OVERFLOW OF RED RIVER OF THE NORTH. 



57 



has been done on the Minnesota side, where the greater part of the 

 land along the river is now under cultivation although much im- 

 provement to drainage is still possible. Considerable drainage work 

 has been carried out on the Dakota side also, but there still remain 

 large areas of marsh land which are not used at all, or at best are 

 used only as wild hay land or pasture. In Table 14 are shown, for 

 each county involved, the areas of land lying within the limiting 

 contours of the lowland country, the amount of low land within 

 one-half mile of artificial drains, and the percentage of land thus 

 served. This table shows clearly how much greater has been the 

 progress of artificial drainage development on the east side of 

 the river than on the west. Many of the marshes in the flats along 

 the river are brackish, as is also the ground water under them. 



Table 14. — Artificial drainage of Red River lowlands. 



County. 



Total 



area of 



lowland. 



Area within one- 

 half mile of drains. 



County. 



Total 



area of 



lowland. 



Area within one- 

 half mile of drains. 



Minnesota: 



Traverse 



Sq. mi. 

 307 

 190 

 588 

 617 

 509 

 1,061 

 543 

 576 



Sq. mi. 

 184 

 45 

 218 

 230 

 224 

 604 

 206 

 103 



Per cent. 

 60.0 

 23.7 

 37.1 

 37.3 

 44.0 

 56.8 

 37.9 

 17.9 



North Dakota: 



Richland 



Cass 



Sq. mi. 

 835 

 937 

 492 

 639 

 501 

 730 



Sq. mi. 

 55 



176 

 52 

 22 

 27 



143 



Per cent. 

 6.6 

 18.8 



Wilkin 



Traill 



10.6 



Clay '.. 



Grand Forks... 

 Walsh 



3.4 





5.4 



Polk 



Pembina 



Total 



19.6 



Marshall 





4,134 

 43 



475 

 



11.5 





South Dakota: 

 Roberts 





Total 



4,391 



1,814 



41.3 











The workings of the drainage laws, through the arbitrary fixing 

 of the extent, location, and channel sizes of ditch systems, have often 

 hindered engineers in their efforts to design adequate means for 

 relief. At times of flood in the Red River and in the lower parts of 

 its tributaries, back water from these streams prevents the normal 

 flow of water in the outlet ditches. 



Very extensive drainage systems have been constructed in the 

 higher parts of the watershed on the Minnesota side of the river. 

 They furnish outlet through or around ridges, give adequate fall 

 through flat areas, and provide means for lowering the water 

 table in higher swamp regions. In many cases the immediate local 

 drainage of the territory affected has been given attention; while 

 in others only the general outlet channels have been provided, leav- 

 ing the smaller local drains to be taken up as the development of the 

 locality warrants. Very little drainage has been required in the 

 uplands on the west side of the river north of an east-west line 

 through Fargo. 



The results of artificial drainage in the upper parts of the water- 

 shed have been generally satisfactory, although in some cases the 



