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I
TD
s
I
CHESTER S. LYMAN LECl'URES
WATER RESOURCES: PRESENT AND FUTURE USES
Nature's method of conservation of water by stora^. Lake Tahoe, in
the Sierra Nevada on the boundary between California and Nevada, typical
of the mountain lakes whose storage capacity can be increased at relatively
small cost.
WATER RESOURCES
PRESENT AND FUTURE USES
BY
FREDERICK HAYNES NEWELL
PROPBSSOR OF CIVIL ENGINEERING
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS - • . ..
A REVISION OF THE
ADDRESSES DELIVERED IN THE CHESTER 8. LYMAN
LECTURE SERIES, 1918, BEFORE THE SENIOR
CLASS OF THE SHEFFIELD SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL
YALE UNIVERSITY
NEW HAVEN
YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS
LONDON • HUMPHREY MILFORD • OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
MDCCCCXX
COPYRIGHT, IWO,
YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS
I
THE CHESTER S. LYMAN LECTURESHIP
FUND
The Chester S. Lyman Lectureship Fund was established in 1910
through a gift to the Board of Trustees of the Sheffield Scientific
School by Chester W. Lyman^ Yale College, 1882, in memory of
his father, the late Professor Chester S. Lyman, for many years
Professor of Physics and Astronomy in the Sheffield Scientific
School. The income of this fund, according to the terms of the gift,
is used for maintaining a course of lectures in the Sheffield Scientific
School on the subject of Water Storage Conservation. The present
volume constitutes the second of the series of memorial lectures.
It is to be noted that the lectures upon which this volume is
founded were delivered in 1913, at a time when the lecturer was
director of the Reclamation Service. Before the material could be
completed for publication many changes took place, the world war
began and the manuscript was necessarily laid aside in order to
concentrate on work more or less directly connected with the war,
and on the preparation of data for reconstruction studies made
under the auspices of the National Research Council. On the sign-
ing of the armistice, the material was again taken up and pushed to
completion, a new setting being given to it by the conditions which
had developed.
367448
PREFACE
In this Day of Opportunity following the great world war,
our people are calling for wise planning, for creative effort,
for nation-wide cooperation, for economic administration, — all
based on wider knowledge dependent upon increased study and
research to furnish additional needed facts. The national
wealth, present and prospective, has been mortgaged to pay the
vast debts resulting from the war. We know that the burden
can be lifted if we wisely employ the resources which nature has
lavished but which we are so wastefuUy using. We must call
to our aid science and scientific management, — in its true
sense, — to save some of the enormous losses in fertility of the
soil, in timber, in fuel, and in other natural resources, and to
add to our income. The load of debt may ultimately prove a
benefit to future generations, if in discharging it we learn the
lessons of greater thrift and effectiveness in employing rather
than in wasting our children's birthright.
Each citizen, taxpayer, and voter is concerned; upon him
rest the obligations of providing the ways of discharging the
war debts and at the same time of increasing the prospects of
the present and future prosperity. It is to these people, to the
home builders, to the plain citizens, that this message is ad-
dressed: it is hoped to interest them in the things w^hich not
only affect them immediately as breadwinners, but which give
them a larger view of their opportunities. Especially is this
desirable at the present, when the period of reconstruction has
set in and when every thinking person is aroused to the need of
his taking part in the changes going on about him. As stated
by Lloyd George there is now an "opportunity for reconstruc-
tion of the industrial and economic conditions of the country
such as has never been presented in the life of the world. The
whole state of society is more or less molten." "There is no
time to lose."
8 WATER RESOURCES
Why emphasize this particular subject of water resources
or of hydro-economics? Why this rather than some other
branch of science and its application? While all fields should
be explored, yet if only one may be selected, there is probably
no one in which larger immediate results may be obtained than
in that which relates to the one mineral or substance, vital to
all life and industry, and yet which because of its very common
occurrence has perhaps been relatively less subject to careful
study than others. While much is known, yet there is more to be
discovered ; while much has been done, there is probably no one
substance upon whose conservation and use depends a larger
share of life, health, and prosperity.
But why a general book on the subject? There are already
scores of textbooks, scientific publications, reference works,
and encyclopedias. There is, however, apparently no one dis-
cussion of the subject designed to present the field of conserva-
tion and use of water in connection with a consideration of the
all-important question, will it pay? Will the results be worth
while, not merely in money but in other substantial gains to
humanity, such as better surroundings, better sanitation, or
higher aesthetic values?
Do we not already have fairly complete knowledge of the
facts ? In some fields, yes — in others we find that in attempting
the larger projects we run into the twilight zone or fog of
doubts which must be cleared by the light afforded by careful,
thorough research by investigation into fundamentals. It is
vital under our democratic government that the ordinary citizen
fully appreciate this fact and that he do his part toward stimu-
lating research or providing means for continued extension of
the bounds of human knowledge.
The apology for adding another book to the load of a weary
world is to be found in the hope that in some way the plain
citizen above described may be induced to look in a broad way
upon these important matters and to add his favorable indorse-
ment to the efforts of scientific men and investigators in ascer-
taining more definitely the facts which may be utilized by
engineers and promoters in developing and utilizing the natural
resources of the country for the common welfare.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
In preparing this material, free use has been made of the
assistance generously extended by many colleagues in the United
States Reclamation Service, the United States Geological Sur-
vey and others in various departments of the government and
in the University of Illinois. The primary inspiration for the
effort is that arising from the conservation policies of Theo-
dore Roosevelt and his associates in this work, notably, W J
McGee, the student of soils and waters, and from Gifford Pin-
chot, the founder of the Yale Forest School, and for many years
forester of the United States ; also from the activities of Sena-
tor Francis G. Newlands and especially from the effective work
of Geo. H. Maxwell, the executive committeeman of the National
Irrigation Association. Data and description have been freely
furnished by Charles E. Brooks, editor of the United States
Weather Bureau ; by N. H. Darton of the United States Geolog-
ical Survey; and by Victor E. Shelford of the University of
Illinois. Kindly assistance and advice have been had from
many other conservationists and friends, notably from Arthur
P. Davis, chief engineer and director. United States Reclama-
tion Service, John C. Hoyt, hydraulic engineer. United States
Geological Survey, and John C. Merriam of the National
Research Council.
CONTENTS
PAGE
Preface .......
7
Acknowledgment ....
9
Chapter I. Introduction .
26
Research .....
26
What is Reconstruction.^ .
27
Conser\'ation ....
28
Hydro- Economics ....
80
Economics .....
81
Engineering Relations
84
Broader Relation ....
84
Chapter II. Water in General .
36
What is Water? ....
86
Uses of Water ....
87
Where Water is Found .
89
Science Involved ....
40
Meteorology .....
42
Hydrography and Hydrology .
48
Geography, Geology, and Physiography
46
Biological Sciences
46
Application to Human Needs .
45
Chapter III. Precipitation
47
Rainfall .....
47
Causes of Rainfall ....
49
Rainfall Measurements .
62
Irregularities in Measurement
68
Periodic Fluctuation . . . .
66
Dew and Frost . . . . .
69
Sky Signs ......
69
Forests and Mountains . . . .
60
12
WATER RESOURCES
PAGE
Chapter IV. Evaporation ..... 66
Evaporation Measurements
• «
69
Standard Gage
• ■
70
Results ....
• «
71
Drying or Dehydration
• «
72
Chapter V. Run-in .
• a
76
Quantity Absorbed
• «
76
Underflow ....
t ■ 4
78
Passage of Water Underground
80
Typical Underground Water Conditions
81
Quantity of Water .....
88
Quality of Water .....
88
Search for Underground Water
84
Conservation of Underground Waters
88
Chapter VI. Run-Off ....
91
Floods and Drought
95
Erosion ....
97
Sedimentation
99
Debris Problems
100
Varying Quantities
101
Data Available
102
Units of Water Measurement
104
Station Equipment .
106
Discharge Measurements
107
Fluctuating Flow .
110
Range of Fluctuation
110
Depth of Run-Off .
112
Ordinary and Average Flow
112
Chapter VII. Storage of Water
117
Necessity .....
117
Modern Methods
119
Topography .
120
Mountain Storage .
121
Plains Storage
122
Surveys
122
Alternative Sites
124
Materials
125
Foundations .
127
Borings
127
CONTENTS
13
PAGE
Chapter VIII. Dams 180
Earth Dams .
180
Core Walls .
188
Paving
184
Hydraulic Dams
184
Timber Dams
186
Loose Rock Dams
186
Masonry Dams
188
Concrete Dams
188
Gates .
141
Spillways
142
Retarding Dams
148
Failures
144
Chapter IX. Notable Works
148
Reclamation Service
148
Storage Works
150
Cost and Value
1 1
151
Roosevelt Reservoir
158
Pathfinder
156
Shoshone
158
Arrowrock
159
Elephant Butte
160
Lake Tahoe .
161
Lahonton
168
Strawberry Valley ,
166
Yakima Lakes
166
Deer Flat Reservoii
p
166
Belle Fourche
167
Umatilla
168
Minidoka
169
Bear Lake
171
St. Mary-Milk River Syst
ems
171
Deliveries to Reservoir
174
Underground Storage
175
Chapter X. Uses of Water
179
Costs and Benefits .
179
Support of Life the First Use o
f Water
180
Quantity Needed .
182
Value of Pure Wate
r
»
188
14
WATER RESOURCES
Chapter XI. Food Production the Second Use of
PAGE
Water
■
186
Irrigation and Drainage
187
Internal Expansion
190
Diversion of Water
192
Quantity Used
194
Cost of Water
196
Economic Consideration
197
Chapter XII. Reclamation Investigations
199
Financing .....
200
Survevs
•
• •
•
201
Detailed Plans
■ •
•
205
Standard Forms
• •
•
206
Construction Methods
•
•
206
Chapter XIII. Irrigation Structure and Methods
210
Divisions of an Irrigation Project
210
Collecting Unit
210
Diversion Unit
211
Carrying Unit
212
Distributing Unit .
214
Structures
215
Flumes .
215
Tunnels
216
Siphons .
216
Canal Lining .
217
Gates
219
Automatic Spillway .
219
Drops
220
Pumping
220
Chapter XIV. Operation and Maintenance
225
^leasurement of Irrigation Water
226
Heads of Water ....
227
Application of Water
228
Flooding
■
228
Furrows
229
Subirrigation .
280
Rotation of Flow .
231
Duty of Water
282
Products
288
Alkali and Drainage
287
CONTENTS
15
PAGE
Chapter XV. Transportation of Waste, the Third
Use of Water ....
241
Relative Values . . . . ,
245
Fisheries ......
248
Recreational Values ....
248
Chicago Sewage .....
249
Does It Pay. J*
252
Water Fertilization and Self-Purification
255
Needed Research .....
257
Chapter XVI. Industry and Transportation, Fourth
and Fifth Uses of Water
269
Manufacturing .....
259
Water Power .....
260
Transportation or Fifth Use of Water
268
New York Canals .....
265
Water Storage for Canal . . . ,
267
Chapter XVII. River Regulation
269
Comprehensive Projects .
269
Flood Prevention or Protection
272
Misuse of Streams .....
274
Fishes and Their Value
275
Mussels ....
279
Need of Fishways .
279
Frogs and Turtles
282
Birds .....
288
Vlammals ....
284
Water Margins
284
Swamps ....
285
Aquatic Plants
287
Brackish Waters
288
Salt Water Problems
288
Cooperative Research
289
Chapter XVIII. Legal and Legislative Problems
292
Vested Rights ......
292
Riparian Rights ......
298
Appropriation ......
294
Political Relations ....
•
•
295
16 WATER RESOURCES
PAGE
Interstate Activities ...... 296
Federal Funds ....... 297
Waterways Commission ...... 299
Conclusions . . . . . ... .801
ILLUSTRATIONS
FOLLOWING PAGE
Frontispiece
Lake Tahoe, in the Sierra Nevada, on the boundary between Cali-
fornia and Nevada, typical of the mountain lakes whose storage
capacity can be increased at relatively small cost.
Plate I 22
A. Spillway of Roosevelt Reservoir, Arizona.
B. Products resulting from irrigation of lands formerly useless.
C. Excavating a drainage ditch with drag line, Shoshone Project,
Wyoming.
Plate II 82
A. Sagebrush covered desert lands, typical of millions of acres
of good soil valueless for lack of water. Irrigable lands before
irrigation, Yakima Valley, Washingrton.
B. Home and farm, typical of thousands made possible by con-
servation of water by storage, Minidoka Project, Idaho.
C. Floods restrained by the Roosevelt Reservoir, Arizona, water
otherwise destructive held in part for future use in generation of
electric power and for irrigation of arid lands, illustrating double
or triple benefits of conservation.
D. Granite Reef diversion dam on Salt River, Arizona.
Plate III 70
A. Tower of United States Weather Bureau, carrying evapora-
tion pans, near Salton Sea, California.
B. Towers in Salton Sea, California, supporting evaporation
pans.
C. Standard Evaporation Station, United States Weather
Bureau.
Plate IV 90
A. Small earth reservoirs or tanks for storage of water pumped
by windmills from so-called underflow. Garden City, Kansas.
B. Storage in mountains. Jackson I^ake at head of Snake River,
Idaho- Wyoming.
C. Brush wing dams to prevent erosion of levees, near Yuma,
Arizona.
D. Sedimentation, adding silt to clear water for the purpose of
reducing seepage from a canal, Minidoka Project, Idaho.
18 WATER RESOURCES
FOLLOWING PAGE
Plate V 106
A. Measuring flow of water in Ironstone Canal, near Montrose,
Colorado.
B. Weir for measuring water in one of the canals of the Williston
Project, North Dakota.
C. A plains reservoir site, that utilized for the Cold Springs
Reservoir of the Umatilla Project, Oregon.
D. A reservoir built on the plains or open valley lands, because
of lack of adequate natural storage sites in the mountains. Deer
Flat Reservoir, Boise Project, Idaho.
Plate VI 126
A. An unusually good dam site in a narrow granite gorge with
bedrock a few feet below the surface. Site of the Pathfinder
Dam on North Platte River, Wyoming.
B. Deceptive appearance of foundations, river apparently flow-
ing upon bedrock, but diamond drill shows that the channel is
filled with bowlders and loose rock to a depth of sixty feet or
more. Site of Shoshone Dam, Wyoming.
C. Site of Roosevelt Dam, Arizona. Showing highly inclined
strata of side walls and narrow gorge.
D. Building a dam of earth, showing core wall in center with
earth lianks above and below, to be widened until they join, cov-
ering the core wall; test pits on hillside in line of core wall;
Strawberry Valley Dam, Utah, looking upstream.
Plate VII 184.
A. Earth dam built by hydraulic process, washing the earth and
loose rock from the hillside and sluicing the debris out to the site
of the dam. ConconuUy Reservoir.
B. Earth dam built by hydraulic process; spillway at left in
recent rock excavation. ConconuUy Dam, Okanogan Project,
Washington.
C. Paving on water side of earth dam. Belle Fourche Project,
South Dakota.
D. Concrete storage dam, at East Park, Orland Project, Cali-
fornia.
Plate VIII 142
A. One of several rows of sluice gates to control water flowing
through the Arrowrock Dam, Boise Project, Idaho.
B. Operating cylinders for sluice gates, also portion of inspec-
tion galley in Arrowrock Dam, Boise Project, Idaho.
C. A series of curved spillway sections near East Park Dam,
Orland Project, California.
D. Erosion at lower toe of Mexican diversion dam on Rio
Grande above El Paso, Texas.
ILLUSTRATIONS 19
FOLLOWING PAGE
Plate IX . . . . .150
A. Sheep grazing along canal in vicinity of Huntley, Montana,
illustrating how they may be used to keep down the weeds on
canal banks.
B. Tunnel for diversion of North Platte River at Pathfinder
Dam, Wyoming.
C. Shoshone Dam, Wyoming, as seen from water side before
completion.
D. Part of reservoir created by Shoshone Dam, Wyoming, with
wagon road around side of reservoir leading to Yellowstone
National Park.
Plate X . . . . .160
A. Arrowrock Dam, Boise Project, Idaho, water issuing from
five openings in the upper row.
B. Elephant Butte Dam, New Mexico, under construction.
C. Earth dam on Carson River, Nevada.
D. Lake Keechelus, Washington, one of three large lakes con-
verted into reservoirs at head of Yakima River. Temporary
wooded crib dam above site of permanent earth dam.
Plate XI 178
A. Dam at head of Sunnyside Canal, Washington, diverting
water which comes from storage at the head of Yakima River.
B. Lower embankment of Deer Flat Reservoir, Boise Project,
Idaho.
C. Laying concrete blocks on upper face of Owl Creek Dam,
Belle Fourche Project, South Dakota.
D. Cold Springs Dam and outlet tower, Umatilla Project,
Oregon.
Plate XII 186
A. Main feed canal, concrete-lined section, for carrying flood
water to Cold Springs Reservoir, Umatilla Project, Oregon.
B. Spillway of the Minidoka Dam, Idaho, with power house
in distance.
C. Cement-lined canal carrying the water of Truckee River to
Carson Reservoir, Nevada.
D. Flume delivering water of Truckee River into Carson
Reservoir, Nevada.
Plate XIII . .198
A. Underground storage of water in the Great Plains area.
Pumping from the so-called underflow near Garden City, Kansas.
B. Building canal by wheeled scraper, Boise Project, Idaho.
C. Desert land before irrigation, Shoshone Project, Wyoming.
D. Alfalfa and hogs, profitable products of the arid region.
Sun River Project, Montana.
