Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1921-09-12
Effort To Haze Red. Riuer Made
Non-Nduigable Stream Wouldsbe
"A Mistake Rep. Burfness Thinks

w OulN
'ep. Burfness Thinks
of March %. 1905, regulating the
construction Of bridges over naviga-
BILE waters specifically contemplates:
the building of permanent fixed
bridges across streams which are not
n~avigable for the larger boats. It is
not hue that just because the Red
river is still regarded nayigable and
under the control Of the war depart
ment the city Of Grand Forks and
other municipalities interested would
have to build draw bridges when our
present ones must be replaced or II
new ones are to be constructed. The
Intent Of the law is that only that
sort Of a bridge is required as will
take care Of whatever navigation will
be upon the river, Where a river can
float nothing btt a row boat or a
canoe only such space is required I'M
der the bridge as will reasonably
permit the passage Of such row boats
and canoes 1t is true that the plans
and specifications for a proposed new
bridge must be submitted to the chief
of engineers of the war department
for approval, and while none of us
will perhaps always agree with the
judgment of such officials, I think we
can assume that in approving plans
for bridges either at Grand Forks or
Fargo such men will exercise ordi-
nary horse sense and moi demand the
building Of draw bridges. Hundreds
of bridges that are permanently fix
ed (not draw bridges) have been
built over small streams under like
conditions.
Flood Control.
A very important reason operating
against the a~dvisability for North
Dakota to declare the Red river non.
~navtgable is the fact that under the
River and Harbor Act Of April, 1917,
congress gave consent to any agree
ment between the states of Minneso-
ia, North Dakota and; South Dakota
or any two OF them with a view to
preventing and controlling foods on
the boundary waters Of said states
and the waters tributary thereto.
This recalls to mind the many dis
astrous floods which occurred a few
years g n which affected most
disastrously thousands Of acres of
very productive land in the south
such land %valueless for several years.
The suit by the state Of North Da,
kota against the state of Minnesota
still pending. having been once ar
gued in the supreme court of the
United States, is simply an incident
of the deplorable conditions existing
during those springs when spring
waters are higher than the average.
The $ federal government in 1917
made an appropriation Of s%25,0O0.O0 !
to be expended in making surveys
and Investigations to determine the
the practicability of any project that
might be proposed by said states and
the expense of carrying sue project
into effect. and also to determine
what share of such expense should
be borne by the national government.
Federal Aid.
Both the North Dakota and Tri-
State flood control and drainage COM
missions have spent a great deal of
time and money in attempting to
determine upon a project which
would be practical and feasible. The
most extensive project suggested in
cludes the building of a dam at White
Rock to convert Lake Traverse into
a thirty-mile reservoir, the improve
ment of the channel of the Red from
Lake Traverse north, the building of
control dams on the Sheyenne river
Ca tributary of the Red). the building
of a reservoir on the Pembina river
(another tributary Of the Red) the
building Of dams at Red Lake and
Ottertail a k to control floods and
produce water power, and the build
ing Of a series of small. curtain dams
in the channel Of the Red just below
each city to- be opened in freshet time
but to hold back water below the city
in periods of low water. l have no
technical engineering knowledge and
do not pretend to know whether the
proposed project is practical or feas-
iblc, but I do know that if a project
could be established which would
prevent the recurring floods from
which portions of North Dakota,
suffered, n which would act as a
to regulate and dole out the
spring waters during the entire sea-
son in a uniform manner. the advan-
tase to u people could scarcely be
estimated in do lars II cents. The
cost of any such project would be
immense, and it would be difficult
to pay the cost thereof alone. l am
also satisfied that if the federal gov
should at the request of our
own people waive its jurisdiction over
the Red river we would lose reason
be prospects of getting federal aid
for the project. Congress has already
recognized that at least some part Of
the cost of such project should be
borne by the federal government.
Would it not be unwize to- do anything
which would spoil our chances for
such aid unless the advantages to be
gained plainly out-weighs some tech
meal disadvantages? AS Grand Forks,
Fargo, Wahpeton and other cities
along the Red increase in size, the
problem of al abundant water sup
ply and of sanitation will become in
creasingly grave, especially If the wa
ter supply becomes less and less an
nually, as has been the tendency the
past ten years. If the flow of water
remains unregulated it is quite pos
sible that it will become too small to
take care of Jul people during the dry
seasons of the year. These facts en-
phasize the Importance of some pro-
ject that will conserve the spring wa
ters and dole them out during the bal
ance of the year. /.
No Other Department.
I have no quarrel with the sugges-
ton inEthe last paragraph Of your ed
ttortAl that such streams as the Red
river be placed under the control of
a new governmental department that
may be known as the department Of
public works. or by some such SINH
lar name. At present, however, there
is no such department, and should the
river at this time be declared non