Imperial Valley press., 1913-04-14
BY George 3. Logan,

Secretary Missouri Waterway Commi,-
sion and Secretary LakeS-to-thc-
Gulf Deep Waterway Association
Written for the United Pres>I
st. Lut Il. April ii.-Thr most Sc
riouS feature of the terrible disasters
IN ohio and Indiana. lo thinking pcu-
Pie. aside from the loss Of life. suffer
lns and property damage is the almost
urerrinS certainty that the floods will
occur again. perhaps soon. ami prob
ahlN often. Recurrcnces on 4 smaller
scale are rrrtantir~ If present rnndi-
lions continue.
Noihm- in the recent Huud> W. um-
usual or unprecedented except the
height Of the water. The rainfall was
extremely heavy. hui not record break
InA. The Ohio and Indiana rain, fnInI
The soil saturated and thu streams Were
tairlH full. but every winter breaks ~
With Wet soil and full streams ana M
mat i needed then il tu add hr,vy
general rain and another disaster Will
result.
Rainfall We always have. but not al
ways when needed nor even in jhe
same months. hut the annual prrripi-
y y
2NeTa2e> are practically the same W.
cannot prevent rain and the ram mus!
run of. It's what happens to the rain
after it strikes the earth that -iNrS Us
our present concern
Formerly rainfall sought TIE streams
al III" watersheds almost entirely hy
soil !PrcOlafl0n. The surface of the
earth was absorptive and the rain Gu
tered II. The capacity to absorb water
nf the SUIT duff soil of WondIand. or
tie heavily EraSSri Soil uf meadow.
Is almost unlhnl,nu. once in tie Suii
the "ntir" rainfall sought the stream
h'T> slowly. A rainfall such a. those
IN Ohio and Indiana should affect
streams and. rivers @radually and keep
Them bank full for several weeks or
even a month. The Ohio floods rose
IN day and abated in week
The reason of this j. that the >lW-
face soil is no longer ahSurptiVr. Gnl-
iiNated farms. hard roads imprrNiou,
to water, square miles Of cities with
paved streets. granitOid cutters and
concrete sewers have replaced the an
cient woodlands and meadows. The
natural rain We still have. but an m
natural soil receives it.
The purpose Of drain tiles on farms.
OF paved streets, Of roofs ana cutters
on houses and concrete sewers is to
carry water quickly to the rivers. But
tent Providence, who meant or intend
ed that the water should tarry a little
and not hurry away to the river beds
Our rivers are, therefore. just as surely
out of date as horse cars II is every
one wanting to get home at the same
time that causes traffic cOngeStOns in
great cities, and more cars and more
tracks and greater stations are being
provided. 1t is because all the drop,
of rain get to the rivers at the same
time that causes the congestion of wa
ter which we call floods 50 far We
have done nothing to relieve our
streams of this congestion. but all our
work has been aiding the rain drops
in their effort to arrive simultaneously
and add to the congestion.
The writer has recently seen arti-
cles giving the impression that the
drainage of low lands and flood pre-
vention go hand in hand. and that the
organization which stands for drainage
also stands for flood prevention. No
two things could be more incongruous
or incompatible. Drainage is the sci
ence of hurrying water from lands into
streams. 1t is sometimes a question Of
turning swamps into dry land and keep