The Donaldsonville chief., 1920-10-02
SEPARATING THE RIVERS.
State Engineer Advises Against Di
vorcing of Red and Afchafalaya.

yorcing of Red and Afchafalaya.
/ The question of divorcing the At
/ uhafalaya and Red rivers from the
Mississippi, has engaged the atten-
ton Of the engineers and levee men
for years, and on more than one oc-
casion unsuccessful attempts were
made to put bills through the Louis
lana legislature, petitioning congress
to grant the necessary authority to
separate the streams.
In a recent issue of the Times
| Picayune, there appeared a very
| lengthy communication on the sub
ject, from United States Senator Jos.
e. Ransdeil Of Louisiana, one of the
| best posted river men in this country.
In a statement published in later
issue of the same paper, John Klorer,
member of the state board of engi-
y hsseels takes issue with Mr.. Ransdelf,
ely advises against the Sc
para ellof the rivers.
Says Mr.. Klorer:
In your issue of the 10th inst, ap-
pears q lengthy article by Senator
Joseph E. Ransdell on the subject Of
the eeparation Of the Red and Atcha-
| falaya rivers from the Mississippi
IriEer, which cannot be construed
ether than as a plea in favor Of the
proposition" )"
81 suppose this is an opening gun
to draw the fire of the opposition, or
possibly a plausible effort to arouse
the people Of New Orleans as to what
is on foot that they may be prepared
to present their views on this question
at the conference or convention to be
held in this city on November Is and
16. If so, the senator's action is COM
mendable, and strikingly in contrast
to the line of action adopted by the
| proponents of this project in the re-
cent legislative session when concur
| rent Senate resolution (Act No. 451
endorsing the separating Of the rivers
and memorializing congress to un-
| |dertake the work at the earliest pos
! iisible time, was railroaded through
the committee and both houses.
/ This was done without an opportunity
having been given to the opposition
TO be heard, and after promise had.
been made to withdraw the resolu-
| tion rather. than precipitate more
or less unsatisfactory debate at the
hearing.
"The vital point of this whole
question, to the people in this section
of the state, namely, the consequent
!, increase in food levels on the Missis-
sippi river below Red River Landing,
lis hardly touched upon by the sena-
tor. His article fairly bristles with
RI
crevasse discharges, and other ply
sical data, but the only reference he
makes to the resultant flood heights
lis expressed in generaities that are
not even glittering. Witness: Had
the Atchafalaya been divorced during
1912 and 1916 this additional volume
If 100000 or more second feet of
Mississippi river water carried by it
TO the gulf would have been obliged
TO pass between the levees of the
Mississippi below the mouth Of the.
Red, and beyond question there
would have been some increase in the
height of the water-how much it is
hard to say
"Yet the senator must admit it is
yeldii necessary to say how much
lple on the lower river want
to Kn0w how much The Mississippi
River Commission has given as their
estimate that the 1912 high water,
controlled, and with Old river closed,
would give an additional flood height
of 5.3 feet at Red River Landing, :
with corresponding stages at points
below, not given by the commission
but easily obtainable from unqestion-
able data, are as follows:
Baton Rouge, 48.5, or At above
1912.
1912.
1912.
"Canal street, New Orleans, 24.5,
or 80 above 1912.
My personal opinion is that these
increases are undressing rather
than overestimated, but waving that
point, let the people in the levee dis
tricts below Red River Landing
grasp this significant factethat the
above increases are oneAnd one-
half times the increases in flood
heights that have taken place since
1897"