20 WATER RESOURCES
FOLLOWING PAGE
Plate XIV 214
A. Whalen diversion dam of North Platte Project, Nebraska-
Wyoming.
B. A lined tunnel with approach to canal. Grand Valley Pro-
ject, Colorado, capacity 1,425 second-feet.
C. Farm lateral delivering water to furrows, using canvas dam,
Shoshone Project, Wyoming.
D. Using water, stored by Roosevelt Reservoir, for irrigation
of young orange grove, applying it by furrows. Salt River Valley,
Arizona.
Plate XV 232
A. Cement flume, Tieton Canal, Washington.
B. Casting portions of reinforced concrete cement flume, Tieton
Canal, Washington.
C. Siphon conveying waters of Interstate Canal under Raw-
hide Creek, North Platte Project, Nebraska.
D. Cylindrical gates in Franklin Canal, £1 Paso, Texas.
Plate XVI 240
A. Measuring water to farm laterals. IJncompahgre Project,
Colorado.
B. Stacking alfalfa hay. Garden City Project, Kansas.
C. Alfalfa fleld injured by alkali due to excessive irrigation,
Shoshone Project, Wyoming.
D. Apple orchard. North Yakima, Washington.
Plate XVII 268
A. Blackfeet Indians on their reservation in Montana employed
on conservation works.
B. Apache Indian laborers at Roosevelt Reservoir in Arizona.
C. Mountain forests and lake made possible by the run-off from
the forested area.
D. Underground storage made available by deep boring; an
artesian well, New Roswell, New Mexico.
Plate XVIII 268
A. Furrow irrigation, Yakima Project, Washington.
B. Farm lands destroyed by floods ; banks of New River near
Imperial, California.
C. Increased length of spillway produced by rectangular bays,
Klamath Project, Oregon.
D. River gates in Minidoka Dam, Idaho.
ILLUSTRATIONS 21
FIGURES
PAGE
Fig. 1. Sections illustrating conditions which control formation of
flowing wells or of springs ...... 82
Fig. 2. Profile showing factors indicating depth to water-bearing
stratum at a given locality ...... 86
Fig. 3. Apparatus illustrating loss of head or hydraulic grade due
to leakage ......... 87
Fig. 4. Profile indicating conditions of success or failure of arte-
sian wells 87
Fig. 5. Comparison of height of Roosevelt Dam with Capitol at
Washington, District of Columbia ..... 147
Plate I. A.
Mao's method of conservation. Portion of Roosevelt Reservoir, Arlioni.
A diy valley made Into a lake.
Plate I. B.
Products resulting from irrigation of lands formerly useless. The stack
Bhown above contains T5 tons of alfalfa haj' from 16 acres on Minidoka
Project, Idaho: the stack Is 30 feet long, 38 feet wide, and S5 feet high.
Plate I. C.
1 drainage ditch witli drag-line, Slioshone Project, Wyoming.
WATER RESOURCES: PRESENT AND FUTURE USES
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Reconstruction of things, of men, and especially of ideals
was the inevitable demand as soon as the world awoke to the
magnitude of the destruction being wrought by the great war.
As hostilities spread and more and more peoples were drawn in,
with ever widening ruin to property and institutions, the need
for devising far-reaching plans for rebuilding became more
pressing. While every possible effort was being made to quickly
win the war, yet, at the same time, certain far-seeing men recog-
nized that if peace came without having adequate plans for
reconstruction, much of the fruit of victory would be lost.
Thus it was that many of the nations, even during the height of
the war, created organizations such as the British Ministry of
Reconstruction, whose duty it was to prepare plans and espe-
cially to conduct researches into those matters which with the
reestablishment of peace would have prime importance.
Many a statesman of Europe and each propagandist the
world over has seen the present opportunity and need. He has
had his vision of what may be accomplished at the moment in
the world's history when so much that is old and bad has been
weakened and so much that is idealistic may become real if only
this golden opportunity is grasped. The towns of the war
zone, with their unsanitary surroundings, their narrow, crooked
streets, wrecked by war, may be rebuilt with straight, broad
avenues and modern improvements. Likewise, some of the
ancient institutions with cramping influence upon industry, edu-
cation and government in every country, now that their founda-
tions are shaken, must be rebuilt from the ground up and may
be planned to better meet the needs of present and successive
generations.
26 WATER RESOURCES
An incursion into the fields of opportunity and need shows
that there is an almost infinite variety of tasks which should be
undertaken. The number and magnitude of these are appalling.
Wonder is felt that with the achievement of our present civiliza-
tion we should have left undone so many of these tasks. They
pertain to every department of human life and involve the
health, industry, and prosperity of nations as well as of indi-
viduals. One great group of problems includes labor ; another,
the vital questions of food and its greater production ; another,
the transportation methods on land and on sea and so on
through the whole range of human interests.
Among all these groups of things to be done there is one
which has a peculiar appeal to the ordinary citizen because so
close to his daily life. Yet because so familiar it is often over-
looked, while attention is drawn to more remote happenings.
This is the group of questions mainly in the physical and biolog-
ical sciences which in the decade preceding the world war were
discussed under the then popular name of "conservation."
Reconstruction, as the word is now generally used, covers
much the same group of questions, together with newer ideals
and aspirations, and implies a better utilization for the common
welfare of the natural resources and the more effective employ-
ment of physical and moral forces. It, however, in popular use,
seems to involve more of the conception of utility, of practical
and immediate application to the problems confronting us.
Research. It is now apparent — as never before — that
research must precede effective work in reconstruction or in
conservation. This fact, while generally known during the dis-
cussion of conservation problems, has been emphasized by the
needs created by the great war. It is seen more widely than in
the previous decade that to clear the line of progress there must
be a larger, more systematic and more vigorous study into
things as they arc in order to eliminate points of uncertainty.
Many things whose lasting qualities have been assumed have
failed in part under the shock of war. Others formerly regarded
as dubious have made good. We must utilize the facts now at
hand and while we cannot wait for all of the results of laborious
and time-consuming research, yet we are not justified in abating
I
INTRODUCTION 27
any of our energies in initiating and bringing to useful conclu-
sions the lines of investigation where further facts are needed.
America, as compared with her resources and needs, has been
remiss in research. While inventive genius, especially in
mechanical lines, has been encouraged, research as such has been
left largely to other nations. Recognizing this condition, our
reconstruction ideals should involve larger and better planned
instrumentalities for research. We should quickly test what is
known and explore in directions where additional knowledge is
needed. But before outlining these attempts it is wise to try
to define what is meant by reconstruction, by conservation, by
research and by some of the other commonly used terms.
What is Reconsteuction.'^ This word like many another
in popular use has almost as many meanings as there are per-
sons employing it. To the medical man it means the rebuilding
of health and phj'sical strength; the injured soldier is to be
rehabilitated to return to the ranks, or to be prepared for self-
support in civil life. To the army engineer reconstruction
means the rebuilding of roads, railroads, bridges and towns ; the
restoration of devastated country. To the citizen and business
man reconstruction means getting back to normal conditions.
To the propagandist it means the opportunity to put into prac-
tice the improvements which in his opinion are vital to the
progress of the race. As a somewhat conservative definition the
following may be offered :
Reconstruction is the rebuilding on normal peace lines of the
activities, mental and physical, which prevailed before the war,
with such improvement or advance in ideals, methods and
machinery as may have been made possible by recent experience.
It begins primarily with the returning soldier, in his rehabilita-
tion if necessary, and his return to the industry which best suits
his capacities and desires. It includes the placing of other war
workers as conditions change and of any human effort where it
may be most effective. It means better use of our natural
resources in lands, minerals, waters, and forests, to furnish
larger and more nearly equal opportunities for each citizen and
the placing of industry, including agriculture, mining and trans-
portation, on a basis to meet the changed needs of the country.
28 WATER RESOURCES
In short, it means the intelligent planning and execution of
plans for a better community.
On grouping these reconstruction problems and assembling
them in logical order, it is seen that there is behind each an
unsolved or partly solved question in some one of the physical
or biological sciences whose application in engineering, agricul-
ture or other useful arts is fundamental in the public welfare.
Here additional careful research is required. For example, for
better food production there are required answers to questions
regarding soil, climate and waters. Behind transportation are
certain geographical and other limitations affecting largely
inland navigation. Behind health, among others, are such ques-
tions as better water supply and prevention of water-borne
diseases.
In short, in our study of reconstruction problems, if we go
back to the fundamentals of health, prosperity, and comfort of
individuals and of the nation, we find that as a significant factor
there stands prominent and more complete knowledge of some
one simple substance whose occurrence and use demand a larger
survey accompanied by comprehensive projects of research and
development of effective means of utilizing the scientific and
technical knowledge thus gained.
Conservation. As part of any reconstruction program
there must be included conservation. This word so popularly
used since 1902 has become almost hackneyed. It is now
replaced or merged in the more inclusive and perhaps more
utilitarian term, reconstruction, yet the ideal still remains, and
men who were most ardent conservationists have turned their
zeal and energy to the solution of the problems which have
become acute because of conditions following the world war.
During the progress of the war the principles of conserva-
tion were exploited and immediately put into practice on a scale
and with a thoroughness hardly dreamed of by the most ardent
advocate of conservation in the years gone by. The whole
nation willingly adopted extreme measures which even the most
visionary conservationist had hardly expected to see attempted
even on a modest scale. The methods tentatively discussed in
earlier years to conserve and better utilize coal, oil, and other
INTRODUCTION 29
fuels, food and forage were extensively practiced. Considera-
tion was given to ways and means of securing still greater
economies ; forces were set in motion which it is hoped will bring
about the realization of the dreams of enthusiasts with refer-
ence to conservation of other natural resources such as water
powers, and on a scale previously unknown.
Conservation, and to a large part reconstruction, at the
bottom is good housekeeping. It involves the idea of thrift and
of good business management. The present age differs from
those which have gone before in the appreciation of the need of
careful and scientific study of natural resources, in the weigh-
ing of costs and benefits in utilizing these, viz., in the economics
of their use. The time has passed when the well-informed man
boasts of the unlimited resources of the country ; it is no longer
considered a mark of progress to permit the great coal beds to
be carelessly mined, the forests to be freely burned and the rivers
to be neglected. The study of the management of the affairs of
the government and of the community with reference to the
sources of income, expenditures and development of the natural
resources has come to be appreciated as never before.
It has been a characteristic American trait to expatiate upon
the natural resources of our country. The vastness of the area
and of the mineral wealth appeals to the imagination. It seems
to reflect glory upon all who are so fortunate as to be in such
a great land. Unconsciously we take credit to ourselves for
these resources as though the fact that we are living here attests
our superiority over the rest of the world. It would be more
fitting, however, instead of dwelling upon our own superior merit
in being in such a country, for us to feel that these resources
impose a corresponding obligation and a duty to utilize them
in the best way for the welfare of mankind. The tendency has
been, however, to accept these wonderful opportunities as a gift
to individuals and to permit the stronger or shrewder man to
exploit them for private gain rather than for the strengthening
of the nation. The unspoken thought has often been that what-
ever is good for me should be good for the community, and that
my personal success and that of my friends measure the highest
achievements.
30 WATER RESOURCES
The public-spirited men who have held to the opposite views,
namely, that the great natural resources such as mineral wealth
and water power are a public trust to be administered for the
greater good to the greatest number, can hardly hope to attain
immediate popularity ; while the greatest number accept this as
a matter of course, the active aggressive minority, whose plans
for personal gain may be interfered with, are ever active in their
opposition to the men whom they characterize as "visionary and
impracticable" in their altruistic ideals. Nevertheless, with the
spread of reconstruction demands these ideals are being realized
in part ; we have reason to be greatly encouraged when we look
back over the history of the past ten years and see the awaken-
ing of the public conscience and the support which has been
given to the plans of conservation.
Now, as never before, it is being appreciated that a nation
like an individual cannot be rich without proper economy and
that in public affairs, as in private, the rules of thrift, of good
housekeeping, of good business management, must be observed.
As striking examples of the need and benefit of such national
thrift may be cited the dormant or partly used opportunities
in water powers and related forces.
Hydro-Economics. Considering all of the substances or
natural resources which have to do with health, comfort and
prosperity, there is no one which approaches in importance the
most common of all our minerals, and the only one vital to life,
namel}', water. Water is so common, its use is so intimately
associated with every necessity and comfort that like most
common things its importance is overlooked. It is at the foun-
dation not merely of life itself but of every industry, and upon
its control and best use depend the health and prosperity of
the human race. If, therefore, in our reconstruction program
we start with this single fundamental we are at once con-
fronted by a group of problems all dependent for their solu-
tion upon a more complete knowledge not merely of water and
the water resources of the country but of the laws of nature
which govern the occurrence and use of water as a material
means of satisfying human needs.
More than this we must be prepared to apply this knowledge
INTRODUCTION 81
in an efficient manner. We should be able to show that the
results will be worth more than they cost, though these returns
may not be in money values but in better health or in ways
which make for a higher civilization.
To cover these two conceptions a new term is necessary or at
least one which has not been in common use. For this purpose
the word "hydro-economics" is perhaps most suitable in that
the prefix conveys the idea of water and is followed by the
conception of its efficient employment, of utility or of thrift.
But what has hydro-economics to do with reconstruction or
with conservation? A little consideration will show that the
substance, water, is the one mineral which as above noted is
necessary for all life. It enters into most of the far-reaching
plans for the rebuilding or development of the nation's resources
in men, materials or industries. No activity of reconstruction
nor even of existence, can take place without water. It is a
prerequisite in all far-reaching projects.
Often this prerequisite is not definitely recognized simply
because we infer that as a matter of course water exists in
proper quantity or quality. It goes without saying that the
reconstruction of the wounded soldier can only take place under
the assumption that he is provided with the proper quantity
and quality of water for drinking, cooking, bathing, laundry and
other purposes. It is not necessary to discuss this elementary
fact in such connection. In other lines of reconstruction such,
for example, as the utilization of desert or waste lands, the
question of water supply is the one large item to be given con-
sideration. Between these two extremes the question of water
and its use may be found to be involved more or less directly in
every reconstruction problem.
Economics. According to the definition in the dictionary
this is the "science that investigates the conditions and laws
affecting the production, distribution and consumption of
wealth or the material means of satisfying human desires." Or
to put the matter in more homely form, it is the consideration
of the reply demanded from every promoter or propagandist,
"Will it pay?"
Each scheme or project of conservation or of reconstruction
82 WATER RESOURCES
or in fact any undertaking must respond to the inquiry, "Will
the result — whether material or moral — ^justify the outlay?"
The man of affairs puts the question bluntly in the current
vernacular, "What are the profits?" The scholar reaches the
same end by asking as to whether it will be economically advan-
tageous.
Among the almost innumerable plans for promoting future
prosperity choice must be made of those which are most likely
to pay. The return or reward may not necessarily be in money
value. In fact, the question as to whether any one line of effort
will pay best must be considered not in immediate financial terms
but in the less tangible and more far-reaching result of attain-
ment of the ideals of a people.
The combination of the two words hydro and economics may
be narrowly defined as the economics of water supply or more
broadly stated as a consideration of the question as to whether
it will pay to utilize or develop the natural resources in water
in connection with one or another of the problems of recon-
struction.
Many of the questions which might be asked in hydro-econom-
ics may be answered as soon as they are stated. To take an
extreme case, no one would hesitate to assert that any obtain-
able amount of money may be used in procuring an adequate
amount of water for drinking, cooking and other purposes
needed in the rehabilitation of our soldiers. At the other
extreme is the question of state or even national importance —
Is it possible and will it pay to try to procure an adequate
supply of water to develop certain industries or to irrigate
certain desert lands? That it will pay and that the results in
many cases are well worth the expenditure has fortunately been
demonstrated by extensive works already completed by the
national government.
Comfortable homes dotting the valleys and diversified indus-
tries located at centers of population in a formerly desert
country testify to the practical results of trying out one of
the numerous forms of hydro-economics, viz., that of water
conservation by storage. For several years prior to the out-
break of the world war each season showed progress in added
Plate II. A.
Saa^brush covered desert lands, typical of tnilllons of acres of good soil
valueless for lack of water. Irrigable lands before irrigation, Yakima
Valley, Washington.
Plate II. B.
Home and farm, tjplcal of thousands made possible by conservation of
water by storage, Minidoka Project, Idaho.
Floods restrained by the Roosevelt Reservoir, Arizona, water otherwise
destructive held in part for future use in fteneration of electric power and
for irrigation of arid lands. Illustrating double or triple benefits of con*
servation.
Plate II. D.
Granite Reef diversion dsni on Salt River, Arizona.
INTRODUCTION 83
works both great and small. Many projects for conservation
of water were then being planned or built, putting into visible
form an appreciation on the part of the public of the oppor-
tunities to be enjoyed. The period from 1904 to 1914 was
particularly rich in results, the most notable among these being
the achievements of the United States Reclamation Service in
the construction of large reservoirs at the head waters (see PI.
I. A) or along the streams issuing from the mountains of the
arid west.
Some of the largest and highest dams in the world for hold-
ing flood waters were then built. At the time of the entrance
of the United States into the war these works were adding to
the food supply and material prosperity of the country through
the large crops produced from lands which without this supply
would have remained desert. The contrast between the nat-
urally unproductive and valueless conditions and the highly
productive state to which these lands have been brought is
shown by Pis. II. A and B, the change shown in the latter being
wrought by water conservation in reservoirs created by these
great dams.
