Watershed trivia is not so trivial
T-R PHOTOS BY GARRY BRANDENBERG — The Iowa River may be very large near its junction with the Mississippi River near Oakville. From the mouth of the Iowa, if one traced its total lengths upstream, you would get 323 miles. At the far northern beginnings of the Iowa, at an outlet from Crystal Lake in Hancock County, the stream is small enough for a person to jump over. There are also several very small branches of the Iowa called the East Branch, West Branch and South Branch. They eventually come together to form just one Iowa River drainage near Gifford. However, an interesting set of signs along highway 69 in northern Hamilton County tells the story of the South Fork of the Iowa River, an artificial drainage ditch carved into the glacial landscape. From that point it is 62 miles to the Iowa River at Gifford, or 275 miles to the Mississippi River, or 1,656 miles to the Gulf of Mexico. My aerial image of the Iowa River shows the artificially straightened channel between Albion and the northwest edge of Marshalltown. It is also labeled as "drainage ditch number one" in the official plat books of Marshall County.
The Iowa River is an interesting landscape feature. All of Iowa has well mapped delineations of watersheds with names like Upper Iowa, Turkey, Maquoketa, Wapsipinicon, Cedar, Skunk, Des Moines, Chariton, Rock, Floyd, Little Sioux, Soldier, Boyer, Mosquito Creek, Nishnnabotna, Nodaway, Platte and Thompson. The entire state is situated in the Upper Mississippi drainage basin, being bordered on the North by Minnesota, the south by Missouri, and east and west by the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, respectively. The highest point of elevation in Iowa is in Osceola County at 1,675 feet above sea level. The lowest point is in southeast Iowa Keokuk County where the Des Moines River enters the Mississippi and is at elevation 480 feet. The eastern three-fourths of Iowa’s rivers generally flow southeastward to eventually join the Mississippi River. This land area is 38,860 square miles. The western one-fourth of Iowa rivers drain southwesterly to join the Missouri River, and drains 17,379 square miles. Iowa’s total land area is 56,239 square miles. Just the Iowa River drainage area is 12,637 square miles.
Since the topography of much of Iowa has been influenced by the most recent geological glacial episode, titled the Wisconsinan by geologists, the land surfaces in northern and north central Iowa are not quite flat, with only slight variations in elevations. Original surveyors for the Iowa territory kept detailed notes in their ledgers to describe Iowa landform features prior to an avalanche of pioneer settlers making their way westward. The Iowa River watershed was typical for the state with lots of bogs, ponds, marshes, lakes, timbered stream valleys and lots of tall prairie grasses. The soil types under the prairies grasses were very well noted for its cropland and agricultural possibilities.
The ability to make productive farming operations in a landscape so almost flat and not so well drained was obvious to our early engineers, landowners and farmers. Initial farming could only be conducted on the higher ground between ponds or wetlands. A gently rolling landscape also existed in places where glacial moraines accumulated debris that outwashed from melted glacial ice. Here deep sands or gravel deposits added complexities to the land surface.
I recently made a road trip to and from Clarion, IA. As per my usual habit, I traveled backroads of gravel and/or rural blacktopped roads. This is my way of looking at the land and landscapes while little vehicle traffic needs to be contended with. My route paid off well. As a student of geology and geomorphology, my route allowed me to see those tidbits of evidence to remind me of how Iowa’s land surfaces were formed and severely impacted by our glacial history. Very flat lands and long distance views were possible from any slight hill the roadway would pass over. I tried to imagine glacial ice one thousand feet thick laying over these vast fields. It did happen many times over the last 2.6 million years.
However, it is the most recent glacial evidence that persists today, in the form of how the land surfaces were constructed by nature, weathered by thousands of years, and slowly altered by huge amounts of time. As my travel took me north along Highway 69, I came upon these road signs telling me that this was the South Fork of the Iowa River. The farm fields to the west were just that, vast almost flat reaches of crop land with no grassed waterways. To the east were these signs, and a drainage ditch, a man made channel to allow surface and groundwater to escape through sub surface tile lines. The sign depicting details of the headwaters of the Southfork were interesting. From that point it was 62 miles to Gifford, or 275 miles to the Mississippi River, or 1,656 miles to the Gulf of Mexico.
Drainage ditch in Hamilton County.
