The Falls City tribune., 1910-04-01
CHANGES IN THE NEMAHA
! MANY CHANGES IN TIE PAST
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS.
The Causes Leading Up to These
Changes What Strengthening
of Channel Will Do.

There are those who can recall
conditions in the Nemaha bottoms as
they were twenty-five years ago, and
from what they say the conditions
We're very different from what they
have been of late years.
In those earlier days protracted
floods were entirely unknown. 1t
is true the bottoms oyerflowed oc-
casonally when the precipitation
was unusually heavy, but the dura-
tion of the flood was always short.
If the water came out one day it
would be back again within the
rivers banks by the next day. These
floods rarly did any serious dam
age On the contrary they We're
frequently of real advantage because
of the deposits left behind.
The question that is of interest
is, what has caused the great
change? The answer is not diff
cult to find and should encourage all
friends of the big ditch in their ef-
forts to overcome the tendency to
excessive flooding. There are sev-
eral causes, which have been slowly
bringing about radical changes i'll
the conditions in the Nemaha bot
toms These changes have develop
ed so slowly that most people have
failed entirely to notice them, new
ertheless they have been quietly at
work these years and are largely to
blame for the present condition of
things
In the earlier days the timber in
the bottoms was very much lighter
than it is now. Since, settlement
farmers have encouraged the growth
of trees in many ways, and as re-
suit, now much of the course of
the Nemaha is through densely wood
ed land This was not always so.
But is so now and it has had its eff
feet upon driving the farmer out of
the low lands
The river has become in a very
real sense choked with timber Trees
have been falling and bodily sliding
into the channel of the river until by
degrees the channel has been filled,
in with timber and the natural accu-
mutation of soil, etc. This varies
greatly at different places There are
places where the river channel has
been almost entirely filled up. In
other places huge barricades OF
timber are collected through which
the water finds its way at best but
slowly Any casual examination of
the channels of the two Nemahas as
they now are will convince any one
of the absolute necessity of overflow
in case of any considerable freshet.
The Strengthening of the channel
will again open up free way
for the passing of all flood water. 1t
will bring back the conditions as they
were in the sixties and seventies,
when floods such as we now have
were unknown. Besides there will
be the added advantage of straight
channel, carrying off the water by
the shortest possible route, and at
the greatest possible speed.
There will be only one serious
! obstacle TO meet. and that is the
increased precipitation. There is
no disputing that much more rain
! falls in Eastern Nebraska today than
fell twenty-five or more years ago.
This extra amount Of water viii OF
course tax the capacity of the big
ditch, nevertheless We believe in the
ultimate success of the undertaking,
and urge every one interested to
hurry the work along. because Of the
advantages both economic and other
wise that win result therefrom