Jasper County Democrat, Volume 15, Number 15, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 May 1912 — ANOTHER DRAINAGE PROBLEM [ARTICLE]

ANOTHER DRAINAGE PROBLEM

Construction ot Ryan Ditch to Affect Present Iroquois MUST BE ENLARGED IN CITY 1 Is Belief of People Who Mave Given the aMtter Though, as Present Channel Will Not Be Sufficient to Carry Increased Flow. That the construction of the big Ryan ditch, which starts in the southeast part of Starke county and finally empties into the Iroquois near Rensselaer, just; north of the Monon railroad . bridge, will necessitate the widening and deepening of the rock cut through Rensselaer, is apparent to everyone who has given the matter njuch thought. The big rains thss spring have fully demonstrated that, while the present channel here is sufficient for present needs, it can accommodate but little more water than is already passing through it, and with the continual additions that are being made in our drainage systems that empty into the Iroquois it will soon make it inadequate to carryoff the increased amount of water pouring in, and the channel must be enlarged or it will overflow its banks and do great damage to land

and property. Whether the proposed Ryan ditch goes through now- or not, it is boun-d to come sooner or later and when it does come the present channel of the Iroquois from where the Pinkamink now empties into the Iroquois—the Ryan ditch will empty into the Pinkamink and the proposition is to enlarge the latter to its mouth—will be found entirely inadequate to accommodate this increased flow. The Pinkamink empties into the Iroquois at the east side of Rensselaer, just north of the Monon railroad bridge. This is a problem that is sure to confront us in a very few years, but it ought not be nearly as expensive as the cutting of the present channel, which at the time it was put through was something of an experiment—so far as removing the rock was concerned —and many bidders were afraid of the rock work.