100 TREE PLANTER'S MANUAL. 



reservoir system on the Red and Red Lake rivers is unquestionably feasible. 

 "It is well known," says the Daily Herald, of Grand Forks, N. D., "that 

 the northern portion of the state of Minnesota, and especially the portion 

 directly east of the Red River Valley, is composed, to a large extent, of a 

 vast number of small lakes, besides Red Lake, which is of considerable 

 area. These lakes comprise a number of great water basins forming the 

 head waters of the Mississippi and Red Rivers. The waters east of the 

 'divide' going to the Mississippi and thence to the Gulf of Mexico, while 

 the waters to the west of the same 'divide' eventually find an outlet through 

 the Red River to Hudson's Bay. The topography of the territory com- 

 prising the head waters of the Red River is shown by the investigations of 

 Major Jones to be admirably adapted to permit the formation of a large 

 storage reservoir, which will not only allow the vast quantities of water 

 which occasions the spring floods to be held in check, but admit of the 

 same water being utilized in increasing the volume of water during the dry 

 seasons. Red Lake can be utilized in the same manner as a storage 

 reservoir by the construction of dams at the outlet of the lake, which will 

 raise the water two feet above its normal height when needed, and also by 

 means of dredging, permit the water in the lake to be lowered two feet 

 when needed to keep up the volume of water in the river. Major Jones is 

 confident that by the judicious arrangement of dams and the reservoir 

 system proposed, not only will the inconveniences from floods and low water 

 be largely done away with, but the Red River will be made navigable 

 throughout the season from spring to freeze-up in the fall, and the Red 

 Lake River will be made navigable the entire distance to Red Lake." 



WHERE CONSTRUCTED. 



In concluding his report, Major Jones says: 



"An increase of 1,00 cubic feet per second to a low water discharge of 

 350 seconds would render further operations under our project for improve- 

 ment unnecessary, and make an exceedingly fine line of water trans- 

 portation. 



"In order to furnish this increase to the volume of discharge, the waters 

 from the water-shed of Red Lake could be assembled in one reservoir, and 

 those from the Otter Tail might be gathered in Lake Traverse as a 

 reservoir by means of a dam at Breckenridge. This would seem to be a 

 feasible and economical method of solving the question of the Red River 

 of the North permanently, and hence I consider the matter worthy of the 

 favorable attention of the government. In order that it may be fully 

 investigated and the estimates called for submitted, a survey will be neces- 

 sary, for which purpose, I estimate, the sum of $6,000 will be necessary." 



AREA OF THE NEW RESERVOIRS. 



Major Jones estimates the area of the Red Lake reservoir at 1,930 square 

 miles with 9,000,000 cubic feet of water for each square mile, or 17,370,- 

 000,000 cubic feet of water outpu* in one year. The area of the Lake 

 Traverse reservoir is estimated at 2,450 square miles, or 31,050,000,000 



