78 BULLETIN 1017, U. S. DEPARTMENT OE AGRICULTURE. 
lighter. As the valley develops and more complete protection from 
floods becomes necessary, the construction of reservoirs on some of 
the tributaries may be desirable. 
LEVEES. 
The physical features of the Red River channel and valley are 
fairly well suited to the levee method of flood protection, and good 
results could be obtained by the proper location and construction of 
levees. However, there are several reasons for concluding that the 
adoption of this plan is not at present advisable, except possibly in 
certain reaches of the river. 
To secure complete protection under all conditions, it would be 
necessary to construct levees from 5 feet to .20 feet in height along 
both sides of the greater part of the channel. In addition, it would 
be necessary to levee most of the tributary streams for considerable 
distances above their outlets. The enormous yardage of earthwork 
involved in such operations and the difficulty and expense of obtain- 
ing right of way, especially through the cities and towns, would run 
the cost high above that of other methods only slightly less effective. 
It has been shown that, although floods may occur at any point 
along the Red River during the spring months, and although above 
the, Sheyenne River the Red River may during the summer reach 
stages that are damaging to property within the outer high banks, it 
is altogether unlikely that any trouble from high-river stages will 
occur below the mouth of the Sheyenne except during March, April, 
and the early part of May. It is shown in the following paragraphs 
that by means of stream diversion and channel improvement the dam- 
age from summer flow above the mouth of the Sheyenne can be elimi- 
nated, and that the spring floods along the entire length of the river, 
except in the case of ice gorges, can be so reduced that no serious 
inundation of the adjacent land will occur. The overflows do not 
attain damaging velocities, and in spring they occur at a time when 
the only resulting damage to crops is a delay in the spring seeding. 
Moreover, with the increase in rates of flow, due to possible improve- 
ments in the channel, the water cover would be shallow, of short 
duration, and of rare occurrence ; therefore it seems evident that the 
great expense involved in a complete levee system wovld not be war- 
ranted at the present time. 
As the country becomes more thickly settled, conditions may make 
the construction of levees advisable along certain stretches of the 
channel where complete elimination of flooding is not to be secured 
by other means. In this connection it would be well if all buildings 
and other construction of a permanent nature could be kept at least 
300 feet back from stream banks in order to provide the space neces- 
sary for the waterway and embankments should such construction be 
