Omaha daily bee., 1909-02-10
HALF MILLION FOR DRAIN ACE
Big Project Will Reclaim Fertile Land
in Western Iowa.
THREE COUNTIES INTERESTED
valley Fifteen Miles Wide and Con-
tanning Four Hundred Thousand
Acres of Farm Land VIII BE
Restored TO Cultivation.

ONAWA, Ia, Feb. 9-(Special.)-The
greatest drainage project i'm the middle
west is now being developed in the Mis-
souri, river bottom in Iowa in the counties
of Woodbury., Monona and Harrison. These
counties comprise some of the richest land
in the United States. This is a valley of
about fifteen miles in width, bordered on
one side by the Missouri river and on the
other by an irregular line Of bluffs above
which stretch the rolling prairies so charac-
~teris,ic Of Iowa. The soil is a rich, heavy,
dark, drift loan of ~alluvial deposit. and of
wonderful and %seeminly ~ineXhaustible fer
tility and unsurpassed in productiveness.
The fall in this valley, however. is only
about one foot to the mile. This district is
drained by the Missouri river and its tribu-
tary, the Little Sioux river. The Little
Sioux river drains an Immense tract of
land, over 400, 600 acres, and in the spring
when the hills in which it's source is stu
ated are deluged with rains, it rises with
great rapidity and spreading out over the
level bottom land for miles carries in it's
wake ruin and disaster. In years when
the rains are especially heavy this land
becomes a sea OF water that ruins crops
and hay lands and prevents any farming.
In Woodbury. county there are about 5000
acres subject to this overflow, while a
large portion of Monona county bottom
land, amounting to about $1,000 acres is.
during this season submerged. However,
during a normal year this section is practi-
cally unaffected. and wonderful results
and yields are obtained from it.
Relieve Flood situations.
To relieve the flood situation was the
problem that arose. 1t seemed that to drain
the land with large bitches was the only
solution, thus providing an outlet for al
this accumulation of water. This was
a~gitated BY the press and by the citizens
and farmers and, IN July. 1903, the two
boards of supervisors Of Monona and Harri-
son counties let the con; ract for the
Monona Harrison ditch. The work was de
layed on account of litigation in court and
not until April 1907 was it resumed.
A few years ago what was known as the
Neutrality-suspicious. ditch was constructed.
This ditch commenced in Woodbury. county
and ran south along the line OF Wolf creek
into Monona county to a point connecting
with the west fork of the Little Sioux river.
This connection is three miles from the
confluence Of the west fork Of the Little
Sioux. At this connection the Monons-
Harrison ditch was started. II runs in u
south and southwesterly direction for over
twenty-five miles and empties directly into
the Missouri river.
Besides the big ditch many laterals, cut
offs and small bitches were constructed.
BY placing cutoffs in the bends OF the river
the channel length OF the stream is short
ened. In one cutoff of $50 Yards in length
three and a half miles are saved in the
old channel. The engineer OF this project
estimates that by Strengthening the river
with cutoffs it will carry three times as
much water as before. There are eleven
cutoffs constructed at the present time.
The upper part OF the Monona-Harrison
ditch is forty-five feet wide at the bottom
and an average depth of eight to ten feet
but when 1t gets down in the middle OF
Monona county It widens out TO a fifty-foot
base, with a top se~venty-five to eighty feet
wide and from ten 10 eighteen feet in depth.
below the surface OF the land. Some OF the
river cutoffs are deeper than this.
Cot by DredEe Boats.