The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-09-09
bles came from the government dams.
Reservoir Management.

bles came from the government dams. |
Reservoir Management.
The floods were coming from some
where, and why not from the reser-
voirsa But it is generally understood
now that this is not the case. The
people here do not want the dams de-
stroyed; they realize too well the pro-
lection afforded. So the fight on the
reservoirs has taken new tack, and
the management OF the dams is now be-
ing assaulted. It is asserted by the OPP
ponents of the reservoir system that
the waters are stored for years, the
reservoirs always full when the heavy
rains come, and that the accumulated
supply must then be released at time
when the river is running over with
flood water. The effect of this talk is
"The reservoirs are a good thing it
properly managed,' but there are a
great many who frankly state that they
know little or nothing of the question
of past management. They are not in
terested in navigation on the lower
river. What they want is to find some
| way to prevent overflow of their acres:
This portion, of the Mississippi bed
has experienced many floods and fresh
! cts, some higher and some lower than
the high waters of May and August and
the flood of July Of this year. Prior to
1884, as far back as the SOS, it was
customary to look for high water in
the spring and bigger flood in July:
The heaviest food was in 1888, and
least five: feet higher than the one Of
1905. There was another food in 1862
and river men were held up for a
month at Swan river with their. log
drives, waiting for the water to go.
down. The river was far over the
| 1 l. -
work to keep the logs from breaking
away and scattering over the lowlands.
There had been much snow the winter:
| before and heavy rains in the spring.
There was big food in 1873 and the
flood of 1879 is remembered by lum-
bermen, for very few sawlogs that year
were caught this side of Lake -Pepin.
was possible anywhere over the bot
! toms. r.. -. -" j..
The Dams and the Floods. =
Since 1884, the year in which the first
three government dams were built,
dams have a combined storage dis
charge capacity for 83,0O0,OOO,OO0
cubic feet of water, and they. catch
the rainfall from 3,23s square miles Of
the territory drained by the Mississippi.
The Leach lake reservoir will store
100000 cubic feet, and after the
extllaordina1y rains Of this oooy yea nit it
Leach reservoir has never been filled.
Winnebigashish holds 45,OOO,0 900, 900,
and this is the first year since it was
built that it has been filed to its a.
feet howage' line. Pokegama falls
feseryo cir i is Smaller, with capacity
it is discharged all the water from
Leach and Winnibigashish. It accu-
emptied in few days The discharge
from Pokegama is into the Mississippi
just, above Grand Rapids. Pokegama
is thus the releasing reservoir for the
upper system. 49,. -
The holding Of the immense quantity
of water which would otherwise come
down with that Of streams not under
government control, has had the effect
of reducing the height of floods at all
points below Pokegama falls. The
heaviest. flood since the three dams
were finished came in June, 1888, and
the river at Aitkin rose II feet above
point reached at Aitkin was 1886, on
July 6, and the rainfall in 1905 was
greater than in 1888. u
Higher Before the Dams Were Built;
The floods of 1858, '62, '73, '79 and
'S3 were all Of them from two to five
feet higher at Aitkin than the highest
waters of this year. The June rain
which brought on the flood Of 1888 fell
in about thirty hours. Streams rose
eight feet in a night. Twenty million
feet of logs broke from the upper river
drives and jammed into Sandy lake
The Mississi ppi kept rising for. two
weeks, and it was three weeks before
the water began to fall, for severa
hard transforms followed in June ani
July. Leach lake was empty and Winni
bigashish: had six inches Of water il
store. The average discharge of wa
ter at Pokegama during May Of tina
year was 900 cubic feet a second, ant
during June $500 cubic feet second
When the Mississippi was seventeen
feet above low water at Aitkin there
was 10000 cubic feet Of water sec
ond passing the gagerod in: the rive
at that place, and 1900 Of it was com
ing from Pokegama. Over $4,000 cam
from streams not under government
control. During this flood Sandy lax
was acting as natural overflow basin
the government dam not being con
| structed there until 1895. But witt