The success attained by the application of the principles of
hydro-economics or of water conservation in the western part
of the United States prior to the war had begun to stimulate
interest in similar undertakings throughout the remainder of
the country and of the world in general. Prominent engineers
from nearly every civilized land had come to see these reclama-
tion projects and to study the methods of laying out the works,
of handling materials, of organizing the working force and
particularly of solving the related economic and social problems.
The application of the principles of water conservation also
had a secondary but highly important influence in stimulating
studies directed toward increased efficiency in related work ; the
efforts in this one direction assisted in obtaining higher economy
in other undertakings. There was thus put into practice in
several branches of the federal government a higher degree of
efficiency than had hitherto prevailed. This was manifest par-
ticularly in the direction of cost keeping, in making purchases
and in laying out works. It may not be too much to claim that
84 WATER RESOURCES
the success attained by the employees of the government in the
practical application of conservation principles in reclamation
and in forestation did much to strengthen public confidence in
the efficiency of the government in undertaking larger problems
connected with the operations of the world war.
Engineering Relations. In attacking the reconstruction
problems which directly or indirectly involve the study of hydro-
economics, it is necessary to explore far back into the funda-
mentals of many of the mathematical, physical and biological
sciences. In their application in solving these problems engi-
neering knowledge and skill are involved. In fact, the engineer
has the principal responsibility. As a man of ingenuity and of
vision he must see the entire field and initiate the work. Later
he must call in the agriculturist and seek aid and advice from
the business man and economist. In fact, for success he must
supplement his skill by wide business experience and be able to
form correct opinions as to whether any given undertaking
apparently necessary and practical will be worth the cost.
Historically the original hydro-economists or conservation-
ists were the engineers whose names and nationalities are un-
known, but who during remote antiquity built in Egypt, Meso-
potamia, India and China the structures little and big for the
irrigation or drainage of lands otherwise unproductive. In this
sense reclamation may be said to antedate civilization. Conser-
vation, or reconstruction as we may now term it, utilized not
merely the natural substances and forces, but turned to higher
uses and efforts of the human race, elevating individuals and
nations from slavish dependence upon the fluctuation of water
supply to a status where each year they could produce ample
food and secure the comforts coming from assured and bountiful
crops.
Broader Relation. Nor has this conservation of human
energies been wholly a matter of past generations. One of the
incidents of modern engineering and the application of its prin-
ciples in reclamation of the desert lands is that of the develop-
ment of the neglected or little considered natives of the United
States and of other countries where water conservation has been
wisely practiced. The improved conditions, for example, in
INTRODUCTION 85
India and Egypt, through the work of the British engineer, are
well known. In the United States a similar though less exten-
sive result has been obtained in providing needed water supply
for some of the American Indian tribes or "Amarinds," and in
permitting them to practice better agriculture than was ever
before feasible. The immediate and direct result is the improve-
ment of the Indian laborer. The opportunities offered at the
remote places where he lives and where storage reservoirs are
being built have lifted him in the scale of civilization and have
made possible the use of his time which otherwise would have
been wasted. This condition is typified by PI. XVII. A, which
shows some of the members of the Blackfeet Indian tribe work-
ing on the canals and embankments on their reservations, made
possible by water conservation.
A group of Apache Indian laborers on the Roosevelt Reservoir
is shown in PI. XVII. B. These men are members of a tribe
reputed to be among the most bloodthirsty in the world, but
under fair treatment they have responded and have dropped,
outwardly at least, some of the more obnoxious of their tribal
customs. When paid a white man's wages for a white man's
work, they have adopted a white man's clothes and have been
not only faithful but have proved unusually intelligent in their
work. V^^ithout this work of water conservation, these men and
their families would have remained as roving "blanket Indians"
with no means of self-support, being dependent upon the bounty
of the government for their food. By conservation and utiliza-
tion of the water which rises within the reservation it is practi-
cable for them to become self-supporting citizens capable of
performing useful service to each other and to the community.
In reviewing all of these general conditions of reconstruction
and the application of the principles of hydro-economics, the
most striking fact is that while large results have already been
achieved and still larger results are possible for the public wel-
fare, each large project is hampered or blocked by lack of
complete information on important details. In other words,
research amply supported and scientifically conducted is needed
to make real the vision of increased health, comfort and
prosperity.
CHAPTER II
WATER IN GENERAL
What is Water? What do we know about it and how do
we obtain the facts ? Every one knows what water is — for every
life depends upon it, yet as in the case of other well-known
substances in common use, the wider it is known the greater the
difficulty of giving complete answers to such simple questions.
The word itself probably originated in northern Europe. The
Greek equivalent is in frequent use as our prefix hydro- and the
Latin is aqua ; the use of these terms affording opportunity for
a wide range of expressions permitting nice shades of meaning.
The substance as we ordinarily know it and as it forms the
basis of life is a fluid, but we may properly consider it as a
mineral, a portion of the rocky crust of the earth, but one which
melts at a temperature below that necessary for the support of
life. It is hardly necessary to more than refer to the fact that
from the chemical standpoint pure water consists of two parts
of hydrogen and one of oxygen, but as oxygen is about sixteen
times as heavy as hydrogen, by weight water consists of one
part of hydrogen to eight of oxygen. The combination of these
two gases is so stable that to separate them is usually required
a somewhat powerful electric current or chemical reaction
involving the absorption of considerable heat. It is the most
important of all chemical agents, for it takes into solution most
of the substances with which it is in contact, and is the universal
life fluid. Because of this eagerness in taking to itself portions
of other substances it is practically never pure unless artificialh*^
prepared.
From the physical standpoint water is also of the highest
interest and importance. It is continually in motion, even as a
solid; as ice it is moving slowly under the influence of gravity,
settling or becoming consolidated by its own weight and almost
WATER IN GENERAL 87
imperceptibly flowing toward some lower point. In its change
to a liquid it absorbs great quantities of heat and contracts in
bulk, continuing to do so until a point of maximum density is
reached a few degrees above freezing, and then it expands.
These peculiarities are of fundamental importance in the dis-
cussion of natural phenomena and of many engineering matters.
An equally interesting and important physical change is that
which takes place when water changes into a gas or vapor, again
absorbing great quantities of heat and expanding enormously
in volume. Upon these changes depend other grfeat natural
phenomena; the explanation of weather conditions and of the
efficiency of innumerable mechanical devices rests upon a full
knowledge of the behavior of water as a gas or vapor under
changing conditions of temperature and pressure.
In order to discuss the properties of water, what it is and
what it does, an infinite number of ways of approach are offered.
Each of the various sciences might be taken up in some arbitrary
order such as chemistry, physics, biology, meteorology and
others, but for the present purpose — that of considering the
economics of water and the application of its properties to
pending reconstruction or conservation problems — the arrange-
ment to be followed may perhaps most properly be that of the
use or application of water to the human needs and to the public
welfare.
Uses of Water. These needs of humanity are infinite in
number, — a catalogue of them would fill a book, — but for con-
venience of discussion they may be classified in several great
divisions, in each of which the benefits to be derived through the
application of engineering skill in the use of water may be
weighed against the probable cost. In the first of these groups
almost any cost is permissible since it involves the saving or
prolonging of life. An individual in the desert may be willing
to give all that he has for a drink of water ; a community may
be justified in expending every dollar it can borrow to procure
the necessary life-giving fluid. On the other extreme, it is often
necessary to weigh carefully the anticipated costs against the
benefits. The difference of a few dollars of prospective profit
or loss may determine the fate of great enterprises. In turn.
38 WATER RESOURCES
the money loss may be offset by considerations of health or
aesthetic values which may justify a financially losing venture.
First and foremost come those human needs and uses which
relate to the procuring of water for drinking or household use.
While man may exist for a time without industry or may live for
a month without food, 3^et the lack of drinking water for two or
three days is usually fatal. To enjoy good health the quality
must be good and the quantit}^ ample. Thus the procuring of
an adequate supply of good water for drinking purposes out-
ranks all other human needs and stands at the head of all plans
for conservation, reconstruction or other applications of hydro-
economics.
Second come those uses of water which relate to food pro-
duction. As in the case of mankind, no animals or plants
used for food can live or flourish without an adequate amount
of water at the right time. Hence the provisions for watering
domestic animals and for regulation of supply to forage and
food plants by irrigation, drainage and flood protection rank
next after drinking water.
Third, in importance to mankind, is the use — not often recog-
nized, but of growing importance, coming logically in order
after the provisions for drinking water and food — of flowing
water in sanitary engineering and particularly in the disposal
of waste, both sewage and that from various industries.
Fourth in order come the industrial relations, the employ-
ment of water in manufacturing, in making steam, in water
power and other mechanical ways. These, as well as the uses
just noted, involve certain applications of biological as well
as physical laws and require a knowledge and application of
engineering, agriculture, medicine, and other useful arts.
Fifth in importance, from the standpoint of human needs and
development, comes the transportation of men and goods. Inci-
dentally, while this is last in the category of necessities of life,
comfort, and prosperity, it ranks first in legal standing, being
practically the only use recognized in the constitution of the
United States. It thus has precedence in the eyes of the law
over many of the more fundamentally important applications
of water.
WATER IN GENERAL 39
This condition arises from the fact that at the time when the
constitution was adopted it was tacitly assumed that there was
water enough for every one and that there was no necessity for
safeguarding it in the interest of the public or of the common-
wealth. Because of this situation there are now presented under
the requirements of modern life many problems difficult of solu-
tion, in which the present interpretations of common law as well
as of statute law relating to water rights have proved serious
stumblingblocks to the best employment of the water resources
of the country. Thus in order that our knowledge of the physi-
cal and biological sciences above noted may be properly applied
to engineering and agriculture, it is often necessary that the
legal situation be given study. In fact, a certain amount of
research must be conducted into the legal phase of some of
these subjects as well as into the physical data needed for the
solution of many practical problems.
Taking up each of these groups of human needs and uses of
water and going back into fundamentals, it is seen that each
involves for complete performance a full knowledge of one or
another branch of science. Also a little inquiry shows that our
present knowledge of this science, while relatively large, is by
no means adequate to answer all of the important questions.
For example, in the first use of water, that of prolonging life,
we come at once into a branch of biological science and imme-
diately find that our present knowledge of the part played by
water in many functions of life is but partly employed. Again,
in the second use, — that of production of food, — the part
played by water in the soil offers a broad field for research.
Where Water is Found. Water is everywhere; it is in,
through and surrounding all substances with but few exceptions.
It is in the air we breathe, it forms the greater part of the
weight of our bodies and of our food, it is essential to all living
things, animal or vegetable, and forms a large proportion of
the solid crust of the earth, as well as covers the greater
portion of it. To adequately study water in all of its varying
aspects, in its employment for man's needs and in his occupa-
tions, we must traverse almost the entire range of human knowl-
40 WATER RESOURCES
edge and especially go into the various branches of physical
and biological sciences, discussing the arts which enable these
to be practically applied to engineering, agriculture and
innumerable other industries.
Water is not only all-pervasive, but is continually traveling —
sometimes very slowly, progressing only a few inches or feet
during a year or century, again with great rapidity encircling
the globe as the invisible molecule travels in the form of vapor
in the upper atmosphere or as a portion of a visible cloud drifts
across the continent. At a little slower speed, after descending
in the form of rain, it may flow from the higher mountains to
the ocean and later wander in great oceanic currents from the
equator to the pole and back again ; precipitated as snow it may
become solidified in the body of a glacier, imperceptibly moving
onward. Again, caught in the rocks it may percolate with
extreme slowness, being held entrapped perhaps for centuries;
absorbed by a plant or assimilated by an animal it may take
part in life's activities.^
In the same way that it permeates all substances, its study
leads the student into fields often apparently far remote from
those into which he originally entered. In its economic relation
and in the comparison of costs and benefits derived by mankind
in its utilization there is correspondingly wide range. No defi-
nite limits of cost of its employment can be fixed in advance as
conditions change with great rapidity. For this reason it is of
great importance that certain standards of comparison be set
from time to time that can be used by the engineer and promoter
of new enterprises since these comparisons so largely determine
human activities, for example, in the works which may be under-
taken in the production of food or in providing facilities for
commerce. The question whether a given enterprise will be
worth what it costs is ever new and compelling.
Science Involved. The number of branches of human
knowledge or science concerned with water and its application
1 The Journey of a particle of water is interestingly described by Prof.
H. I.. Fairchild in a series of articles, entitled, "Adventures of a Watermol,"
in The Scientific Monthly for January, P>bruary, and March, 1917.
WATER IN GENERAL 41
to the needs of men is so great as to be an embarrassment.
It is difficult to decide where to begin in a study of this magni-
tude; it becomes necessary to arbitrarily select some point in
the cycle of changes which lead into the physical and biological
groups of knowledge. A beginning might be made by consider-
ing water as a rock forming a part of the earth's surface and
from this condition tracing its transformation into a fluid and
gas.
It is more satisfactory in our study of water, however, to
start at the other extreme and begin by considering it as a vapor
forming part of the atmosphere which surrounds the earth and
as such breathed by all animals and absorbed by plants. In
the air it is visible only when it forms in small drops which we
know as clouds or fog. In the orderly consideration we may
thus begin with the science which treats of water in the atmos-
phere, or meteorology. This in its lesser meaning is a discus-
sion of those things which are in the air ; it treats of the atmos-
phere and its phenomena, the variations of heat and moisture,
the winds and storms.
But the drops of water in the air falling upon the earth
quickly pass out of the dominion of meteorology into that of
another group of physical sciences known as hydrology or
hydrography, geology or geography, and bring into question
many matters which are treated under the head of hydraulics,
hydrostatics and hydrometrics. In these physical sciences a
vast amount of information has been collected but still further
research is needed in order to make much of this available for
present uses.
Passing to the more intimate needs of water, we come into the
group of biological science in which the phenomena are far
more complicated and even less understood than in the physical
group above enumerated. These have to do primarily with
health and vital functions, with the quality and quantity of
water needed for drinking and for household purposes. They
lead into agriculture and its involved ramifications, to the pro-
duction of fish and to studies of lower forms of life dependent
upon moisture conditions. To enumerate all of these would be
improfitable at the present time, but it is sufficient to call
42 WATER RESOURCES
attention to their wide range and to accentuate the fact that
we have hardly begun to make the studies needed for the profit-
able consideration and use of the facts about us.
In considering "the things which are in the air," the one
substance which is of chief interest to us in this connection is
water. This occurs mainly as a gas or vapor characterized here
as elsewhere by an endless cycle of changes and variations in
quantity, quality and appearance. The air may be apparently
dry and yet contain a trace of water vapor, or saturated to the
point where with lower temperature all the water can no longer
exist as a gas and the water falls as rain or gathers as dew.
Meteoeology is the oldest of sciences in the sense that all
savages, and presumably the prehistoric men, studied the
weather and recorded unconsciously or otherwise the changing
seasons and the conditions which affected their personal com-
fort, health, and food supply. In the mind of primitive man
the facts connected with the weather and with the movements
of heavenly bodies were closely related; the foundations of
astronomy and of meteorology were laid together. A mass
of observations and deductions more or less systematically
arranged has been accumulated from time immemorial; out of
these have grown many sayings handed down from our remote
ancestors. It is only within recent years, however, that the
invention of instruments has made it possible to record the
facts of weather changes and to permit accurate comparisons
or scientific deductions regarding changes of atmospheric
pressure, of heat and cold, with the accompanying variations in
clouds and in rain.
While countless individuals have made records of weather
changes, these have necessarily been at isolated localities, mere
specks on the map. As weather is a matter of changes which
take place throughout the entire atmosphere surrounding the
globe, these individual observations have had relatively little
scientific value. It was only when facilities were offered for
simultaneous recording and exchange of information by means
of the electric telegraph that it was possible to obtain valuable
comparisons of weather conditions over broad areas and thus
make deductions from the phenomena occurring at widely sepa-
WATER IN GENERAL 43
rated points. Because of this necessity of widespread simul-
taneous observation it has naturally resulted that the study of
meteorology on a large scale or a research of this character has
become a function of the general government.
The accumulation of observations on rain- and snowfall, sun-
shine and cloudiness, pressure and temperature changes, floods
and droughts, and their effect upon crop production, industry
and transportation is very great ; much of it still requires care-
ful arrangement and study. But although this accumulated
mass of more or less related data at times seems appalling to
the investigator, yet when he begins to get into it he discovers
that it is only a tithe of what is needed in the solution of any
particular problem, such as that of flood control or of the
increase of crop production within any particular area. He
must have more figures and is urgently demanding that research
be continued into many lines hardly yet touched.
Following along in logical order the course of the water pre-
cipitated we pass from the consideration of things in the air,
or meteorology, to those of the earth, or geology. Before going
into this latter science, there are certain intervening research
groups to which reference should be made.
Hydrography and Hydrology. When the rain or snow con-
densing out from the atmosphere descends upon the earth it
soon becomes a part of the surface features and thus passes
out of the domain of meteorology, as strictly defined, and
becomes the subject of study of another group of sciences
usually known as hydrography or hydrology. The difl^erence
in significance of these two terms may be best illustrated by
following the analogy between the similar words geography and
geology. The word hydrography implies a description of water
bodies, particularly the survey of coast lines and of the bottoms
of harbors, and preparation of charts of navigable waters.
The meaning of the word has also been extended to include the
mapping of lakes and streams and a description of these as
regards their relative size and location.
