BYBEE-MALOTT : THE FLOOD OF 1913 



209 



excess water might be kept stored or ponded and in times of drouth, 

 which occur so often in Indiana, it might be a{)plied to the fields, 

 insuring a yield where applied. 



It might be possible to close the tile drains and some of the 

 smaller open ditches while there is an excess of rainfall, and, after 

 the immediate run-off has escaped, these tile drains could ])e opened 

 again. This would not hinder farming to a great extent and would 

 give the water time to soak into the ground instead of being rushed 

 off to the rivers. Some sediment might also be kept from being 

 carried away. The amount of water that will soak into the soil or 

 ground depends on the nature of the soil, the length of time that 

 the water is exposed to the soil, and the temperature. That is, 

 a light sandy loam or a muck soil will absorb surface water much 

 faster than a fine impervious clayey soil. King, of Wisconsin, 

 has shown that a clay soil will hold water much longer than the 

 sandy soil. 



The great number of various kinds of ditches in Northern 

 Indiana carry the water away so rapidly that it does not have time 

 to soak into the ground. This also tends to lower the water table, 

 thereby making the distance that the water must tra-\-el by cap- 

 illary attraction greater as it comes to the surface to feed the growing 

 plants. Also the greatly reduced forest area permits the water to 

 escape more rapidly, less water is absorbed into the ground, the 

 immediate run-off is increased, and the fiood stages are corres- 

 pondingly heightened, while the low water stages are much lower. 

 When the ground is frozen it is impossible to control the immediate 

 run-off. 



The imperfect records of the Kankakee River show that the 

 flood stages are getting higher and that the lovr water stages are 

 getting lower and of longer duration. Thirty years ago the ordinary 

 low water discharge at the mouth of the Kankakee Hiver was some- 

 thing near 1,300 cubic feet per second. As near as the writers are 

 able to find out, the low water discharge at the present time is 

 less than two-thirds what it was thirty years earlier. 



The rainfall during the last thirty years has not perceptibly 

 fallen off nor does it seem to- be greater during the winter months 

 now than formerly or less during the summer months than thirty 

 years earlier. Thus it seems that deforestation, and increase in 

 the number of dredge and tile ditches have caused the flood heights 

 to be increased and the low water stages to become lower and of 

 longer duration. 



The writers are not so sure that there has been a decided in- 



