The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1913-04-24
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PUBLIC OPINION
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Practical Drainage.
To the Editor Of The Gate City

To the Editor OF The Gate City.
1t has been SO long ago as 1898
settled that drainage logically and
comes ahead of leveling.
1t has virtually been. settled that 1t
should come before irrigation. There
are new thoughts as to what to do
with rainfall, as we'll Immediately as
as indirectly when 1t has become
seep water. Drainage thus includes
all thoughts as to handling water so
as to be helpful. 1t is a national sub
ject viewed from the flood standpoint,
or even an international subject. 1t
means control CT causes as we'll as eff
fects and of course it means touching
on production and distribution OF
many mineral and agricultural art
icles and on travel.
All run-off is not water. A large
per cent is detritus and debris and
mud Often the land does not slide.
1t runs 1t runs from banks varying
in slope or angle in different soils
from go to less than degrees. 1t Is
not question of how water gets off
of certain slope with this or that
cover but as to what each type of soil
contributes directly to the flood. Also,
to the drainage of land surface below
the given slope.
1t is not solely question Of fores-
tation nor soil cover. 1t touches on
divers means of water retention other
than reservoirs-such as stock els
terms, ponds. settling basins, terraces,
diversion bitches cut-offs. OF these,
reservoirs seem most unpopular as
well as most suggested
bodies of water can hardly be made
worth as much as good land, while
our great river has recently been dis
/ covered to be worth much more than
an equal body Of good land.
! Location of reservoirs for mere re
tention to prevent flood is as much
one way to spend money as level1ne
one way, and for other purposes the
construction has been as much a prob
lem as the flood itself. Stock cisterns
have the merit of not wasting space
and the water could be of other use
Ponds are not popular though known
to furnish surface water when b.
drouth the ground water has fallel
below shallow wells. Besides the sol
creep and land run into them ha
been too disastrous both to the pom
and the land, settling basins are
means to induce the flood to deposi
Its contents other than water. N
great levee system seems to hav
had this object in view and yet 1t l
but an imitation of nature whereby
flood stage of water is allowed t
act as a flood and is diverted from tn
river course In such way that tn
flood plain furnishes it's own reese,
voirs and at such places as the mt
mentum would take the excess int
the trap set for it. This location {
reservoirs would be in connectio
also with system Of mounds as we
as levees and reclaimed areas. TIL
mounds for building cites or eve
villages would cost less than maxim
levees continually broader and highe
The basin idea would enable ale
some levees to run across the floo
: plain so as to facilitate travel and i
cidentally lessen the risk If too muc
3 heightening of embankment is a
. tempted A system of taking care {
surface water by subsurface drain
open bitches. or deep or vertical q
version would do the flood plain fl
more good than broken levees. Dive
! sion of flood waters by other than IL
hackwater method of nature 1t seen
y would be feasible and the backwat'