Hydrology is defined as being more general in nature, being
the science which treats of w^ater, its properties, phenomena
and distribution over the earth's surface. The term has also
44 WATER RESOURCES
been used with reference to underground water as distinguished
from hydrography, which is more often applied to surface water
supplies and sources. The point to be observed is that while
meteorology considers among other things the water in the
atmosphere surrounding the earth, the moment that — as a solid
in the form of snow or ice or as a liquid in rain — it strikes the
earth, further study falls within, the scope of the sciences now
described.
Hydrography or the survey of the larger navigable bodies is
for the most part a function of the national government, since
it alone has the authority and means of charting the navigable
waters which by law are under its exclusive control. To a less
extent the data on hydrology must be obtained by governmental
agencies because of the fact that streams flow independently of
state or political boundaries and because of the fact that many
interstate industrial relations are concerned. Studies and obser-
vations have been somewhat widely conducted by individuals or
corporations, particularly in connection with the development
of water power. Thus the efforts of employees of the govern-
ment are supplemented by data privately obtained.
As stated by Meyer^ this science of hydrology is fundamental
to the solution of many problems in water power, water supply,
sewerage, sewage disposal, drainage, irrigation, navigation, and
flood protection and prevention. Although extending to a large
field of engineering science, hydrology itself is founded upon
numerous other sciences as well as upon a large body of physical
data peculiar to itself.
In the description given by Mead^ he calls attention to the
fact that hydrology "treats of the laws of distribution and
occurrence of water over the earth's surface, and within the
geographical strata in sanitary, agricultural and commercial
relations." He further states: "We must to an extent at least
seek information from meteorology, geography, geology, physi-
ography, agriculture, forestry and from the field of hydraulic
engineering of which hydrology is the basic study."
1 Meyer, Adolph F., "The Elements of Hydrology," John Wiley & Sons,
1917, 4S7 pages, illustrated.
2 Mead, Daniel W., "Hydrology, The Fundamental Basis of Hydraulic
Engineering," McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1919, 650 pages, illustrated.
WATER IN GENERAL 45
In this science as in that of meteorology, while there have
been accumulated great volumes of data, many of which await
compilation, yet the amount available shrinks into insignificance
when compared with the growing demands of the engineer who
is trying to meet the needs of modern industry. More and more
investigation and research are demanded if he is to be prepared
for the developments which are waiting upon the obtaining of
such facts.
Geography, Geology and Physiography. As indicated
above, this group of sciences follows in logical order in the study
of the water resources of any large area. The first of these
just named is concerned mainly with the features of the earth's
surface as the}' are now found; the second, geology, with the
history or way in which the earth's surface has been brought
to its present condition largely by water action ; physiography
gives special attention to the present land forms and the way in
which they were produced largely by the influence of water.
Biological Sciences. As we follow the vagaries of water
movement from the inanimate world of gases, liquids, and rocks,
we quickly pass into the world of life of which we ourselves are
a part and concerning whose varied phenomena we know much
but have only entered upon the threshold of knowledge. The
first fact which confronts us as indicated elsewhere is that life —
plant or animal — is dependent upon water, and cannot survive
without it, nor prosper except when within a certain relatively
narrow range of quantity, quality and temperature.
The ordinary plants flourish and fructify only when the
water content in the soil exceeds, say, 8 or 10 per cent and is
less than 16 or 20 per cent. Animals need a certain limited
quantity, but suffer if this is notably reduced or are quickly
drowned by an excess. Thus the general statement may be
made that every division of biology, including botany, zoology
and various subdivisions of these, touches an infinite number of
points concerning the occurrence of water — its supply and use.
Application to Human Needs. The discussion of the uses
of water to supply human needs ramifies into each of the sciences
above enumerated and into fields not yet explored and in which
research is needed. These matters may be considered, either
46 WATER RESOURCES
under the somewhat arbitrary classification of the sciences or
more properly in the immediate importance of water to human
life as described on page 37, viz., first in drinking, second in
food supply, and so oh through the complicated industries or
arts contributing to the health and prosperity of nations as
well as of individuals. All of these items fall under the general
head of hydro-economics or of water conservation and use.
This discussion might proceed along various lines, but for pres-
ent purposes it is more desirable to take up certain of the larger
items out of the strict order of scientific procedure and to dis-
cuss such matters as the occurrence of water, the wav in which
precipitation is measured and how it varies, the effect of forests
and mountains, and the disappearance of water into the atmos-
phere by evaporation.
In reviewing the entire field of water conservation and use
from this, the human standpoint, we may then consider:
1. The occurrence of water in nature as described in the
sciences above enumerated.
2. Uses of water such as have been developed or may grow
out of additional human needs.
8. Legal relations or limitation imposed by man-made laws.
4. Methods of control and use which must take into account
the laws of nature and of man with their application in bene-
fiting humanity.
In carrying out this general plan the next subject after the
properties of water is that of its occurrence in nature, begin-
ning — as previously stated — ^with the first visible appearance
when the water falls from the clouds and before it strikes the
earth in the form of rain or snow or when it is visible as dew.
CHAPTER III
PRECIPITATION
Rainfall. It is generally assumed that the rain comes from
the visible clouds which float above the surface of the earth, but
it is not always as well understood that these clouds are formed
by water which has been pumped or raised by the sun's energy
from the surface of the oceans, rivers or leaves of the forest or
fields. Practically all mechanical energy can be traced back to
the sun. When we see the great torrents of water rushing down
the mountain sides or falling over precipices as at Niagara, we
are simply viewing the results of an infinitely small portion of
the sun's energy which has been expended in lifting this water
from the earth's surface to the clouds. Moreover, it is safe to
infer that any change in the quantity of energy continually
flowing from the sun may have far-reaching resultant effect
on the rain or weather.^
To understand fully the action which takes place in the crea-
tion of water vapor, in the diffusion of this around the globe
and in the condensation of portions from time to time in the
form of rain, it is necessary to call attention to the fact that
lowering of the temperature may result in condensation of the
invisible vapor which exists at all times in the atmosphere. This
chilled vapor gathers into minute drops or ice spicules forming
fog or clouds. As these particles increase in size and gain in
weight they are able to move downward through the support-
ing air and finally to descend as rain or as snow, sleet, or hail.
The precipitation of water is thus intermittent and is gov-
erned by forces far beyond the control of man. This fact has
not always been recognized; even today there are many per-
sons, with whom "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing," who
1 See Monthly Weather RexneWy December, 1918, Vol. 46, p. 574, footnote
5, and January, 1919, Vol. 47, pp. 1-4 (Brooks).
48 WATER RESOURCES
believe that by bombarding the heavens or by the use of some
mysterious mechanical or chemical means the greatly longed-
for rain may be produced. Rain is also distributed irregularly
over the surface of the globe, being often in excess in one locality
and deficient in another. It is this irregularity of distribution
in space and in time which gives rise to most of the needs of
research and of engineering applications of the results of study.
The meteorological discussions^ now available describe the
various factors influencing the formation of clouds and the
precipitation of their burden in the form of rain. Confining
ourselves to a consideration of the rain after it strikes the earth,
the first and most obvious problem is that of measuring the
quantity and ascertaining the amount and duration of the rain.
It is now generally assumed that if we can make accurate meas-
urements and preserve the records of what has taken place in
the past we may be able to predict in a general way what will
take place in the future and make provision accordingly.
Prophecies as to the time and amount of rainfall and conse-
quently of the supply of water available for the needs of man-
kind are of vital importance in many industrial operations.
Each farmer, or civil engineer, must be something of a prophet ;
according to the original sense of the word he must "speak for
the gods," interpreting the laws of nature as he understands
them. Like the prophets of old the engineers of the present day
are educated in the schools to translate and apply "the signs of
the times." The point to be emphasized as noted above is that
in all of these necessary predictions as to what may take place
in the future we are basing our assumptions upon the stability
of the range of fluctuations and the fact that the future will
repeat the history of the past. It is for this reason that these
records of past happenings, whether of rain or of river flow,
have their greatest value. While records of rainfall, of floods
and droughts may have a certain scientific interest in them-
selves, yet their real value arises from this assumption. At the
same time the fact should be kept clearly in mind that this is
1 "Introductory Meteorology," prepared and issued under the auspices
of the National Research Council, 1918. Also, Humphreys, W. J., "Physics
of the Air," Journal of Franklin Institute, Vol. 185, April and May, 1918,
pp. 517-538, 611-647.
PRECIPITATION 49
only an assumption and that the rain and the river flow are
rarely twice alike.
In otdcr to obtain as correct conceptions as possible regard-
ing these fundamental assumptions it is desirable to consider
the cause of precipitation. To this end the following extracts
have been made from a statement prepared by Dr. Charles F.
Brooks, meteorologist, United States Weather Bureau.
Causes of Rainfall. Many have been the speculations as
to the cause of rainfall. In biblical times, the doors of heaven
were opened and the rain descended. Observers of the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries, however, were not satisfied with such
a simple explanation and substituted some which were more
suited to their everyday experiences on the earth's surface.
Thus, Dr. W. Fulke in his "Booke of Meteors," England, 1 563
(later edition, 1640), explains that rain clouds are condensa-
tions of wet vapors, others of dry ones. Dark clouds are said to
be dirty; rainfall comes when heat dissolves the cloud, letting
out the water inside. Hail is from great heat which makes large
raindrops and this comes together and freezes into square
blocks.
In "Speculum Mundi," 1665, the author, John Swan, tells
us that the devil is the cause of "prodigious rains," such as falls
of "blood," fishes, pebbles, and frogs. The red rains actually
are red from dust or algae; rains of fishes, pebbles, and frogs
are made possible by the occurrence of waterspouts, dust whirls,
or tornadoes (cf. McAtee, "Showers of Organic Matter,"
Monthly Weather Review, May, 1917, pp. 217-224). Swan
says also that the hail of summer is from violent antiperistasis
which brings great cold from above, forced up by the lower
great heat. This heat also makes snow and rain. "Siamese
children believe that when many angels get into the same bath
at the same time, water runs over the side, and it rains."
(Symons^ Meteorological Magazine, January, 1918.)
The first scientific explanation took definite form at the end
of the eighteenth century (1784) when James Hutton, a Scotch-
man, published a theory of rain. His idea is that rain is caused
by the rising of warm, moist air into the cold upper air. The
mixture of portions of the atmosphere at different temperatures
50 WATER RESOURCES
and sufficiently saturated with moisture was thought to produce
most of the rain. He recognized that wind, temperature, and
pressure have effects on rainfall. This apparently reasonable
theory was accepted for a long time as the principal cause of
rain. Computations, however, of the possible rainfall from
mixture showed that this could yield little. If saturated air
at 10 degrees and 20 degrees Centigrade are mixed in equal
volumes, the result of the mixture will be air with a temperature
of about 15.8 degrees Centigrade, and precipitated moisture
amounting to 0.2 gram per cubic meter.
Radiation is hardly more effective than mixture in producing
rainfall, since it can rarely cool a great thickness of air suffi-
ciently to produce appreciable precipitation. In some thick
radiation fogs, there may be a drizzle which in the course of
hours may produce 0.01-0.05 or more inch of precipitation.
The fact that rainfall follows great battles was noted in early
Roman times ; but recently the occurrence of such rain has been
ascribed to the explosions, or perhaps to the added number of
condensation nuclei added to the atmosphere. That the occur-
rence of rainfall after battles is no more frequent or extreme
than after any outdoor operation which is planned and car-
ried on in fair weather has been proved many times, or, to state
the matter in another way — the period of fair weather favoring
or inducing battles or other field work, will probably be followed
by showers both in times of peace and of war. Dr. H. R. Mill,
director of the British Rainfall Organization, has shown the
practical impossibility of the power of even tremendous gun-
fire or explosions, to affect appreciably the almost infinitely
more powerful processes of the atmosphere. Computation shows
that the quantity of air which must have passed over England
and Wales in December, 1914, exceeded 1,300 trillion (million
times million) tons. "The amount of force required even to
deviate the direction of moving masses of this magnitude is
surely far beyond that which can be exerted even by nations at
war."^ In a later statement,^ Dr. Mill directs attention, among
1 Mill, H. R., Quarterly Journal, Royal Meteorological Society, October,
1915.
^ Symons'a Meteorological Magazine, February, 1918; abstract in Geo-
graphical Review, January, 1919, p. 51.
PRECIPITATION 51
other points, to the fact that much emphasis has been laid on
the relative wetness of 1915 and 1916 in southeastern England:
the year 1917, when the war was in a very intense phase, had a
nearly normal rainfall. Perhaps the final blow to the idea that
artillery produces rainfall was dealt when in the two or three
weeks following the beginning of the great German drive in
March, 1918, the battlefield in France was practically rainless.
Surely this tremendous artillery battle should have produced
rain if rain can be produced in this way.
These processes — mixture, radiation, artillery fire — can at
most produce but slight cooling of large masses of air. The
considerable cooling of great masses of air necessary to produce
heavy general rainfall can be brought about only by convection.
This was discovered only 50 years ago. Most people still think
that it rains because the warm lower air ascends to a cold region
where it is chilled by its surroundings. A more correct con-
ception is that rain is formed because the warm air in ascending
necessarily expands and in so doing is cooled by its own internal
action, resulting in the loss of much of its moisture ; that is, the
rain is the result largely of "convection." If a cubic meter of
air saturated at 15 degrees Centigrade were raised to an alti-
tude of 1,000 meters, the resulting cooling would precipitate
about 2 grams, ten times as much as was obtained in the example
of the effects of mixture given on page 50. The elevation of
great masses of air to several times 1,000 meters is of frequent
occurrence in cyclones and thunderstorms. Thus, it is obvious
that mixture and radiation are to be considered as only minor
factors in the production of rainfall, the principal cause being
convection.
Snow, sleet, and rain are closely related forms of precipita-
tion. Much of the rain that reaches the earth is made up in
part at least of moisture originally condensing as snow. The
precipitation taking place in clouds at temperatures below
freezing seems to be of this nature. When such snow, however,
falls into air whose temperature is above freezing, it melts and
becomes rain. If the melting is interrupted by the entry of this
partially melted snow into a layer of air with a temperature
below freezing, — as is not infrequently the case in winter, — the
52 WATER RESOURCES
partially melted snow freezes and becomes sleet. The form of
sleet can be as diverse as that of snow in all stages of melting,
from the hard, white, angular pieces of ice, to nearly spherical
or hemispherical drops of ice whose only indication of previous
snow condition is to be seen in the minute bubbles included in
the crystal.
Rainfall Measurements.^ Our conceptions of rainfall and
snowfall have been obtained mainly from tradition, hence we
are frequently misled by erroneous assumptions. Everyone is
affected in his business or pleasure by the weather, and particu-
larly by the excess or absence of precipitation. We remember
the unusual occurrences as these stand out prominently in our
recollection of past events. Naturally we turn to the oldest
inhabitant for a statement as to what are the prevailing char-
acteristics of the locality ; he narrates the conditions which have
influenced him most strongly. Often this is about the only
source of information available concerning the rain- or snowfall
during the past generation on large areas of sparsely settled
country and particularly in the mountain regions where it is
desirable to construct reservoirs for conservation of water.
For engineering purposes it is now appreciated that rela-
tively little reliance should be placed upon the recollections of
the oldest inhabitants. While these are in a general way indic-
ative of extremes, yet they must be approached with a ques-
tioning attitude because of the fact that human memory with-
out verification is quite fallacious. It has been found essential
therefore, in order to obtain reliable data, to search for more
definite records and to establish at the earliest practicable date
suitable measuring devices for ascertaining the amount of pre-
cipitation and the time of its occurrence.
There have been many devices employed in measuring rain-
fall or snowfall, some of them quite ancient and most of them
very simple. The one most commonly employed is a vessel or
pan into which the rain falls; the depth is then measured di-
rectly. It is obvious that the sides of this pan should be vertical
and that it should not be so shallow as to permit the rain to
splatter out. The depth of water obtained in this way may be
1 See also Monthly Weather Review, May, 1919, pp. 294-296.
PRECIPITATION 53
ascertained by direct measurement or more accurately by weigh-
ing or pouring into some measuring device. For ease and
accuracy of measuring, however, a standard rain gage has been
devised in which the open pan, usually 8 inches in diameter,
instead of having a flat bottom, is provided with a conical-
shaped funnel which leads into a tall narrow compartment whose
area is one-tenth that of the upper rim of the pan or collecting
vessel. Thus the depth of the water in the lower compartment
into which the rain flows is ten times that of the equivalent
amount of water in the upper portion. The depth being thus
magnified by ten can be readily ascertained to one-hundredth of
an inch. The point to be emphasized is that we are not meas-
uring the rainfall on a county or township or even on an acre
of land but only in a particular vessel. We assume that this
represents a large area but this is only an assumption made for
lack of better ways of obtaining the needed facts.
It is obvious from the nature of the case that the rain gage
is not an instrument of precision. For measuring rainfall the
device is fairly effective, but in giving the water contents of
snowfall great inaccuracies are usually involved. To obtain
data on the general depth of rainfall on a small area, it' is neces-
sary to have the gage so placed that :
( 1 ) The splash from the ground will not enter it.
(2) The drift of rain off other objects will not go into it.
(8) Other objects will not exclude rain from it.
(4) Peculiar wind eddies will not affect the catch.
(5) The opening of the gage will be horizontal and there-
fore represent a level surface of ground.
For snowfall, if snow has fallen during a wind, the way to
get the water content is to cut an average cylinder, or several of
them, out of the snow-cover and measure the water content
either directly or by weighing. When snow and rain fall
together, with a high wind, it is practically impossible to find
out how much precipitation occurred. The gage will catch the
rain and sleet and some of the snow, the ground will retain the
snow, but perhaps let the rain go.
