Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1912-05-03

/ mat for
dne exercise of wise legislative discretion
Ihe condition of this stricken civ an
peas strongly to ones sympathies and IN
@ fl,, impulses. IL Is IN distress through
no iauit OF its own: and the state can sf
iord 10 be generous. But you should not
forget that the money you are asked 10
donate IS not yours but that of the people
you represent; and that its proper ex-
pendlture is one of the most sacred trusts
committed to your care
PORTAGE LEvEE.
| What have just said abont the mower
OF the state TO build retaininc vsll ~
Dlack hlVer Falls applies also to the con
99 ~ n and repair of levees at Portage
IN t eheh case the authority is the same
nr;o ,He utter instance indeed two appro-
thb1 he IONS nave nav, already been made; one in
| in ~ e1 , 1s0S Tor $4,000 and the other
Al Ythe year 1905 for So. 900
IL Is now asserted that the leyees huilt
~ ~ improved by means Of these appropria-
o otoIs as well as the one constructed at an
"a ar h time by the federal government need
" oe strengthened and repaired
special committee OF the Senate and
az ofe , assembly appointed by the legislature
u-tttt, inspected these leyees and made
| facts as follows: '"e
me Wisconsin river flowing southwark.
hut one .ne noX river flowing northward, are
o oue 4 t ana one. half miles apart at Port
n 49, rst Inc intervening ground being low and
Ihnarshy. At an average stage Of water in
ioy1-a i.hhhers, the FOX is about nine feet
toMer than the Wisconsin, and in time of
nish water in the Wisconsin and low wa
t ter n the Fox, the difference is nearly
from fmgn'y M Ieet. This condition often exists
th toA tue Iact that the Fox, heading off to
the south and without forest cover is
sm9leh by the early melting of the snow,
fora S Shs peeeded to a low water stage be-
north and on higher land caused the rise
OF water In the Wisconsin. Later how
Il stti,, 5ne wisconsin rises while the Fox
The. fall in the Wisconsin is one and
1 me .naI Ieet per mile in the vicinity of
Iortage the fall in the Fox is a trihe
oNs sar, iour inches per mile in that locality.
4; 1he territory protected by these levees
IS on the south side of the river. about
snFee miles wide and fifteen miles long.
NJ MIN perhaps an extension up the valley of
the BaraboO river
This is mostly in farms with the l,suaI
aaILu houses, except part (perhaps one
iou a.n winch is too wet for cultivation.
on the north side. the extent of pro-
tecteu country is about the same in the
viclhlty OF Portage, and is also under SINH
lar CULTIVATION, Besides this the lower part
OF portage city is exposed. An estimate
~ ~ Tue people that are dependent upon
these levees for protection from damage
10 more or less extent, is 1000: and the
amount amount or property at over $4,000, 900.
at least as far as Lake Winnebago. must
De considered, distance by river of about
one hundred miles, with its many villages.
manufacturing
agricultural interests
Inc absolute necessity of maintaining
these leVees for all time, aud the import
a aiee OF controlling the water flow in the
wisconsin river are two facts that cannot
pc tco strongly emphasized"
since this report was written the only
important flood that has occurred was that
of last fall Because the water of the
Wisconsin river is now confined to the
comparatively narrow channel between
Ihese levees 1t then rose to the highest
level yet known and actually overtopped
the improved embankments built in 1904
ana 1915. Only prompt action and unre-
mlttlng vigilance prevented-and appaI-
entry very narrowly prevented catas-
trophe In comparison with which the dam
age done at Black River Falls would be
very trihfng indeed. When the water
reached the top of the levees the people
OF Portage and the surrounding country
prevented general overflow by laying
bags OF sand so as temporarily to increase
the height of the embankment and with an
armed patrol on duty night and day pre-
vented 1t from being cut through by those
VINO feared damage to their own property.
The strain then imposed upon these en-
bankments, composed as they are merely
or sand, much of 1t fine aud insubstantial,
has weakened the levees and caused them
aDpreciably to settle. 1t appears to be the
unanimous opinion of competent observ-
ers that should there be a recurrence of
river the Portage levees. thus weakened
and reouced in height. win prove INSULT
cient tG eonfine the Wisconsin river with
In It's banks and that there is a very great
danger that the accumulated water gath
cred from the 10000 square miles en-
braced in the Wisconsin basin will then
pour into the narrow valley of the Fox,
bringing destruction to dams bridges,
farm houses, villages and cities and in
evitable injury to other property, situated
all the way from Portage to Green Bay
1t is manifest that the danger here
spoken of is due in a measure to the very
existence of these levees themselves. Be
fore they were constructed the Wisconsin
river in times of high water quietly over
flowed its banks and flooded the entire
marshy area between it and the Fox river.
No harm was done then because the wa
ter spread evenly over large section of
country and the current was nowhere suffi-
GENTLY strong to cut chennel between
the two rivers. Upon the completion of
the Portage canal however by the United
librium was fundamentally disturbed and
new and highly dangerous factor was
introduced. This canal is a ditch a mile
and a half long, fifty feet wide and deep
enough to accommodate a volume of water
which pouring down an incline of twelve
feet to the mile would soon dig a channel
large enough to divert the entire current
of the wisconsin river II to the Fox why
should it not do so? Here is a vast tor
rent Of water suspended as the chairman
of the legislative committee has said from
nine to eighteen feet over the valley of
the Fox river waiting only TO find its
way down inclined plane of soft. allu-
vial SOIL. Inc government canal now FUR
nishes the channel. Who can say how
soon it will be utilized in a way not orig
finally intended or even dreamed of? This
danger is enhanced by the fact that solid
rock is nowhere found; the soil instead is
fine sand, easily swept away by water
moving at a velocity such as would natur-
ally be attained here. To protect against
this danger the government leyee was built
But it affords only partial protection. 1t
has been found inadequate more than once
and when over6owed the last time the
lower lock in the government canal washed
out also. All that remained then as a
barrier was the upper lock. The federal
authorities thereupon built a new lower
lock ana raised the height of the upper
lock three or four feet. Now however they
absolutely refuse longer to improve or keep
i'm repair these government works although
i'm flood time their canal is the principal
source of danger.
What will it mean to have the Wisconsin
river diverted at Portage into the Fox
to find its way ultimately into the Atlantic
ocean through the Great Lakes instead of
into the Gulf of Mexico as Mt present
What of the probable loss of life? What
of the property destroyed? What of the
industrial DISCRIMINATION both on the low
er Wisconsin thus left with only a dry
river channel and in the valley of the Fox
flooded with this new supply of water?
The DOSSible consequences are indeed