Artificial drainage ditches have been dug into our Iowa landscapes especially in north central counties. Yes, there are natural river systems that take water runoff. But in those flatter uplands between river systems, natural drainage was slow. In many places the soil was so saturated with water that low lying depressions would form shallow ponds, wetlands, marshes or lakes. Some of those glacially shaped lakes persist today with names like Clear Lake, Spirit Lake, Okoboji, Big Wall Lake and Little Wall Lake. There are many more scattered across Iowa.
Iowa’s present day farmlands use sub surface tile to take off excess water from the soil profile. Beginning around the year 1880, ag drainage was recognized as a step to increase crop growing capabilities. According to Joe Otto, a communications specialist at Iowa State University’s Iowa Water Center, he stated “Iowa was not settled from east to west, but from the bottoms up to the top of the state’s many river valleys. Atop the river valleys were the flat, glaciated prairies of north-central and northwest Iowa. These were settled and farmed in the 1870s and 1880s – several decades after farming started along the Mississippi.”
Ag drainage districts made huge impacts after the 1904 Iowa Legislature allowed for the formation of drainage districts. Landowners needed to be informed and had to cooperate with adjacent landowners for effective routes for artificial ditch systems.
“Just in Greene County between 1904 and 1919, an average of 10 new districts were created per year. By 1912, Iowa’s farmers had spent more money on drainage than the U.S. government spent to build the Panama Canal” said Joe Otto.
Tile systems were initially dug by hand by crews of hard working men. Later, trench digging machines were built to make the job easier, faster and more efficient. Tiles of various sizes were made of clay and baked in kilns to cure them. Concrete tiles were also made. Now most tile is
Signs along highway 69 in Hamilton County.
corrugated plastic pipe ranging in size from 4″ to 48″ diameters. Greene County, Iowa has an estimated 3,000 miles of tile lines under its farmlands. Other Iowa counties must have similar numbers. Without adequate drainage, Iowa agriculture would not be what it is today.
Present day innovations are being studied at Iowa State University and other institutions to find ways to make ag drainage work where it needs to be, and hold back water in other places that allow for nutrient reduction practices to work. Having cleaner water leave the land is a goal as big as the drainage problems were in the late 1800s. Finding that balance will be a worthy effort.
——————–
Welcome To December. I trust your Thanksgiving time was a great time to visit with family and friends. And as Christmas time draws nearer every day, it will not be long before we say goodbye to the year 2024. A quick reminder that the Izaak Walton League sells Christmas trees, any size is all the same price, $50. This is a cut your own effort that many families enjoy. Trees can be cut each weekend on Saturdays or Sundays between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Hand saws will be available. A tree shaker will dislodge some of the old needles. Then you take the tree home. Enjoy.
The shortest day lengths of the year will happen between Dec. 20 – 23 with only nine hours and six minutes from sunrise to sunset. The first day of the winter season is on Dec. 21.
——————–
“Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling.” — Henry van Dyke, writer, poet, educator, diplomat and clergyman.
——————–
Garry Brandenburg is the retired director of the Marshall County Conservation Board. He is a graduate of Iowa State University with a BS degree in Fish & Wildlife Biology.
Contact him at:
P.O. Box 96
Albion, IA 50005
-
- T-R PHOTOS BY GARRY BRANDENBERG — The Iowa River may be very large near its junction with the Mississippi River near Oakville. From the mouth of the Iowa, if one traced its total lengths upstream, you would get 323 miles. At the far northern beginnings of the Iowa, at an outlet from Crystal Lake in Hancock County, the stream is small enough for a person to jump over. There are also several very small branches of the Iowa called the East Branch, West Branch and South Branch. They eventually come together to form just one Iowa River drainage near Gifford. However, an interesting set of signs along highway 69 in northern Hamilton County tells the story of the South Fork of the Iowa River, an artificial drainage ditch carved into the glacial landscape. From that point it is 62 miles to the Iowa River at Gifford, or 275 miles to the Mississippi River, or 1,656 miles to the Gulf of Mexico. My aerial image of the Iowa River shows the artificially straightened channel between Albion and the northwest edge of Marshalltown. It is also labeled as “drainage ditch number one” in the official plat books of Marshall County.
-
- Drainage ditch in Hamilton County.
-
- Signs along highway 69 in Hamilton County.
