prevent
the occurrence of these foods becomes one of
urgen. public necessity.
In considering this problem, the first solution
offering itself viii be found to be widening
aud straigh tening OF the present outlet, the pu.
vanish river. But closer investigation shows
any such undertaking entirely imrractieable.
The cost for buying the required (ali high
pticed) land, the dredging OF the widsned chan
nsI>,pd the construction OF new aud more ex-
pepsfYe county bridges. would bring tue cost
of such an Improvement to nearly, II not
quite $4,oN0,000 And for this great SUM OF
money we would obtain a channel which for .
few weeks in the year would be gigantic mill
race, whose raging waters would be ever ready
TOR
fow the low lands and carry destruction to the
adjoining lands aud buildings; while during the
remaining portion Of the year the channel. on
account of its great width, would be too shallow
to offer the possibilities for navigation and log
ging which the Duwamisa in its present sze
possesses. To sam up these difficulties in the
way OF widening the Duwamssh 90 as to carry
off the Lake Washington flood water. it may
simply be said that any such scheme IL entirely
impraetieabie and will never b. carried opt
The problem of preventing these floods then
comes down to the finding of new outlet,
which, in order to be efficient ard practicable.
must have the following requisites: 1t should
be located as near possible in the middle of
this lakes longitudinal border, so rs TO give the
high water an opportunity of flowing to IL from
di dersnt directions, instead of being located at
the most remote corner CT tina lake, IS its pres
ent outlet is. The main outlet must be short,
nearly straight, aud have, II possible, banks of
more compact material than the low lands offer.
With these conditions in view, glance at the
map of Lake Washington and Its surroundings
leads at once to that part OF the lake where 1t
is brought within less then half a mile from
Lake Union, whence another outlet of less than
a mile (both together about ore and one-quartsr
milesl leads into toe Sound. These two outlets
would be less than one-tsnth the distance OF
the other, through Black river aud Duwaraish
river: lis construction, with fooi gates COM
fcss half
required for widening the Duwan,ish, and with
the same width only il woDld discharge twenty
times much water in the same time.and
efeetuaily relieve the lowiands from further
floods.
To make this improvement complete Black
river must be damned west of Cedar river,
az 70 leave the Duwaulish 10 carry OFF none
but the White river water, while Cedar river
would have 10 flow into Lake Warrington and
find the outlet for its waters. through the new
channel. BY the latter arrangei.cnz SEATTLE would
be immensely benefited by obtaining for its
water supply the pr,rs and cold mountain water
from Cedar river. instead of the impure, thickly
sedimen.ed water from samaElmish lake. vs. hich
is now pumped into our reservoirs.
II the Lake Washington ship canal were
built, i. could, in time OF high water. carry of
these floods easily and without damage to tho
adjoining lands. Ii the caual be not built,
then the construction of this new outlet Tor
the food waters from Lake Washington and
Cedar river becomes an imperative public
necessity, which, have no doubt, every board
OF government engineers will promptly indorse.
have entered Into this explanation at some
length In order 10 give your honorable body
the full information required to make al once
the necessary application for the proposed i'm.
provement to the national government. Be-
cause am fully convinced that the sooner this
work Is carried out the sooner will the fertile
valley lands of this county be redeemed from
those disastrous ttoais, and not before Hoping
that this. my view OF this important matter,