Ieregularities in Measurement. Rain gages placed essen-
tially side by side may give readings differing by 5 per cent and
54 WATER RESOURCES
when only a few hundred feet apart by more than 10 per cent
in annual catch. Thus, it is well to remember that rainfall
records cannot be considered as accurate to the nearest hun-
dredth of an inch, even though stated in these terms, nor even
to the nearest inch if annual totals are considered. Neverthe-
less, we must accept these records on the faith that they are
probably right, or at least as near right as we can get them.
For purposes of comparison, it is essential that the same
period of years be used and that conditions of exposure of the
gages be essentially the same. Rainfall varies so much from
year to year that at the same station the average from a 19-year
period may differ considerably from that of a 20-year period.
In mapping rainfall, the interpretation of the results on the
basis of the known effects of topography on rainfall is essential
if a reliable picture of the distribution of rainfall is to be made.
The rainfall lines (isohyets) should be drawn with full consid-
eration of the influences of topography but without in any way
running counter to the indications of the measured records.^
The daily and annual distribution of rainfall may be peculiar
in certain places because of local conditions. For large regions
there may be large departures of the monthly rainfall from the
average on account of changes in the positions of the centers
of action, or because of long-continued changes in the tempera-
ture of the water surfaces which usually supply the moisture.
Torrential rains result from strong convection or rising of
great bodies of air. In thunderstorms in the temperate zone,
there may be more rain in an hour than is possible in the tropics
where there may be more moisture available for precipitation
but where the processes may not be so strong. Dr. O. L. Fassig
(Monthly Weather Review, June, 1916, vol. 44, 329-386) has
found that it can rain harder at Baltimore, Maryland, for a
short time, than it can at San Juan, Porto Rico ; btit that tor-
rential rains can continue longer at San Juan than at Balti-
more. The heavy rains in the tropics come with tropical
cyclones. Even in the United States such tropical cyclones may
bring much rainfall. On September 28, 1917, Robertsdale,
1 See "The Preparation of Precipitation Charts," Monthly Weather Re-
view, 1917, Vol. 45, pp. 223-235.
PRECIPITATION 55
Ala., received 17.46 inches in a day;^ and on July 14-15, 1916,
Alta Pass, N. C, in the southern Appalachians had 22.22
inches of rainfall in twenty-four hours. In the Philippine
Islands at Baguio there is a record of 45.99 inches in twenty-
four hours during a tropical cyclone, July 14-15, 1911.
Destructive floods occur under such conditions.
The cloudbursts of the deserts, and even of the more humid
parts of the country, are truly cloudbursts. For example, a
strong desert dust whirl may rise higher and higher until at
perhaps 8,000-4,000 meters a cloud begins to form. With
renewed energy from the latent heat of condensation in the
whirling, rising column, the cloud grows. Rain begins to fall,
but a large proportion is held in the cloud by the air rising
faster than the rain can fall, viz., 8 meters per second. Some
may come out of the bottom of the cloud but it is quickly
evaporated and carried up for condensation again. Finally,
the whirl may encounter a mountain and go to pieces: down
comes all at once the rainfall accumulated during some hours.
This shows why it can rain at several times the rate at which the
moisture can be precipitated in the rising column of air.
Not only is the rainfall varying in quantity from minute to
minute, but at the same moment it varies in rate even over
a single square mile. It is no uncommon experience to drive
along the country and find a portion of the road wet from recent
rain and in a mile or two another stretch of road comparatively
dry. It may rain severely in one ward of a city, flooding the
sewers, and other wards may receive merely a sprinkle. Thus we
can hardly expect that any two rain gages which are not within
a few feet of each other will receive the same amount of rain.
More than this, we find by observation that a gage placed on
the ground receives a larger quantity than a similar gage
exposed on top of a building.
It was formerly assumed that more rain actually fell on the
ground than on the top of a building, but it is now generally
conceded that the difference in amount received by the gages is
due principally to air currents which blow diagonally into or
1 See table of excessive rainfalls in periods of about a day, in Monthly
Weather Review, May, 1919, Vol. 47, p. 302.
56 WATER RESOURCES
across the opening of the gage. Near the ground the air cur-
rents are reduced and the rainfall is more nearly normal. In
certain measurements made by the Weather Bureau, it is shown
that a gage at an elevation of 48 feet received 75 per cent of
rainfall, at 85 feet it received 64 per cent, and at 194 feet above
ground the gage recorded only 58 per cent of the amount which
fell in a gage placed on the ground.
In interpreting and applying the results of measurement of
rainfall, it is highly important to ascertain as completely as
possible the position of the gage with reference to its height
above ground and particularly as to the shading effect of build-
ings, trees or other obstructions influencing the behavior of the
wind. Neglect of these precautions has led to many^ popular
fallacies and occasionally to serious blunders in planning works.
Periodic Fluctuation. In studying the data available con-
cerning precipitation it is quickly apparent that one year of
relative drought may be followed by another even more dry. In
the course of a few years, however, there is always a return to
average or normal conditions. By taking a long range of obser-
vations it is seen that there is occasionally a series of wet years
followed by a series of dry years. These are sometimes termed
nonperiodic fluctuations because of the fact that these periods
are of irregular length.
It also appears from a study of the records that each year
forms a new combination and that the rainfall in time of occur-
rence and in quantity is quite different from that of sny other
year. The average for, say, five years or ten years is usually
somewhat above or below that of the preceding or succeeding
similar period. If, however, the observations are available for,
say, fifty 3^ears, it appears as though most of the ordinary vaga-
ries of the weather had been exhausted ; the average for any one
fifty years is approximately the same as that for a similar
period. In making such comparisons, however, it must be re-
called that the precision of the observations extending over any
one period of fifty years necessarily differs from that of another
fifty-year period because of changes or improvements in instru-
ments, in methods and in surroundings as well as in the personnel
of the observers.
PRECIPITATION 57
The point to be noted is that observations of precipitation
extending throughout five years or even ten years may or may
not be representative of conditions which will prevail later. If,
however, a fifty-year range is available, then considerable con-
fidence may be placed upon the results as it is quite probable
the the extremes of drought or flood have been experienced. For
lack of definite data it is customary to make allowance of at
least 20 per cent increase in the extremes of drought or flood
for measurements which have been continued for five years and
of 10 per cent for measurements over a period of ten years.
It is, of course, impossible for an engineer planning works
of conservation to delay for ten years or even for five years to
obtain data on precipitation and related river flow. He must
utilize the figures at hand and make allowance on the side of
safety — keeping in mind the fact that fluctuation does occur,
and that careful study should be made. He should continually
add to his knowledge of the changes which may take place from
day to day, compiling these in monthly and annual totals so
that on the basis of these data he may make predictions, within
proper limits, of the conditions which the works of water stor-
age may be called upon to meet.
In making such predictions it is important to bear in mind
the fluctuations as above noted and to consider what has been
the general trend of these changes. Taking recent geological
observations, there has been no doubt a marked change in cli-
matic conditions since the glacial period. The time which has
elapsed since this period can hardly be expressed in years, but
may be roughly considered as extending over tens of thousands
of years rather than a lesser number. Man's historic period
compared to this is short, especially that of recorded data, but
it is possible from the stud}'^ of long-lived vegetation such as the
giant trees. Sequoias, to arrive at the conclusion that the rain-
fall fluctuations during the past few hundred years, on the
whole, have not been much greater than during the past fifty
years. In other words, trees several hundred years in age are
found in many p(irts of the country, a study of whose annual
rings of growth shows that the rainfall and temperature could
58 WATER RESOURCES
not have been greatly different from those which now prevail in
the same locality.
Many students of the subject have attempted to deduce some
rule covering the variations in precipitation which now take
place and to connect these with other phenomena, such as the
intensity of the sun's radiant heat as indicated by the sun spots.
Some have arrived at a cycle of seven years, others at eleven,
and Bruckner at thirty-five years. ^
These fluctuations and theories concerning them are interest-
ingly described by Ellsworth Huntington in his book, entitled,
"Palestine and Its Transformation." He there brings out the
various hypotheses of the progressive changes of climate, show-
ing by simple diagrams the fundamental deductions from the
observed facts. On the one hcmd, it is argued that there is a
nearly uniform shrinkage in water supply ; on the other hand, it
is urged that this rate of change varies from century to cen-
tury. Much of the data has been obtained from a study of
forest growths but still further research is evidently needed.
The conclusions to be derived from these various discussions
of methods and results of rainfall measurement are in general
that climate is practically fixed so far as it is of concern in
preparing the usual engineering plans, but, to determine the
range of the weather for any one locality and accompanying
phenomena within these apparently fixed climatic limits, it is
necessary to have observations extending over possibly fifty
years in succession. Experience has shown that in any period
of a half century, practically every extreme of weather may be
expected to occur, such as has happened in the previous cen-
tury or which may properly be predicted for the next one hun-
dred years. For any shorter period, for example, of five or ten
years, the averages may be misleading and a considerable factor
of safety should be added to cover possible contingencies.
In all these matters additional investigations are needed
not only for the purpose of obtaining data from original obser-
1 Newell, F. H., "Water Supply for Irrigation," 13th Annual Report,
U. S. G. S., Part III, "Irrigation," p. 25.
Bruckner, Dr. Edward, "The Settlement of the United States as Con-
trolled by Climate and Climatic Oscillations, in Memorial Volume of Trans-
continental Excursion of 1919, of American Geographical Society," p. 135.
PRECIPITATION 59
rations but more than this in connection with the digesting of
the array of facts already accumulated which are only partly
interpreted.
Dew and Feost. The formation of dew or frost occurs when
the temperature of an object falls below the dew-point of the air
immediately in contact with it or on plants when exudation of
moisture takes place more rapidly than evaporation. Dew is
highly important in dry countries, for there it may be the only
moisture which plants and animals have available for their sup-
port for long periods of time. The importance of frost is asso-
ciated with the damage done by the low temperatures. Light
air movement and dry, clear air at night favor the formation of
frost. Light air movement is favorable not only because the
objects are allowed to cool to a temperature appreciably below
the air temperature, but also because local frosts are connected
essentially with local "air drainage." Soon after sunset, cold
and dense air, cooled chiefly by contact with the ground and to
some extent by radiation, drains slowly down the slopes into the
valleys and low places. Strong winds mix the air and thus pre-
vent the occurrence of local frosts. Dry, clear air aids local
frosts because the dry air favors rapid radiation, and because
the latent heat of condensation which accompanies the cooling
of moist air will check the fall in temperature.
For convenience in frost studies, Alexander McAdie has de-
vised a "saturation deficit recorder." This instrument is essen-
tially a hygrograph mounted on the pen of a thermograph. The
thermograph indicates the maximum weight of water vapor pos-
sible in the air at the temperature prevailing, and the hygro-
graph indicates the percentage of saturation. Methods of pro-
tection, distribution of killing frosts, and dates of occurrence
are matters chiefly of interest to agricultural meteorologists.*
Sky Signs. Farmers and mariners know the sky signs; but
they do not know them as well as they might could they under-
1 See Frost folio, "Atlas of American Agriculture," 1918; review. Monthly
Weather Review, November, 1918, pp. 516-517, and Geographical Review,
May, 1919, pp. 339-344; articles in the Monthly Weather Review and Geo-
graphical Review during the past two or three years.
60 WATER RESOURCES
stand the processes the clouds indicate. Here is an almost
untouched field for further research and diffusion of informa-
tion, which is attractive not only because it is interesting and
easily accessible, but also because it is so full of promise for
advances in local weather forecasts. The form of the cloud
generally gives some clue to the processes by which it is being
formed ; its movements indicate the winds by which it is carried,
and in many cases show the relation between two winds, which
may be indicative of further condensation and subsequent pre-
cipitation. Thus the rapid growth of cumulus clouds on a
warm summer day, or of the flatter strato-cumulus shortly after
sunrise on a winter day, is frequently followed in a few hours
by showers or snow-flurries which may or may not reach the
earth.
The appearance of "rafts" of alto-cumulus clouds, with a
smooth, basal undulating sheet, obscured here and there by
the lower parts of a snow curtain falling from higher level of
condensation, or even by streams of snow falling from the balls
themselves, indicates strong processes of convection which are
likely to be followed by precipitation which will reach the earth's
surface. Similarly, the progressive thickening of the thin, white,
cirro-stratus sheet, hazily mottled here and there with cirro-
cumulus balls, into alto-stratus and alto-cumulus is likely to be
followed by rainfall when the cloud has thickened still further.
Stratus clouds and low, indefinite sheets of early morning
strato-cumulus clouds are generally not indicative of processes
which will produce rainfall. They are likely to break away in
the warmer hours of the day.
Forests and Mountains. The kind of civilization of a
country is shown by the way in which its forests are given care
and attention. Much of the prosperity, health and comfort of
future generations lies in the present effective protection of
forest growth. The degree to which thought is now being given
to the needs of those who come after us measures our own
growth in the scale of civilization. In considering reconstruc-
tion or conservation problems, the forests have peculiar interest,
not merely from the standpoint of immediate use, but more than
this, from their peculiar relation to future generations of men
PRECIPITATION 61
and as to our attitude in perpetuating and handing on to others
in even better condition the good things which we now enjoy.
The primitive man is concerned with his immediate daily
needs and seldom attempts crop production. As he comes up in
the scale his vision increases and he plants the rapidly growing
corn. Later in a semicivilized state he protects or adds to the
fruit and nut trees which may not come into bearing for sev-
eral years ; but it is only when mankind attains a high degree
of altruistic ideals that he plants or guards forests and similar
resources, knowing that a crop can be had perhaps only once in
a lifetime or that the full value will be received by his grand-
children or by those who take their places.
Hydro-economics, so far at least as it is concerned with the
conservation and use of water, is intimatelv related to for-
estry, with the care, preservation and enlargement of forest
growth, especially in the mountains and in areas w^here the soil
has little value for the production of other crops. It may be
said that the earliest and strongest supporters of a national or
state policy are the engineers and men of vision who see in the
protection and use of the forests the best guarantee for the
continued enjoyment of certain uses of water. The most nota-
ble example is that of the conservationists — or hydro-econo-
mists — who urged action by the Congress of the United States
in setting aside for forest protection great areas of public land
with the object not only of furnishing a supply of timber, but
of affording protection to the headwaters of important western
streams.
This achievement, with reference to the public lands, has been
supplemented by activities leading to direct Congressional
appropriations for purchasing large tracts of privately owned
forest land in the White Mountain and Appalachian region in
the eastern and southern portions of the United States, where
there were no public lands, but where it was believed that the
public interest demanded that forest growth be perpetuated.
The latter action was taken in accordance with the authority
granted to Congress by the Constitution, which gives to the
United States the control over commerce and of navigable
streams. The forest lands have been purchased under the
62 WATER RESOURCES
theory that the maintenance of navigation can be better assured
by the protection of the woodland cover and consequently
assumed reduction of erosion of the soil and of filling up of the
navigable channels.
Not only has the Congress of the United States taken an
interest in the forests and in their protection, as part of its duty
to the public, but also the individual states and even munici-
palities have made forest reserves, some antedating the action
of Congress. New York, Pennsylvania, and other common-
wealths have their state forests, designed not merely as pleas-
ure grounds or breathing spots for the people and for the pro-
tection of bird life and wild game, but also to aid in the more
effective control and use of water resources in the many ways
of municipal supply, irrigation, power development and soil
protection.
One of the most important questions in connection with water
conservation by storage of floods is the influence of mountains
and forests upon the quantity of water which may be available.
In discussing the occurrence of water it has been noted from
the earliest times that the inequality of the earth's surface has
a great influence upon the precipitation of water from the
atmosphere. There is unquestionably a close relation between
mountains and rainfall.^ Whatever the explanation may be it
is a well-known fact that the precipitation is usually greater
upon mountains and usually increases in depth as the mountain
is ascended.*
As a consequence of the relatively heavy precipitation on the
mountain slope there is usually a dense growth of vegetation —
the upper limit being set, in the case of high mountains, by the
extremely cold and desiccating winds of the upper atmosphere
into which the summit rises. The fact that forests do occur
upon mountains even in arid regions has been used as the basis
of an argument to the effect that forests increase the precipita-
1 See "Atlas of American Agriculture,*' Part II, "Climate," Advance
sheet 1, average annual rainfall of the United States, reproduced, with
discussion by R. DeC. Ward, Monthly Weather Review, July, 1917, Vol. 45,
pp. 338-345.
2 See Henry, A. J., "Increase of Precipitation with Altitude," Monthly
Weather Review, January, 1919, Vol. 47, pp. 33-41.
PRECIPITATION 63
tion. Careful investigations have been made in various parts
of the world, particularly in Europe and in India, but the con-
clusions are rather negative in character, the general opinion
being that while there may be a somewhat greater precipita-
tion in the forests than on a similarly situated open area, yet
the difference is so slight that it may be due to errors in
observation/
Whether or not the presence of forests induces a larger pre-
cipitation, there is little doubt that the forests as a rule
tend to conserve the water which does reach the ground. They
render the condition of water storage far more satisfactory
than would be the case if the mountain slope were denuded of
tree growth. So strong is this belief that, in the eastern part
of the United States in the Appalachian region of the south and
the White Mountain region of the north, the United States, as
above noted, is purchasing large tracts of forest lands at the
headwaters of important navigable rivers with a view to pro-
tecting these forests and maintaining them in good condition
because of the direct or indirect beneficial influence upon the
stream flow. These effects come in part by actual conservation
of water in the soil and among the roots of the trees, but more
largely by the prevention of rapid erosion and by reducing the
washing of the soil from the mountain slopes into the natural
lakes or artificial reservoirs and into the stream channels. The
soil thus eroded becomes not only lost to the country from which
it is removed, but more than this is a distinct injury in filling
up reservoirs and in forming shoals in the navigable waters.
