Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1902-07-24
The Ditch Question.

| Mondamin, Ia, July -, 1903. Editor
Valley TIMES Dear Sir Pursuant to
,.n invitation from the Chairman OF
no Mo Valley Commercial Club te
The people of Cal Junction. Modsle and
Mondamin to meet with the CONNER.
cial Club on Friday evening, July 10
Il9l2, to discuss the question of drain.
age, responded, hoping to hear some
! hing that would be for the benefit OF
the whole inundated district. But i'm
This WAS disappointed, as the mem
hers of the Club seemed to think that
AS Mo Valley was the only place in
the county that had whiskey it must
be the only place that had water to
spare, and were anxious to dump their
surplus water on Pottawattamie cOun-
ty but never SAID turkey once.
TLey would throw the water of the
" III 'w nnd the overflow from the
b yer unto the SEDIMENT. filled channel
of the Willow in Pottawattamle coun.
ty and let it find its way TO the Mis-.
souri, River as best it could; throw the
" tiers of Steer Creek aud Allen Greek
in1o depression somewhere in the
vicinity of Mobiles Lake and there let
it find Its level They would be good
to PottaWattamie county in one re-
spect. They would dixie the east bank
of the Soldier so that the water from
that source could not overflow their
lands and destroy their crops, and let
the people on the west side of the Sol
dier take care of the water thrown on
them by this drainage system proposed
by the Club. while Mo. Valley would
sit dry and sarene on her many hills
and what had been one big slough.
The act of throwing water on the peo-
pie of pottawattsmie county would no
doubt develop into q long and expens-
i've law suit for damages. This ex-
pense the people of the entire county
would have to stand, while the people
of Mo. Valley and immediate vicinity
would be the only ones tenetited by it
When met with the Club had a
drainage scheme to lay before them
one that believe the whole Missouri
bottom from where the Soldier river
emerges from the hills to where the
ditch or canal would empty into the
Missouri river in Pottawattamie coun-
ty, but after listening to the sentiment
voiced l felt convinced that such a
scheme as had to propose would be
Immediately turned down SO with
held it, and will give 1T now that the
public in general may think and talk
it over, and if deemed practicable take
up my scheme and put it through.
My plan is this First, secure the
services of a compatent civil engineer
to run a lav2' flam !. point near the
Brooks firm OH adler, running
southwatd i'4suugh the low lands along
the foot ofshe nils. continuing down
to aud p>st Mo Valley and through
Pottawattsmie county to the Missouri
river, at q point that would afford the
greatest fall; thus cutting off Steer
Creek, Allen Greek and the Willow,
Thereby merging them into one great
canal The canal to be not less than
thirty feet wide in bottom, at its
source, increasing in width as the vol
ume of water increases; the sides OF
the canal TO have q slope of one and
one-half to one: the material excav-
ated to be pl.ctd at a distance not less
than thirty feet from the top of the
slope or either side and be so placed
rs to construct q levee OF uniform
height on each side of the canal
After the survey is made, it 1T is found
that that there is sufficient fall, as
there surely must be, as the canal will
run almost parallel with the Missouri
river the greater part of the way, ii
Unjust necessarily have as much OF
more fall, the route traversed by the
canal being much shorter than that
traversed by the Missouri river in
going the same distance. Then make
an estimate of the total cost of the
Icinal.
The next thing to be done is to send
the report of the engineer, accom-
panied by q petition, TO our member
of Congress, asking for an appropria.
ton from the general government to
cover the cost of constructing the
| canal
Some persons whom have talked t.
in regard TO my drainage scheme say
that the government will not make al
appropriation for drainage purposes
Why not? The government makes
appropriations for irrigating lanC
where there is not moisture enough
i Why cannot appropriations be made
to relieve those who have too much
There is one thing certain; if we dc
not ask, we will not receive. And il
we fail in procuring the desired appro
priation we still have the same re
sources left, and we can go on ant
construct the canal just the same ant
the money expended in making thu
survey will not be lost. If the cana
has to be constructed at the expense o
the county, levy a tax on every foot O
land inundated by the overflow o
July, 1902, on the west side of tn,
Soldier as we'll as OH this east, as botl
will be equally benefited, for afte