74.383.3-4

Workers are busy dredging out the Skunk River bottoms south of Ames. Plans were announced in 1919 for the project to straighten the river for many miles to the southeast toward Cambridge. The channel had been straightened south to the Polk County line in 1893.In 1913 and 1915, major drainage ditches were constructed as part of the project. More than 5,000 acres had been drained in Story County by 1913. The original winding streambed can still (1997) be seen in aerial photographs. SEE ALSO:181.1019.1-4