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INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 



reservoirs economically. Properly planned, such reservoirs would 

 pay for themselves by furnishing water for irrigation and at the 

 same time help to reduce the flood stages, and keep the water table 

 from getting any lower. 



It is conceded that no system of reservoirs would have been 

 ample to have prevented the recent flood, or even to have mitigated 

 it perceptibly. The truth of this statement is clearly brought out 

 when one considers the enormous amount of water which fell. The 

 following figures will make this clear; they concern the White 

 River basin alone. The water which fell would cover: 

 7,026 square miles of territory 1 foot deep. 



763 square miles of territory 10 feet deep. 



305 square miles of territory 25 feet deep. 



1523^ square miles of territory 50 feet deep. 

 7634 square miles of territory 100 feet deep. 



Or, from another point of view, — 

 4,860,640 acres 1 foot deep. 

 487,064 acres 10 feet deep. 

 194,826 acres 25 feet deep. 

 97,418 acres 50 feet deep. 

 48,706 acres 100 feet deep. 



Or, from another point of view^,— 



10 acres to every square mile 44 feet deep. 

 20 acres to every square mile 22 feet deep. 

 40 acres to every square mile 11 feet deep. 



Or, from another point of view, — 



11 acres to every 160 acres 10 feet deej). 

 5V2 acres to every 80 acres 10 feet deep. 



Or, from still another point of view, — 

 1-15 of any area 10 feet deep. 



These figures, based on U. S. Weather Bulletins, show that a 

 system of reservoirs w^ould have had to have been very elaborate 

 indeed to have had any influence upon such a flood as the recent 

 one. It seems to the writers that any reservoir system proposed 

 for the White River region for the mitigation of damage due to 

 floods alone, when the enormous cost is considered, 's impracti- 

 cable. x\s a side issue only, artificial reservoirs may be thought of 

 in connection with floods in this region. 



If we eliminate the reservoir idea, the question of protection 



