The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1913-04-13
The Greatest Flood Ever Known in the Miss
lssippi River Will Pass Down During
the Present Month.
BY Jno. A. Fox, Secy., Mississippi River Levee
Association.

Extending from Cairo, Illinois. at
the mouth Of the Ohio river, to the
Gulf of Mexico, is the main trunk of
the Mississippi river. Into this main
sewer are led the waters from $4,000
miles OF tributary rivers, bearing the
floods from thirty-one states and a
part of Canada.
The states of Illinois, Missouri.
Arkansas. Kentucky, Tennessee, Mis-
slssippi and Louisiana lie adjacent to
this main body Of the river and parts
OF these states comprise the 10000, 600
acres that constitute the alluvial val
ley Of the Mississippi river. This al
luvial region is about 700 miles In
length, extending from just below st.
Louis, Missouri, to the Gulf of Mex
leo. and averages from forty to sixty
miles In width. Through this alluvial
valley the channel Of the great river
meanders In a tortuous course with a
total length Of 1,066 miles, a depth of
from sixty to 100 feet, and widths
varying from one to two miles be-
tween banks. When flood, like
the one that Is now coming down, is
poured into this lower river precipi-
lately, because OF the rapid run-off
above due to advanced methods of
drainage now in effect throughout the
thirty-one states comprising the drain
age basin, the natural banks are over
flowed by the water and it must be
held within the channel by earth en-
bankments or levees.
These levees now hold back the riv-
er throughout its entire length, from
| Illinois and Missouri to below New
Orleans. They are by no means com.
plete, although they have been con-
structed to their present height and
cross-section at a cost of about $780,
100000, two-thirds OF which has been
furnished by the lands protected and
one-third by the national government.
| If they were now completed to the
height and cross-section prescribed by
the United States army engineers
when the problem of flood prevention
was undertaken, there would be no
fear of these floods in this lower reg
ion, but two hundred and thirty-two
million cubic yards OF earth must be
put in place before they will be com
pleted according to the plans of the
Mississippi river commission of engi-
neers. l mention this because SO
many people, without knowing the
facts, are prone to condemn the plan
for controlling the floods by levees az
la failure. We might just as we'll con
/ denim the Panama canal as a failure
/ if we tried to pass ships through il
with 232,O0O,OO0 yards of earth still tc
be removed from Culebra Cut The
plan to hold the flood waters in the
main channel by levees is not only the
best method Of solving the problem
but 1t is also the cheapest and most
practical.
1t is estimated by the Mississippi
river commission that the entire
levee system can be completed fol
S58,O00,00O, and that for about $50,
100000, addition the banks can be re
Vetted and permanent naV1gable
channel established for commerce
4 Much has been spoken and written
of late concerning flood prevention in
this part of the river by the construc
ton of reservoirs at the headwaters
of the numerous tributaries, but il
anyone will take the trouble to make
few simple calculations, they will
soon realize how utterly Impractical
this is, however strongly it may appeal
to them on first thought.
i A volume of water is now passing
Memphis at the rate of 100000 cubic
feet per second, and it will continue
to pass at this rate during the next
thirty days. This means S,2S0,000,0Ol
cubic feet in an hour; 9S.720,o0O, 900