The Farmer Who Drowned a Valley

Last year was the first of the floods in the history of the Colville valley, and this second inundation has brought forth an investigation. Loon Lake is the source of the Colville river. At the north end of the lake is a marshy flat, and a farmer claimed a portion of the public domain there. In order to reclaim the marshy lands, this farmer cut a drainage ditch through the hill below and tapped the lake upon a twenty-foot level. This great volume of water turned loose readily found its way to the level of the valley. The river, being a sluggish stream, could not convey the great surplusage down its entire course before nearly every nook and corner had been flooded. It was presumed that the difficulty was only temporary, but this year the haymakers were again surprised. It seems that the outlet to the lake, before it was tampered with, was seepage through the bogs. Since the ditch was dug, the small volume of water that naturally flows from the lake gradually froze in the channel until it had been filled with solid substance; then, when the spring thaw came, the floodgate was opened again, and thousands of acres of valley lands below were converted into a veritable lake.