Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1897-07-02

LARGEST WATER SUPPLY
The Government Reservoirs
Now Hold More Water Than l
Ever Before.
There will be a Good Stage
The Whole Season
This Year. w. ~ :. [@ ... ..,s

people TO Cne opening NJ Cuc& A2OnC-
CANA reservoir. reported in these
dispatches a short time ago. 1t was
said that some of the gates in the
dam at Pokegama had given way
an | that the reservoir was being emp
tied, somewhat to the in:onven-
fence of the lumbermen. .,.
Az matter t,i fact, this was all g
fax says, the Minneapolis Journal.
The dam has not been opened and
the high water here is due to the
heavy rains all through the state IN
the water shed Ut the Mississippi
river. What happened to the dam
was this: One gate-on,y one
gave way. The dam 10 old and this
gate u as somewhat decayed. For
q few minutes, while some OF the
other gates were closed, a little more
water than had been intended es-
caped from the reservoir, but not
enough to make any appreciate
difference in the stage OF the river.
1t is u small job to replace this gate
and the whole story of extensive da-
mage was made out Of whole cloth.
But there is one feature Of the sit
uation which is interesting and
which constitutes powerful ar
gnment for the extension OF the res
ervoir system. This IL that the
present system-for the first time In
it's history-has reached it's limit as
a factor In the control Ol floods.
Assistant United States Engineer
Powell said yesterday that the res
ervoirs were now so full that no
more water could he accumulated,
and that in the event OF more heavy
ruins in that section III the state In
the near future, the run-off OF the
water would have to go down
stream.
The situation in che resel voir dis
trict is very gratifying to the engi-
neers, and all tile people interested In
the reservoir scheme. For this sea-
son there will be the best opportun-
itv ever offared of testing the effects
of the impounded waters upon the
the lower river during the low water
season, which IL bound to come
within the next sixty days. There
is now In the reservoirs 10000, 100000
cubic feet more water than ever ac-
cumulated at any one time before.
This is 20 per cent OF an increase over
the largest accommodations OF pre-
vious years. As the Mississippi is
likely tokeep up we'll this season from
natural causes. it seems most proba-
BILE that the stage of water from
Minnea polls tn Lake Pepin may be
kept at a good navigable stage.
with the aid of the impounded reser-.
voir water, until navigation is
closed by frost.
In the Winnibigoshish reservoir,
the largest and most remote OF the
system, the water now stands at
zoos feet. The highest previous
stage was in 1898, when 1t reached
S.S5 feet. In Leech Lake reservoir
there are four feet OF water. as
against 1857 feet in 1888. This does
not seem like great deal OF differ
ence, but it must be remembered
that in such a vast area as that OF
Leech lake and it's overflow lands.
half foot rise OF water means many
millions of cubic feet increase. SAM
DIV lake reservoir is full to the brim.
and Pokegama reservoir is carrying
lex feet, or about it's >maxium. Fine
river reservoir is empty. owing to-
the break last year. The new dyke
has just been completed and only q
day or 80 ago orders went forward
to close the gates and accumulate
whatever water possible this late
in the season.
1t will be noticed that, though
Winnibigoshish and Leech lake have
each been pretty we'll up towards
the present record in former years,
these periods Of high stage were not
in the same season. This spring and
sunni er the rains have been general
all over the northern part Of the
state, and all the reservoir water
sheds seem to have received their full
complement. f
Two important points are likely
to be made by this seasons expert
ence in the reservoirs. The first has
been referred to-that the system
will prove it's efficiency in maintain
ing a navigable stage Of water up to
Minneapolis. The second will be
that immediate steps should be
taken to increase the system. II for
f1OOd.cOntrOllinU DllrDOSe8 alone.