Throughout the arid west nearly every community in which
irrigation is practiced is asking that the forests at the head-
waters of the streams be more completely protected. To this
end it is urged that the grazing of cattle and sheep be so regu-
lated as to prevent the close cropping of the herbage or over-
grazing to an extent such that the smaller plants are destroyed.
1 For many years rainfall and other meteorological observations have
been made in the forests in the vicinity of Wagon Wheel Gap, Colo., on
slopes similarly exposed. Now one slope is soon to be deforested, and the
observations continued as before. At the end of this experiment the results
may settle at least some of the controversy concerning the effects of forests
on rainfall.
64 WATER RESOURCES
It has been shown by practical experience that such regulation
can be effected and that instead of reducing the number of sheep
which can be fed upon a given area, it is possible with sensible
management gradually to increase the number and at the same
time afford needed protection to the soil.
The conditions which exist in the state of nature are well illus-
trated by PI. XVII. C, showing in the foreground one of the nat-
ural lakes such as are to be found in the mountain valleys sur-
rounded on all sides by timber-covered slopes. The particular
view is of Keechelus Lake, one of the several bodies of water at
the head of Yakima River in the Cascade Mountains of the state
of Washington. This and other lakes have been converted into
reservoirs by building earth dams at the outlets, as stated on
page 166. In this case the wooded slopes have been included in
the national forests to be maintained indefinitely, not only
because of the value of the timber to be had from time to time,
but because of the beneficial effect upon the reservoirs, notably
by the prevention of erosion of the hillsides.
Many problems of immediate importance in the prosperity of
large communities are presented by the phenomena of forest
growth and methods of maintenance. Additional research is
needed, particularly into the economics of the handling of
forest products and into the relation which public health and
comfort bear to the forests as recreation grounds as well as
into their influence upon water supply.
The whole subject of relation of forests to run-off has been
discussed from time to time by various engineers and students,
the most notaMe contribution to the subject being that by the
late General Chittenden, who brought together a concise state-
ment of our present state of knowledge of the subject.^
1 Chittenden, Hiram N., "Forest and Stream Flow," Transactions of
A. S. C. E., Vol. 62, p. 245.
CHAPTER IV
EVAPORATION
A force is at work day and night, summer and winter, stead-
ily robbing water from lakes, streams, trees, animals, and all
objects which contain it. A study of this activity and a knowl-
edge of its results are fundamental in most of the construction
problems which are concerned with hydro-economics. Man's
ability to use water in all of its varied forms and applications
is confined largely to that portion of it which is left after
evaporation has taken its full share. This is a conception to
which full weight has not been given in many scientific discus-
sions. We have recognized, of course, that there is such a thing
as evaporation, but its powerful and far-reaching influences
have not been fully appreciated nor the fact that we can enjoy
the use of only such water as nature may condescend to leave
after her toll has been taken.
Evaporation is in many ways the counterpart of precipita-
tion. While, on the one hand, nature is intermittently pouring
down water from the clouds or is furnishing it imperceptibly in
the form of vapor, at the same time there is being withdrawn in
every direction a steady flow of water back to the air. We have
here a powerful force influencing human, animal and vegetable
activities and one which may be converted into a beneficial ser-
vant in many industries. That is to say, evaporation, while
robbing us of water which might be usefully employed, at the
same time is performing innumerable necessary operations, since
all the functions of life depend upon it. Additional benefits may
be had when widely employed by artificial application, such, for
example, as in the drying and preserving of fruits, vegetables,
and other food materials. In many so-called practical ways,
we have the problem of controlling evaporation and turning its
activity to economic ends in promoting commerce and industry.
66 WATER RESOURCES
As soon as the rain strikes the earth, a portion of the moisture
at once returns to the air. The quantity which thus disappears
at any moment may be small but, being continuous even during
the rainstorm itself, the total loss amounts to a considerable
portion of the rain which descends. Even from snow or ice there
is usually a small loss as the atmosphere is greedily absorbing
moisture from all objects containing water. The only exception
is when the air is completely saturated ; but this seldom occurs ;
during the prevalence of a storm the layer of air near the earth
may be taking up water while the oversaturated higher layers
of the atmosphere are giving it out.^ In dry climates such as
those of the western part of the United States evaporation is
very active, drinking up the waters of the rivers to an extent
such that many of them are overcome by the thirsty air and are
never able to reach the ocean.
In all estimates of water available for storage or for use by
plants or animals we must first make allowance for the quantity
which is demanded by the surrounding atmosphere. This simple
fact has not always been appreciated, namely, that the run-off
or quantity of water available is the residual after evaporation
has taken its toll from the rainfall. For many years engineers
have tried to arrive at a ratio between the amount of water that
falls in the form of rain and snow and the quantity which runs
off the surface. They have assumed, say, that 30 per cent of
the total rainfall flows off the land in the New England states,
and from this down to 8 per cent or even less in the arid regions.
There can be no fixed relation of this kind because the quan-
tity evaporated has no direct dependence upon the quantity
precipitated.
The condition of the ground governs largely the amount of
water which returns to the air by evaporation. If the surface
is open and porous or covered with grass or other vegetation,
the rainfall is enabled to run in or soak the ground and saturate
the subsoil. If, however, such a surface is packed hard and the
vegetation eaten down or destroyed, for example, by bands of
sheep as shown in PI. IX. A, then the water is prevented from
1 Monthly Weather Review, March, 1910, Vol. 38, p. 1133.
EVAPORATION 67
running in and, on the contrary, runs rapidly off the surface,
causing sharp, sudden floods which carry away much of the
finer soil. The losses by evaporation under these conditions, it
is true, are reduced, but at the same time the destructive run-
off is increased.
From all moist surfaces molecules of water, particularly
those which have the greatest energy, or heat, are continuaUy
escaping. This loss tends to lower the average temperature of
the water particles which remain, or as more commonly stated,
heat is consumed in this process. The rate at which evapora-
tion will take place depends on the difference between the vapor
pressure of the moist surface and that of the air immediately in
contact with it, also on the atmospheric pressure. Wind be-
comes a factor in that it maintains at a maximum for the gen-
eral masses of air the differences between the vapor pressure of
the water surface and that of the air. Sunlight tends to increase
evaporation by supplying sufficient energy to the water surface
to maintain evaporation, and at the same time even to raise the
temperature of the evaporating surface. The relative humidity
of the air has little direct influence on the rate of evaporation —
as is well illustrated by the way in which a warm, moist surface
can throw into the air much more moisture than that which the
temperature of the air will allow to remain in the vapor state.
The kettle throws out steam because the vapor pressure of the
water in it exceeds that at which the vapor in the air can be
saturated.
The amount of evaporation which will occur from the surface
of a resen^oir, for instance, is a complex function not only of the
atmospheric pressure, vapor pressures of the air and water sur-
face, and wind velocity, but also of the area of reservoir and the
roughness of its surface. Various formulae have been devised to
express these relations, but it is evident that there is still much
to be done in observing the elements of evaporation before we
can apply these general conclusions in such way as to estimate
accurately the amount of loss which may take place from any
kind of a moist surface. Maps showing the evaporation losses
from large areas of land or water have not yet been drawn with
any considerable degree of precision as comparable data are
68 WATER RESOURCES
lacking. (See B. E. Livingston's isoatmic map of the United
States, "Plant World,'' 1911, Vol. 14, and article, pp. 205-
222.)
The total evaporation of the world is of some interest. Since
the ocean covers three- fourths of the globe it is the surface from
which most of the evaporation in the atmosphere takes place.
W. Schmidt (Bulletin American Greographical Society, 1915,
p. 695) has computed the mean daily evaporation of oceanic
waters to be 2.07 millimeters (0.08 inch) or 27 inches per
3''ear. About 11 per cent (net) of this water vapor probably
goes over the land. The rainfall over the oceans is estimated to
be the equivalent of only about 90 per cent of the evaporation,
a depth of 69 centimeters (27 inches) annually. The average
over the lands is probably 92 centimeters (36 inches), of which
only about a tenth is from the precipitation of water evaporated
first hand from the ocean. This seems reasonable when it is
remembered that the run-off in streams is generally less than a
quarter of the rainfall. On the average, it seems that the flow
of the Mississippi by St. Louis is no greater than the total
amount of water falling as rain on the state of Missouri. Thus
it seems direct evaporation from the oceans supplies the mois-
ture for about three-fourths of the world's rainfall, while that
from the lands and inland waters supplies the other fourth.
As the surface of the earth is the sole original source of water
vapor in the atmosphere, the decrease with altitude is naturally
a little greater in the free air than on mountains. Roughly,
at an altitude of 2 kilometers, or over a mile, the content is half
of that at sea level ; at 3 kilometers, or nearly 2 miles, it is one-
quarter (on mountains, one- third) ; and at 8 kilometers, or 5
miles, 1 per cent of the sea level content. Under usual condi-
tions in middle latitudes, a mountain range but 2 kilometers, or
over 6,000 feet, high will allow only half of the water vapor to
pass over; the rest is precipitated. In general, the absolute
humidity over deserts is but slightly lower than that over other
regions, even though the relative humidity is only from 25 to 50
per cent. There is enough moisture in the air to make appre-
ciable rainfall, but it takes extraordinary atmospheric action to
precipitate it. Rain makers, or rather the people who hire them.
EVAPORATION 69
seem to fail to realize the tremendous amount of power required
to cause such precipitation in the arid and semiarid regions.
Evaporation Measurements. Losses in volume or weight
of a certain mass of water may be measured directly or the
evaporation estimated by noting the rate of cooling. The
instruments devised for this purpose are generally known as
evaporimcters or "atmometers" from the Greek word atmos
meaning steam or vapor. The kind of atmometer depends upon
the purpose for which measurements are being made. Thus, the
engineer uses an open pan atmometer while the student of plant
life wants a porous cup or some other device more nearly imitat-
ing the action of the bodies whose evaporation losses he desires
to obtain.^
The open pan atmometer filled with water may be set up on
land or may be made to float on a reservoir or lake surface. The
water losses from damp soil or plants may be obtained by
employing pans or pots of such form that they can be filled
with soil and then weighed from time to time to ascertain the
amount of water which is received from the rain or other sources
and the loss which takes place by evaporation or by transpira-
tion from the plants which are cultivated in the soil contained
in the pots.
For purposes of water conservation, especially in preparing
plans and estimates for storage works, it is necessary to have
some approximation of the quantity of water which escapes
from the surface of the proposed artificial lake. It is known
that the evaporation increases with the rise in temperature and
with the wind movement; hence observations are made of these
factors.
Various efforts have been made to measure the depth of
evaporation directly from pans so arranged as to float in the
water — these being maintained at the same temperature as that
on the surface of the pond or lake. Accurate measurements
of the amount evaporated from a pan are not easily obtainable
because of the many accidents to which an apparatus thus
exposed may be liable. The effect of the rim of the pan, even
1 See "A New Evaporimeter for Use in Forest Studies," by C. G. Bates,
Monthly Weather Review, May, 1919, Vol. 47, pp. 283-294.
70 WATER RESOURCES
though projecting only an inch or two above the surface, is
quite appreciable.
The United States Weather Bureau has carried on investi-
gations of evaporation losses, particularly in various parts of
the West. In one series of experiments they floated shallow pans
not only upon the surface of the water, but placed them on the
ground and on towers so arranged that the pans would be at
different heights from the surface of the ground or of the lake
itself. A view of one of these towers on Salton Sea in southern
California is given in PL III. A, and a more distant view of the
sea itself in PL III. B. Among other facts it has been appar-
ently demonstrated that a large body of water loses in depth
only about 0.7 of that from a pan floating on the surface.^
Standard Gage. As a result of these investigations the
effort to make measurements of evaporation from the surface of
pans floating in a reservoir or lake has been practically aban-
doned. The difficulties and uncertainties involved were found
to be too great. The Weather Bureau has now adopted a
standard type of apparatus as shown in PL III. C.^ The stand-
ard evaporation pan is made of galvanized iron, cylindrical in
form, 48 inches in diameter and 10 inches deep. It is supported
on a wooden base placed on the ground and surrounded by a
woven wire fence 5 feet high. Inside the enclosure beside the pan
is a rain gage and a small standard instrument, sheltered, con-
taining thermometers. There is also provided an anemometer,
placed as near as possible to the large pan so as to obtain the
wind movement across the water surface.
Careful attention must be paid to the proper exposure of
the apparatus so that the locality will be open to the sunshine
and be representative of the weather conditions of the region.
The height of the water in the pan is observed at 7 a.m. and
7 p.m., at which time readings of the other instruments are
1 Bigelow, F. H., Monthly Weather Review, February, 1909, VoL 37,
p. 307.
2 Report of Chief of Weather Bureau, 1914-15, p. 13; also, "Instructions
for the Installation and Operation of Class A Evaporation Stations," Octo-
ber 16, 1915, United States Weather Bureau; also, "Current Evaporation
Observations," in Monthly Weather Retnew, December, 1916, Vol. 44, pp.
647-677, iUustratcd.
PUte III.
r of United States Weather Bureau, e.
Plate III. B.
Tow«rs In Salton Sea, California, supportlnf; evaporatioi
Plate III. C.
Standard Evsporation Station, United States Weather Bureau.
M «
EVAPORATION 71
taken. The pan is filled with water to within two inches of the
top and refilled when the water has receded one inch.
The total amount of evaporation from a reservoir or other
free water surface is greatest during the hot months of the year
and least in winter. During July, August, and September, if
there is any considerable wind movement, the evaporation may
be from a quarter of an inch to nearly half an inch a day, while
during the prevalence of cold, still weather in winter the depth
of evaporation from the water or frozen surface may be one-
hundredth of an inch. The total for the year in northern
climates may be stated in round numbers as from 3 to 4 feet
in depth, while in the southern part of arid regions of the United
States the annual evaporation may be 7 to 8 feet or more.
In estimates of loss from artificial lakes or storage reservoirs
it is necessary to give consideration mainly to the depth of
evaporation during the early summer as the storage is prin-
cipally at that time. That is to say, the reservoir is filled
during May and June ; early in July the greatest area is usually
exposed to evaporation. During the succeeding months the
water is drawn down, the surface area consequently reduced and
the losses become relatively insignificant. Thus it is not as
important to consider the annual losses as it is to ascertain the
evaporation which takes place during the time from the filling
of the reservoir to the date when the surface is drawn down to
its minimum area.
Results. Compilations of various measurements have been
prepared as noted in one of the reports on "Water Resources
of Illinois."^ As then compiled by A. H. Horton, who has freely
interpolated figures for missing months, the total evaporation
at different points in the United States is as given on page 72.
The evaporation from the pans placed directly on the ground
is undoubtedly larger than from pans which are floating on the
surface of the lake or reservoir. The figures obtained as given
above are not truly representative of what is taking place from
the free surface of water in a reservoir. Nevertheless, these
have some value, especially as they are practically the only
1 Horton, A. H., "Water Resources of Illinois," Report of Rivers and
Lakes Commission of Illinois, 1914, Part III, pp. 306-316.
72 WATER RESOURCES
available data. Their principal use is perhaps in connection
with a comparison of amount evaporated by months, the per-
centage for Chestnut Hill Reservoir, Mass., noted above, being
as follows :
Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.
2.4 2.7 4.3 7.6 11.4 14.2 15.2 14.0 10.4 8.1 5.7 3.9
There is need of further research, not only in these losses but
particularly into the ways or degree in which evaporation may
be checked or reduced by tree planting or other devices for
reducing wind movement and maintaining a lower temperature
of the water surface.
Estimated Annual Evaporation
DEPTH OF EVAPORATION
LOCALITY
DIAMETER OF PAN
IN INCHES
Columbus, Ohio
4' floating
46
Birmingham, Ala.
4' floating
51
Chestnut Hill, Mass.
4' floating
39
Rochester, N. Y.
4' floating
35
Dutch Flats, Neb.
4' ground
66
Deer Flat, Idaho
3' ground
79
North Yakima, Wash.
4' ground
68
Hermiston, Ore.
3' ground
68
Ady, Ore.
4' floating
53
Brawley, Calif.
6' ground
104
Mammoth, Calif.
6' ground
196
Granite Reef, Ariz.
4' ground
115
Drying or Dehydration. Closely connected with, or grow-
ing out from, the studies of evaporation are certain practical
applications of the resulting facts in the drying of bulky articles
such as green wood or other raw materials and foods, in
order to facilitate their transportation and storage. For
example, in the case of wood, a large part of the weight of
boards or timber used in construction is water. Months or
years are usually required for drying or seasoning from the
date the timber is cut to the time when it can be economically
transported or utilized. It is obvious that great gains will
come from developing ways for shortening this time of drying
and for putting the material into form for use. Moreover, the
process of drying out the wood frequently changes its shape,
spoiling it for many operations. Recent investigations have
EVAPORATION 78
indicated that it is possible to dry wood rapidly under condi-
tions such as insure the maintenance of its original form. Here
research has resulted in the development of new industries.
