MARCH, 1911. MONTHLY' WEATHER REVIEW. 37 1
MISCELLANEOUS.
Low humidity and brisk winds dried the soil, putting it in escellent condition for cultivation and seeding small grain.
RIVERS.
At the close of the month the rivers were 2111 cletir of
ice esc.ept in the northern part of the district, nncl they
Mr. J . H. Spencer, local forecaster, Weather B ~r e ~i , at Dubuque, Iowa, reports:
A t the close of the month the Mississippi River waa free of ice above La Crosse, Wis. It waa open a t Dubuque during the entire month, and opened a t Prairie d u Chien, Wis., on the 11th. The Wisconsin
was open at Muscoda, [Vis., during the ent,ire month; at, Grand Rapidrr, Wis., after the St,h; while a t Wausau, \Tis., it wm frozen during t.he entire month. The upper Mitwissippi River continued low for the season, ranging a t Dubuque from 1.6 to 4.3 feet. I t was lower a t the close of the month than at the beginning. The \Visconsin River rose steadily durin the month, owing to melting snows; at, Grand Rapids, \Vis., i t rangeffrom 1.4 feet on the 9th to about 4.2 feet during t.he last
week.
Dr. Luke Roberts, cooperative ani1 river observer a t Clinton, Iowa, writes:
The huge ice pack which broke away froni t.he bridge pier8 a t 5.15 p. m., hlarch 3, practically cleared t.he river so t.hat, boats could again move safely. The first boat to appear at, the wharf wa.9 the Mwy Bt-llt., from Albany, Ill., at 9 a. ni., March 10. The Evlipst. t.ouched this port, on her way u the river, about one hour later than the arriva.1 of the Mary Bel&. !he drtsaicts Gaffs left her winter quart.ers in the Bearer Slough on the 14th. The highest. stage of t.he Mississip i River at Clinton during the month was 3.3 feet; on t,he 1st.. The iowest stage wa8 1.9 feet, on the Yst, and t,he mean st.age 2.4 feet, which is the lowest mean for March for many years. The normal stage for March is 5.7 feet,, or 3.9 feet above that'of March, 1911.
The Mississippi River at Davenport reniains unusually low, the stage on the 31st being but 2.4 feet.
were a.11 low for the season. Navi opened on t,he Mississippi as far north ns C!linton,
DRAINAGE AND ENGINEERING NOTES.
The United States Army engineer having charge of the Des Moines River survey reports the following work done during Ma.rch:
Twenty-five per cent of the contours were drawn and inked, making this part of the work 97 per cent coniplet.e, and the tracings were 14
per cent completed. An estimate of the cost of providing clearance at the $2 bridges crossing the Des Moines River was made. Ihrinp April contours will be complet.ed and work will he in progress on tracings, estimates, and report..
Tlie low stage of the Mississip i River at I<eokuB, Iowa., favors t,he construction wor f - on the wa.ter-power clam, which work is bein The IiIississippi River number of an lllustrateil and descriptive bulletin per- taining to the construction of the wa.ter-pow-er clltni on
the Mississippi R.iver between Keokuk, Iowa, niicl Hnniil- ton, Ill., at, the foot of the Des Moines Rapids. The bulletsins will be issued at frequent intervals, timed to illustrate importnnt stages in the irogrep of the work, and the illustrations, together wit P i the test, describing them, will enable the reader to attain n rensonnble
familiarity with the methods eniployetl in the building
of the work from the beginning to its completion. Harmlton c'ouiity, Iowa, will spend more tlinn $400,000
in drainage work this year. The largest project is the Pray-Glanian ditch, which WAS established by the board
of supervisors on March 30. Its estimnted cost, is above
$100,000.
INVEST1C)ATION OF THE WATER RESOURCES OF MINNESOTA.
By ROBERT FOLLANSBEE, Assoc. M. Am. 600. C. E., dlstdct engineer, United States Geological Survey.
As a result of legislation enacted at the 1909 session of the Minnesota Legislature, R cooperative agreement was entered into by the United States Geological Survey and the State Dramage Commission whereby the work of in- vestigating the water resources of Minnesota was under- teaken by t,he former organization. A new c1istric.t was created with henclquarters in St. Paul, and active work coiiimencecl in May, 1909.
RIVER DISCHARGE.
The rivers of Minnesota play an important part in the welfare of t,lie State, being of great mp0rtanc.e in the niatter of niunici@ water supplies, outlets for sewage disposal and drainage systems, develo ment of water
f)l-e uently a nienace. to property by overflowing their baA<s during periods of high water. To determine accu- rately their value as a source of supply for the various usages, it is necessa.ry to know the amount of water flow- ing in each river ab flood, nierliuni, and low-water stages. As records of flow to be of the most value must estend
over a period of years, on account of the great ine ualities
branch of investigations be unclertaken as soon as ossi-
tahlislinient of gaging stations on the following streams:
ower, navigation, and in an uncontrol P ed condition are
of flow from year to year, i t was important t % at this
ble. Accordingly, the first work underta.ken was t % e es-
MINNESOTA QAQING STATIONS.
Rnijry Rirvr Basin.-Rainy, at, Intemat,ional Falls; Big Fork, a t Big Falls; Lit.t.le Fork, at Lit.tle Fork. Red Riiw Bnsitr.-Wild Rice, at Twin Valley; Red Lake, at Thief River Falls; Red Lake, a t Crookston; Thief, near Thief River Falls; (llearwater, at. Red Lake Falls; Ottertail, near Fegus Falls; Pelican, near Fergus Falls. Mississippi Riiw Bnsiii abow Nitriitsotn Riiier.-hlissiRaippi, near Fort Ripley; hlississi >pi a t Anolia: Crow Wing, a t Nimrod; Crow Wing, a t Pillager; Long brakie, near Motlev; Sauk. near St. Cloud; North Branch ('row:, near Rockford; South Branch Crow, near Rockford;
(!row, st Rockford; Rum. at. Onamia; Rum, at Cambridge. Mii,iresofrr Rirw Bnsin .-Minnesota, near Odessa; Minnesota, near Alontevideo; Minnesota, near Mankato; Whetstone. near Big Stone, S. Dak.; Lac Qui Parle, at. Lac Qui Parle; (:hippewa, near Watson; Red-
wood, near Redwood Falls; (.!ot,toiiwood, near New Ulm; Blue Earth, a t RapitIan Mills. illississippi Ritw Bnsitr h e h 1 Mii,r)resofa Riuer.-Mississippi, a t St. Paul: ( 'annt1ii. at Welch: Zumbro. at Zunibro FallR; North Branch Root,
'
near Lanesboro; Hoot.. at. Hniist,oii. S t . C'r0i.r X i r w Bnsin.-Kett.le, near Sandstone; Snake, at Mora.
St. Louis Riwr Bnsiri.-St,. Louis, near Thomson; Whit,eface, a t Meadowlanils; (.!lorluet.. at Independence. C'cdnr Rim- Brtsiii .-i'edar, near Austin.
D1.s Moiiws Riiw Bnsin .-Des Moines, a t Jackson.
The gaging stations are all of the standard current- meter type, which was described in the article published in the Monthly Weather Review for March, 1910, entitled "Tlie Work of the Water Resources Branch of the United States Geologic.al Survey in the Ohio R.iver Valley," by h h . A. H. Horton. Although all of the above stations have been main- tained for a shorter period than two years (with a few escept,ions] the low-water records already obtained may be considered very nearly the absolute minimum dis- charge on account of the esceedingly dry weather in the
latter half of 1910.