Practically all wood before being put to use is either sea-
soned in the air or dried in a kiln. The main objects of such
seasoning are to increase the durability of the wood in service,
to prevent it from shrinking and checking, to increase its
strength and stiffness, to prevent it from staining, and to
decrease its weight. If drying wood were simply a matter of
evaporating moisture, it would be a comparatively simple
problem, since it would be merely that of supplying the neces-
sary heat. Wood, however, has a complicated structure and
unless timber that is to be air seasoned is piled in the right way,
or conditions in the dry kiln are maintained according to certain
physical laws, the material will probably warp or check or in
some way be damaged seriously.
Until recently proper methods of seasoning have received but
little attention and large losses were common. Often 25 per
cent of the seasoned lumber was rendered unfit for use by
defects induced by drying.
The Forest Service of the United States Department of
Agriculture as stated by the Forester, Col. H. S. Graves, has
conducted investigations in the kiln drying of wood for several
years past and as a result methods have been developed by
which lumber can be dried in months instead of years, with no
loss in strength as compared to air-dried material and with
very little checking or warping. The data from these investi-
gations formed the basis of the specifications for kiln drying
spruce for airplanes adopted by the Army and Navy. As the
supply of air-dried spruce was exhausted soon after entering
upon the war and air drying requires two years, the ability to
furnish properly dried airplane material in six weeks relieved a
somewhat serious situation in airplane construction. Vehicle
material was generally air seasoned before the war for two or
three years. The demand for vehicles for war purposes soon ex-
hausted the air-dried stock and more was needed at once.
Scientific kiln-drying methods once more came to the front and
properly designed kilns were built and material dried in two
74 WATER RESOURCES
months. Runs in kilns at the Rock Island Arsenal on artillery
wheel rims and spokes show losses of only 2 per cent and even
less.
The drying of black walnut for gunstocks and of willow for
artificial limbs are examples of other applications of kiln drying
to war material where air drying was formerly the general
practice, and in each case the time was reduced from years to
months and an entirely satisfactory product obtained.
The main problem in kiln drying lumber is to prevent the
moisture from evaporating from the surface of the pieces faster
than it is brought to the surface from the interior. When this
happens the surface becomes considerably drier than the
interior and begins to shrink. If the difference in moisture
content is sufficient, the surface portion opens up in checks.
The evaporation from the surface of wood in a kiln can be
controlled to a large degree by regulating the humidity, tem-
perature, and amount of air passing over the wood; and a
correctly designed kiln, especially one for drying the more
difficult woods, must be one so constructed and equipped as to
insure this regulation.
Even more important in its advantages to the human race
are the results which may flow from the investigations of the
practicability of drying bulky foods for permanent preservation
and for convenience of transportation. From earliest times
mankind has largely depended for winter food upon dried meats
and fruits, but the old processes of drying in the sun or by heat
from a fire have usually altered the flavor and changed the
food value. Recently research has shown that there are ways
in which, for example, potatoes and similar vegetables may be
deprived of their water or dehydrated with great shrinkage in
volume and size. They can be kept for an indefinite period
and then when well soaked will resume nearly their original
bulk, with little loss of flavor or of food qualities.
When the fact is borne in mind that millions of tons of
potatoes are transported each year and other millions of tons
are wasted for lack of transportation, it can be seen that by
the establishment of evaporation or dehydration plants the
railroads may be relieved of hauling immense tonnage: food
EVAPORATION 75
can be transported and made available for the underfed or
starving nations.
Dehydration methods in the United States from a commercial
standpoint are still in their early stages. Much careful investi-
gation is yet to be made, particularly as to the processes best
adapted for general use, in order to realize modern ideals and
meet current demands. As contrasted with the older forms of
simply drying fruits and vegetables, the later methods are char-
acterized by a treatment in which the foods to be dehydrated
are subjected to the action of carefully regulated currents of
air in which the temperature and humidity are both controlled
within narrow limits.^ If this is done, the food gradually loses
water but without giving up its flavor or color or having its
cellular structure impaired. When thus treated the product
will reabsorb water, swelling to its normal size and appearance
arid when cooked will have essentially the flavor, appearance and
odor of freshly cooked material made from fresh vegetables.
It is interesting to bring into comparison the efforts being
made, on the one hand, to get water to the soil or properly to
irrigate — or "hydrate" — it for crop production, as is being
done by individuals, corporations, and other organizations,
with, on the other hand, the efforts made later in the season
to dehydrate the crops thus produced. For example, the
city of Denver has not only provided water for various pur-
poses, including gardens, but plans to dehydrate the crops
or dry them so that they can be shipped or preserved indefi-
nitely. Here are brought together the hydration or bringing
in of water to obtain foods and the taking away of the excess
water stored in the mature fruits.
In this connection note should be made that for every pound
of dry matter produced probably five hundred pounds of water
has been transpired by the plant, and that the resulting fruit
consists of 80 to 90 per cent of water or from four to nine
times the weight of the dehydrated substance.
1 Prescott, S. C, and Sweet, L. D., "Commercial Dehydration: A Factor
in the solution of the International Food Problem." Annals of the American
Academy of Political and Social Science, Philadelphia, May, 1919.
CHAPTER V
RUN-IN
Quantity Absorbed. As soon as the rain strikes the ground
or the snow melts, a portion of the water, as before stated,
evaporates; it "flies off" or returns to the atmosphere, while
the remainder starts to flow away on the surface. Of this
latter, some "runs in'' or sinks into the soil, continuing to enter
until the dry surface is completely saturated. The moisture
travels downwards at first quite rapidly and then more and
more slowly as it reaches deeper and more compact materials.
In the arid areas of the country, the underlying rocks at a
depth of from ten to a hundred feet or more below the surface
are practically dry, although at rare intervals a heavy storm
or cloudburst may cause water to penetrate to a considerable
depth. In the humid parts of the country, especially in the
vicinity of rivers, lakes, or swamps, the underground layers
are always full of water and only the surface dries out. If a
deep hole is dug through the overlying dry soil, it will finally
penetrate to more and more moist rocks and then reach a point
where water begins to accumulate and finally stands at a cer-
tain elevation known as the "water table." After heavy rains
which soak the overlying soil, the water table slowly rises, while
during times of protracted drought it gradually sinks. In arid
regions a well may be drilled to a depth of a thousand feet
without reaching water, but in the more humid regions the soil
normally is saturated below a depth of only a few feet.
Where a natural or artificial depression like a well or drain
is sufficiently deep to meet the water plane, the moisture appears
on the side and collects in the form of a spring or seep. The
volume of water flowing from such a spring is determined by
the depth of the hole or excavation below the plane of saturation
of the surrounding country and by the ease with which the
RUN-IN 77
water can move through the rocks and soils to an outlet. Most
natural springs are small, but there are notable examples of
streams of considerable size bursting from ravines cut in the
hill slopes by the erosive action of the storms.
The absorption into the soil of the water from rain or snow,
its passage downward under the influence of gravity, and its
storage in the ground are of great interest in connection with
water conservation, partly because of the difficulty of ascer-
taining all of the facts. There has been more or less mystery
connected with the occurrence of water underground and a
tendency to a belief in the marvelous. The public has been
imposed upon by the pretensions of so-called "water witches,"
who claim to enjoy supernatural ability to locate wells. As a
matter of fact, however, these mj'steries gradually disappear
as the true conditions are made known concerning the behavior
of water in the pervious rocks or soils.^ The fundamental fact
to be remembered is, that all of the water originally comes from
the rainfall or snowfall upon some higher area, near or remote,
and that it travels under the influence of gravity, always moving
to the lowest level that can be reached. If the underlying rocks
are gently inclined and are composed of alternating layers of
different permeability, the water will gradually find its way
downward and laterally along the planes of least resistance,
escaping as a spring or series of springs in a deep ravine or in
the bank of a river. If in the course of its travels the water
becomes trapped under a higher impervious layer of rock, it may
gradually acquire a head or hydrostatic pressure tending to
lift the rock cover. A hole or well, drilled through this imper-
vious cover, releases some of the water thus held under pressure
and permits it to rise, possibly overflowing the surface, forming
what is called an artesian well, see page 82, the name being
derived from Artois, an ancient province of France where such
wells were first drilled. If the casing or tubing of an artesian
well is continued vertically above the ground surface, the water
will rise to a point nearly level with that of the place of origin,
even though this may be a hundred miles or more away. A view
1 EUis, Arthur J., "The Divining Rod, A History of Water Witching,"
U. S. G. S., Water Supply Paper No. 416, 1917.
78 WATER RESOURCES
of one of these artesian wells is shown in PL XVII. D, this being
taken in the vicinity of Roswell, N. M., where large areas of
desert land are watered by means of bore holes of this character
penetrating to a water-bearing sandstone.
Undeeflow. In the aggregate there is a vast amount of
water stored underground in the pervious sands and gravels and
also in consolidated rocks. This water is usually moving slowly
to points where it is escaping, the rate of movement being deter-
mined by the hydraulic head, which overcomes the resistance to
flow through the interstices between the particles of rock.
Under the greater part of the plains of western Kansas and
Nebraska, this so-called "Underflow*' has been noted. This
water, passing in a broad sheet beneath the surface in a south-
easterly direction, comes mainly from the rain which has fallen
upon the porous soils of the high plains. It is on its way to
the lower levels, where it escapes to form numerous small
streams, tributary to the Arkansas, Canadian, and neighboring
rivers.
The occurrence of springs in ravines on the plains and the
remarkably large quantity of water which can be obtained from
underground by widely separated wells has given rise to exag-
gerated conceptions of the vast quantity of the underflow. It
has been described as a great river conveying water from the
Rocky Mountains to the plains. As a matter of fact, however,
the flow is an extremely slow percolation at the rate of a foot
or so a day. The amount available at any one point is neces-
sarily small because of this slow rate of delivery. Though
limited in quantity, the water is of vital importance to the
farmer and stock raiser on the plains. PL IV. A shows one of
many thousands of earthen tanks. This is supplied with water
by means of a windmill, such as are common on the Great Plains,
which pumps from the underflow or gravel reservoir beneath
the surface, lifting the water into the small pond on the surface
from which it can be quickly drawn to irrigate the adjacent
garden or orchard.
An illustration of the amount of water which is being pumped
from underground is given in PL XIII. A, this showing the
output of pumps near Garden City, Kan. The water is being
RUN-IN 79
lifted from the coarse gravel beds which underlie the valley
and, on being brought to the surface, is distributed to the fields
planted for the most part in alfalfa or in sugar beets. The rate
of flow has been measured at various localities, notably by
Charles S. Slichter/ He has found the ordinary rate in the
Great Plains to be about three feet a day or a mile in five years.
At Garden City, Kan., where the fall of the surface of the
ground is about seven feet per mile, he has measured a rate of
movement of 2.5 feet per day with a maximum of 12 feet a day
or less than a mile a year.
Although the rate of flow is usually not much more than a
few feet a day as just noted, yet there have lately been dis-
covered conditions in which the velocity of underground water
is relatively high. Professor Slichter has measured recently
in Arizona and California velocities of from 400 feet to 800
feet per 24 hours, not in especially coarse material, but in steep
gradients. During 1914 he studied velocities in gravels de-
posited in exceedingly rapidly moving waters. These gravels
are so systematically arranged with their longest axes of indi-
vidual particles crosswise to the current, that the conductivity
downstream is much less than the conductivity crosswise, so
that the underground waters tend to dodge back and forth
crosswise of the axis of the valley. Some years previously he
pointed out that the conductivity of a stream-deposited gravel
was different in three different directions, which he called the
"axial" directions. From the results of similar work in 1885,
F. H. Newell called attention to the fact that the conductivity
perpendicular to the bedding was in many cases much less than
the conductivity parallel to the bedding. The investigation of
the three axial components in gravels deposited in rapidly
1 For a discussion of the conditions and rates of underground move-
ments, see the following:
King, F. H., "Principles and conditions of the movements of ground
waters," 19th Report, U. S. G. S., Part 2, 1898.
Slichter, C. S., "Investigations of movements of ground waters," 19th
Report, U. S. G. S., Part 2, 1898.
Slichter, C. S., "Motions of underground waters," U. S. G. S., Water
Supply Paper No. 67, 1902.
Slichter, C. S., "Field measurements of rate of movement of underground
water," U. S. G. S., Water Supply Paper No. 140, 1905.
80 WATER RESOURCES
moving waters is being carried on by Professor Slichter in his
laboratory at Madison, Wis.
The occurrence and movement of waters which have "run in"
from the surface and which may be utilized in the further devel-
opment of the country have been the subject of prolonged study
by the United States Geological Survey ; in the following pages,
Mr. N. H. Darton of that bureau, who has devoted his life
largely to these matters, gives a review of the present conditions
of knowledge of these phenomena — and points out incidentally
the need of continued research.
Passage of Water Underground. The chief factors which
control or influence the absorption of waters underground are
the texture of surface material and of the rocks below and in
some measure the configuration of the land and conditions of
rainfall or snow melting. Absorption of water is due to the
fact that most rocks are somewhat porous; notably sand and
gravel can store from 5 to 15 per cent of their bulk of water.
Sandstones have considerable space between their grains, but
their porosity varies greatly with the size and shape of particles
and with the amount of cementing material filling the inter-
spaces; in the case of quartzite and some highly calcareous
sandstones, the pores are entirely filled. Limestones are only
slightly porous but they are always traversed by joints and
toward the surface contain channels and caverns. Clay, shale,
and slate have but very slight porosity; however, these very
compact rocks are more or less broken and traversed bj'
zones of decomposition into which surface waters descend for
a greater or less distance. In many regions, also, the crystal-
line rocks are deeply decomposed by the solution of some of
their component minerals and the resulting "rotten rock" may
be as porous as sandstone. Many lavas are full of openings and
in most districts they are underlain by coarse fragmental
deposits.
Water passes into the ground in various ways, such as by
direct inhibition of rainfall, the sinking of surface streams in
passing over zones of porous rock, the spreading of streams
laterally into the sandy deposits of their valleys, and the per-
colation of water laterally from the ocean or lakes. In all
RUN-IX 81
regions it is found that the total surface run-off and evaporation
are less than the volume of rainfall, thus affording evidence of
general loss of water in the ground. Many streams are ob-
served to diminish in volume or even to disappear entirely in
running over areas of porous sandstone, cavernous limestone
or permeable portions of their beds. In the arid regions water
flows out of the mountains on rocky beds and then gradually
disappears as the valley widens. Many of the great desert flats
are underlain by water-bearing sands, the water being derived
largely from seepages from the adjoining highlands and from
transient rainfall, vet not in sufficient volume to come to the
surface.
Typical Underground Water Conditions. It will appear
from the above statements that there is considerable varietv
in the conditions of occurrence and volume of water under-
ground. In many regions it is in broad sheets flowing slowly
through permeable rocks, while in other places it is in caverns
in limestone, crevices in the harder rocks, or deposits of gravel
and sand. Some of it emerges again as springs in hillsides,
vallev bottoms and even out under the ocean — ^as off the east
coast of Florida. In some districts, such as the enclosed desert
basins, the water is in the form of an underground lake and
without movement. The volume depends upon the conditions
of occurrence, the water often fllling or partly filling strata
of considerable thickness, extending down fissures several hun-
dred feet deep, or saturating bodies of decomposed crystalline
rock.
Waters which extend widely underground are mostly con-
tained in sandstones and some of these water bearers are of
vast extent and descend to great depth. Two conditions which
are typical of waters of this class are shown in Fig. 1. In
the upper section a bed of sandstone receives water from rain-
fall or sinking of streams in the highlands at A. The water pass-
ing underground into an artesian basin has sufficient head to
yield flowing wells on lower land as at B. In the second section
the conditions are somewhat similar but the water escapes in
springs at D, so there is a gradual diminution in pressure or
head from C to D known as "hydraulic grade."
WATER RESOURCES
Figure 1.
Sections illustrating conditions which control formation of flowing wcUs
or of springs.
One of the best illustrations of long-distance travel of under-
ground water is in the central Great Plains, especially in South
Dakota, where the conditions are similar to those shown in the
lower section in Fig. 1. The water passes into the Dakota
and associated sandstones in their elevated outcrop zone along
the foot of the Black Hills and Rocky Mountains. It is carried
in these sandstones under a thick cover of relatively imperme-
able shale or clay and escapes slowly in springs in an eastern
outcrop area 4,000 feet lower. In the intervening 200 miles
the water is tapped by many artesian wells which yield large
flows and have pressures up to 200 pounds per square inch —
the latter unquestionably indicating the connection with the
highland source to the west. In valleys there is in general a
flow from the sides to the center along the lines of greatest
declivity and also more or less movement down the center of
the valley. In the vicinity of Deming, N. M., the underflow of
the IMimbres River passes under the desert flat along an old
course deserted some time ago.
In the ease of granites and other crystalline rocks the under-
ground water problem presents peculiar conditions which are
diflicult to study. Ordinarily such rocks are not underlaid by
a porous stratum and are too compact to carry any water
supply. Others, however, are broken by joint planes and occa-
sionally deeply disintegrated so that more or less water is
RUN-IN 88 I
stored in their upper portions. Some of the crevices extend for
long distances and in certain localities pass under clays or
other confining deposits in lower lands so that "head" is estab-
lished and they may yield an artesian flow. The occurrence of
water in crystalline rocks is generally difficult for the geologist
to predict, but in some places the rock structure is so evident
that it may guide to a successful forecast.
Quantity of Watee. The volume of water obtainable from
underground sources is exceedingly variable in different regions,
and in some places within short distances. In the larger arte-
sian basins where the water is contained in thick beds of sand-
stone the volume is not only large but in general uniform under
wide areas. In the basin in eastern South Dakota, for example,
there are many wells that yield from 800 to 500 gallons a
minute (0.8 to 1.8 second- feet) and a few large wells flow from
2,000 to 4,000 gallons a minute (4.4 to 9 second-feet). The
area in which this condition prevails occupies many square
miles, and in the aggregate there is a large volume of water
flowing from these wells. The water has been used for irriga-
tion, but its greatest value has been for municipal and domestic
supply. In the Roswell district in the Pecos Valley, N. M., the
larger wells yield from 500 to 700 gallons a minute (1.8 to
nearly 2 second- feet), and a few of them have yielded more
than 1,500 gallons (nearly 4 second-feet), but apparently the
volume and pressure have diminished considerably in the past
few years.
Quality of Water. Underground waters vary as much in
quality as in quantity and in some cases in as short distances^
but in general they are of a high degree of purity and when
protected from surface contamination, they are free from dis-
ease germs and therefore highly advantageous. Some of them
are mineralized from contact with rocks and minerals, ordi-
narily more so than are surface waters. This is because of the
vastly longer time of contact, for time is an important factor
in mineral solution; pressure and high temperature also act in
some cases. Accordingly waters which come from salt-bearing
deposits are saline, those from the gypsiferous strata contain
much calcium sulphate, those from limestones are "hard" or
84 WATER RESOURCES
more or less saturated with calcium carbonate, while iron,
ma^esium, and many other mineral constituents occur in
various proportions.
Sandstones, sand, and gravel are the materials most favor-
able for the storage of underground waters and as these mostly
contain but little soluble mineral, the waters derived from them
are of notable purity. An excellent instance of this is the group
of wells 100 to 800 feet deep in eastern South Carolina, some
of which yield water in which the total solid matter ranges
from only 20 to 63 parts per million. In the West the propor-
tions are generally higher; a notably pure water at Deming,
N. M., from wells 85 to 240 feet deep, contains only from 224
to 240 parts per million of solid matter (13 to 14 grains to the
gallon) .
In places where there are flows at various depths, the quali-
ties generally differ; for instance, in South Dakota the lower
flows which are sought because they are larger in volume and
contain much more mineral than the upper flows. In sinking the
deep boring at Edgemont, S. D., considerable water found in
the red beds was high in mineral content but the main flow from
the lower sandstone was found to be of satisfactory quality
after the higher flows had been cased off.
Search for Underground Water. In the extension of
settlement, especially in the western United States, water supply
for domestic and stock use is an all-important consideration.
In some districts the pioneers have found that a satisfactory
supply is obtainable, but there are many places where settlers
have established themselves and then been disappointed in
securing sufficient water. For wide areas few data are avail-
able or the preliminary test wells have been unsatisfactory.
In most of these localities the determination of prospects for
underground water is a subject requiring geological investi-
gation, for the problem of water supply is one which necessi-
tates study by a geologist, especially if it concerns the pros-
pects for artesian flow, also questions of permanence and of
similar features. As the water is contained in sand, sandstones
and various other rocks which are included in the succession
of strata constituting the earth's crust, the relations of water-
RUN-IN 85
bearing beds are similar to those of coal beds and other forma-
tions. In many areas the water-bearing stratum is carried to
great depths by downward dips of monoclines or basins and
it may be overlaid by strata presenting considerable strati-
graphic complexity. Locally it may be cut oflf by faults and
igneous masses or affected by metamorphism and other varia-
tions in texture, especially in changes in fineness and coarseness
of the sediments.
The study of such problems often requires the determination
of geologic conditions and structure in adjoining areas because
the evidence may be widely scattered and much of it far distant
from the place where the water is desired. Considerable infor-
mation is also required as to the topographic conditions or at
least as to the altitude of the land where the question of head and
delimitation of flow area have to be considered. The collection
of data of wells already in existence is an important branch of
this research because facts as to position and character of
water-bearing strata, height of water in wells, or pressure if
wells are flowing, and quality of water, throw much light on
prospects in adjoining areas.
The determination of depths to artesian waters contained in
stratified rocks sometimes can be made readily, but in many
districts prediction must be based on careful examination of the
local geologic conditions. The principal basis is knowledge of
the thickness of the strata, and while for some regions such
facts are already available, in others it is necessary to trace the
strata to their surface outcrops, which are often miles from the
locality in question. The structure, or dips and possible faults
of the strata in the intervening country, also has to be carefully
considered. The records of borings in the neighborhood may
throw important light on underground relations, although in
most cases the records of drillings or "logs" are so poorl^'^ kept
that they are misleading; great care must be used in identifying
the strata penetrated. Samples of the borings are much more
valuable, especially if they have been carefully collected and
labeled. An illustration of conditions controlling certain arte-
sian conditions in a region such as the Central Great Plains is
shown in the following section :
86 WATER RESOURCES
Figure 2.
Profile showing factors indicating depth to water-bearing stratum at a
given locality.
Suppose that a boring is desired at A. The geologist, from
an examination of the country from A to B, which may be a
distance of many miles, concludes that the only promising
water-bearing formation is the stratum outcropping at C. By
carefully measuring the dips of the many strata outcropping
from C to A, especially if aided by a distinct bed as at D, he
can construct a cross section such as the one given in the figure.
On this section, for example, he can base a prediction that at A
the top of the water-bearing bed may be expected at a depth of
700 feet, providing the strata do not thicken or thin materially
in the distance. An interesting illustration of such a prediction
is at Edegmont, S. D., where N. H. Darton estimated that
the water-bearing sandstone would be found at a depth of
about 8,000 feet. In verification of this prediction, the Chi-
cago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad well struck it at 2,965
feet, and obtained a large flow.
The determination of prospects for artesian flows may require
extensive investigation not only of geologic conditions but of
topography also unless data are already available along these
lines. The consideration of head and its grade is an important
factor in ascertaining the areas in which artesian flow is to be
expected. In many regions of ridges and valleys flows are
obtainable in the low lands, but the water must be pumped to
the surface of the higher lands. If the head were level there
would be no difficulty in predicting the altitude at which flowing
water is obtainable, but when there is a slope or "hydraulic
grade" due to leakage, as shown m Figs. 3 and 4, careful c
gideration must be given to the configuration of the land.
Figure 8.
Apparatus iUustratinjc loss of head or hydraulic jcrade due to leakage.
The outflow at C causes the water to fall In outlets E, E, E, below the
level of A. The dotted line D-D Indicates the hydraulic ftrade. If C is
closed, this line D-D will tend to become more nearly horizontal from A.
Profile indicating conditions of suco
r failure of artesian veils.
The sandstone resting on granite, as indicated in ahove figure, receives
water at X; some of this ultimately escapes in springs in the valley hottcmi.
A well drilled at a, lieing helow the hydraulic grade, — which Is indicated by
the dotted line.— will flow, while one at h will not.
The conditions in central South Dakota furnish an excellent
illustration of an investigation of prospects for flows in parts of
a broad artesian basin. As explained above, the water enters
the sandstone in its outcrop zone in the Black Hills and finally
leaks out in springs where this sandstone comes to or near the
surface 200 miles east, in lands about 4,000 feet lower. The
water is held down in the intervening district by a thick body
of shale which is nearly impermeable; where the water-bearing
bed is reached by deep wells high pressures are found. If it
88 WATER RESOURCES
were not for the outflow to the east and possibly some slight
general leakage, the pressure would be greater and the flow area
larger, because the initial head is equal to an altitude of 4,000
feet or more. As it is, a "hydraulic grade" is sustained by the
great friction of the water in its slow flow through the small
interstices of the sandstone. Owing to this grade the head falls
below the altitude of the land in many parts of the district
and accordingly the flow area is considerably restricted.
Some of the negative features of underground water pre-
diction are of great importance. In many localities it is evident
from the geologic conditions that no water supply, or at least
no artesian flow, can be obtained; in such places it is possible
to avoid the great waste of expense of deep boring which cannot
succeed. This condition is occasionally evident from the surface
geologic facts or may be inferred from the samples of borings
after certain beds have been penetrated. There are frequent
instances of deep borings made in compact granites or other
crystalline rocks which a geologist of experience knows cannot
contain water, or in shales which are so thick that underlying
strata cannot be reached by the means available. It is prob-
able that in the aggregate the w^arnings against hopeless borings
have been even more valuable than the predictions that water
would be found. These warnings have saved the waste of large
amounts of money, but sometimes they will not deter the driller
who has some theory of his own which he believes is of greater
value than the scientific deductions of the geologist. On the
other hand also, boring has been discontinued in many places
where the geologist knows that at greater depth there is almost
a certainty of obtaining flowing water or a supply that can be
pumped.
Conservation of Underground Waters. As the reservoirs
of artesian and other underground waters are not of unlimited
capacity, depletion is sure to follow excessive draft and long-
continued waste. The general head of the artesian water inevi-
tably decreases when the outflow is in excess of the intake;
locally the head is sensitive to the drain of many flowing wells
near together because the underground movement of water is so
slow. Time is an important factor in sustaining the outflow
RUN-IN 89
when there are many outlets in a restricted area. Generally a
flowing well is more valuable to the user than one from which
the water has to be pumped, so that when flow ceases and pump-
ing is necessary the well passes into a different category —
especially as the available volume of water usually diminishes
at the same time.
The effect of vigorous pumping of adjoining wells in dimin-
ishing or stopping flow and in reducing the water level in pump
wells is frequently observed and raises an important question
of equity. There are many localities at which flows were origi-
nally obtainable where now the head has been so diminished that
pumping is necessary. A notable instance is Denver, Colo.,
where twenty years ago the head was sufficient to afford flows
at moderate heights throughout the city while now the water
must be pumped and the volume is much less. This is caused
by the multiplicity of wells from which water is pumped faster
than it comes in at the intake zone.
Another notable example is the Pecos Valley artesian area
about Roswell, N. M., where the amount of water and width
of flow area have been steadily diminishing. Still another is in
southern California, where heavy draft for orchard irrigation
caused many wells to stop flowing accompanied by diminution
of the area of artesian flow. Fortunately this overdraft has
been restricted somewhat and an attempt is now made to keep
the water level uniform. Such restrictions for the perpetuation
of supply are all important, for when the amount of water
available diminishes, irrigation projects are impaired and settle-
ment is retarded. This is especially deplorable where the water
has been permitted to run to waste as in Pecos Valley and other
regions. In South Dakota and some other states, laws have
been passed imposing fines for waste of underground water.
For many years geologists employed by the federal govern-
ment have been investigating underground water prospects, as
well as all other water resources in many parts the United
States, and several of the State Surveys have conducted local
investigations. It is now universally recognized that these prob-
lems of development and use of supplies are mainly geological;
a knowledge of structural relations, rock characters and other
90 WATER RESOURCES
allied features are the main factors for consideration. The
work in the United States Geological Survey was inaugurated
in 1894 and it has since continued without interruption. Many
reports have been published affording a vast number of data in
various portions of the country. However, a great area still
remains to be investigated and many parts of areas already
examined are yet to be tested by deep borings before their
capabilities can be definitely known.
The subsoil water has been studied particularly by the Bureau
of Soils of the Department of Agriculture. One of the most
suggestive results is the bulletin^ prepared by Dr. W J McGee
who conducted inquiries as to the height of the ground water
throughout the United States. His data indicate that there has
been a lowering of subsoil water level of about 8.5 feet per
decade ; in the older states the average lowering since settlement
appears to be not less than 9 feet. This is presumably the
result of the cutting off of the source of supply; the storm
waters rush off in floods instead of passing into the soil. This
waste is in part preventable. The public welfare demands that
efforts be made to continue the acquisition of data and the
enlargement of general knowledge so that steps may be taken
to conserve the ground water and to prevent flood waste which
impoverishes the soil and impairs the value of the larger water-
ways as sources of water supply and for power and navigation.
1 McGee, W J, "Wells and Subsoil Water," U. S. Department of Agri-
culture, Bureau of Soils, Bulletin No. 9^, 1913.
Plate IV. A.
Small earth reservoirs or tanks for storage of water pumped by windmills
from so^alled underflow. Garden City, Kansas.
Plate IV. B.
Jackson Ijike at head of Snake River,
Wyoming.
to
Plate IV. C.
Brush wing dams to prevent erosion of levees, n
Plate IV. D.
Setllroentatlon, adding silt to clear water for the purpose of reducing
seepage from a canal, Minidoka Project, Idaha
•' <
CHAPTER VI
RUN-OFF
The term "run-oflf" has come into common use to designate
the water which flows from the surface of the ground in rills,
uniting to form brooks, creeks, and rivers. It is that part of
the rain- or snowfall which remains after a portion — the "fly-
off'' — has been evaporated and another part — the "run-in" —
has been lost by soaking into the ground.
The question as to the relation between the rainfall and the
run-off is one which has been frequently discussed. Many
efforts have been made to express the run-off as a percentage or
ratio of the rainfall. These have not been successful because
of the fact — as noted on page 66 — that the run-off is not prop-
erly a fixed or definite proportion of the rainfall. On the con-
trary it is the surplus or remainder after absorption and evapo-
ration each has had its share. It thus happens frequently
in the drier regions or at times of drought in humid climates,
that all of the rain which falls in a light shower is evaporated
even before it touches the earth (see page 55), or it may dis-
appear into the soil without giving any visible run-off.
Taking any one locality, however, it is often possible to state
the average run-off and from this draw useful conclusions as
to what may happen in this and similar localities. For example,
in some parts of New England where the measurements of rain-
fall and of run-off have been continued for many years, it has
been found that ordinarily about one-half of the rainfall appears
in the rivers flowing to the ocean. As we go west from New
England, it is found that the run-off decreases more rapidly
than does the average rainfall, so that in the Middle West we
may say that from 20 to 25 per cent of the rainfall appears as
run-off.
92 WATER RESOURCES
When the annual rainfall drops as low as 15 to 20 inches and
arid conditions prevail, the run-off becomes proportionately far
less — down to 5 per cent or less of the precipitation. In the
country west of the Rocky Mountain region is an area known
as the Great Basin from which there is no run-off. The rivers
which rise in the forested slopes of the mountains flow out from
these into the lower valleys where their waters disappear com-
pletely and the streams, never reaching the ocean or large lake,
are described as "lost rivers." In former geological ages these
interior basins are known to have been filled to the point of over-
flow, but within the historic period the level of the lakes or
marshes into which these lost rivers disappear is several hun-
dred feet below the point where the water formerly escaped on
its way to the sea.
The character of the topography necessarily has a direct
influence upon the quantity of run-off, for if the rain falls upon
a flat surface from which it can flow away only after the lapse
of an appreciable time, a much greater portion will sink into
the ground or will be lost by evaporation, as noted on pages 66
and 76, than would be the case if the rain fell upon steep slopes
and was immediately concentrated in rivulets or torrents. Thus
the run-off from hilly or mountainous country must obviously
be more rapid and in greater proportion than the run-off from
the plains or prairies. A classification of lands by topographi-
cal conditions and as regards run-off has been found convenient
because of this fact and also because of the related condition
that the elevated or mountainous region usually receives heavier
and more nearly continuous precipitation than the plains.
One of the earliest attempts to indicate the relation which
exists between topography, rainfall, and run-off is that given
in the fourteenth Annual Report of the United States Geologi-
cal Survey, Part II, in what has since been named the Newell
curve. There is also given a map of the mean annual rainfall
and one of the mean annual run-off, the diagram serving to
connect in a general way the relation which exists between these
two maps.
Any estimate of the probable flow based upon a study of
rainfall data is liable to large errors — therefore most engineers
RUN-OFF 98
have reached the conclusion that it is safer to depend upon
direct measurements of the run-off, if such are available, and to
base their conclusions upon their measurements rather than
upon inferences drawn from the available records of the time
and quantity of the rain. Thus, although the measurements
of precipitation should be continued and extended, it is evi-
dently of equal or greater importance, in considering reclama-
tion projects or systems of water storage, to make as many
direct measurements as possible of the amount of water which
actually occurs in the streams at important points day by day
and year by year. Observations carried on through a series of
years show that the run-off on any stream fluctuates more
widely even than the rainfall.
Systematic research and collection of data on stream flow
was begun by the United States (Jeological Survey in 1888,
primarily for ascertaining the extent to which the arid lands of
the western part of the country might be reclaimed by irriga-
tion.* Later the observations and measurements were gradually
extended throughout the eastern states, furnishing information
needed by engineers and investors in connection with water
power development, drainage and flood protection. Gagings or
measurements of the rate of flow at different heights of water
have been made on many hundred rivers, large and small. From
these data, computations have been made of the average flow
through seasons or years — also of the greatest floods and
droughts. Most of these estimates extend over only a few
years — but for some important localities facts are now avail-
able showing the fluctuations on river discharge for a quarter of
a century.
In looking over the results of stream measurements, the most
striking feature is the great variation in run-off between the
eastern and western rivers, the difference being entirely out of
proportion to the difference in rainfall in the two areas. Com-
paring, for example, the Susquehanna River of Pennsylvania,
1 Newell, F. H., "Result of Stream Measurement," 14th Amiual Report,
U. S. G. S., Part II, pp. 95-155.
Also, "Methods and Results of Stream Measurements by U. S, G. S.,**
Proceedings Engineers' Club, Philadelphia, Vol. XII, July, 1895.
94 WATER RESOURCES
having a drainage of over 24,000 square miles, with the Rio
Grande of New Mexico, with a drainage area of 80,000 square
miles, it is found that the average run-off of the Susquehanna
is 80 times as great although the rainfall on the basin is prob-
ably not more than three times as heavy.
The average flow per square mile drained is usually less for
the larger drainage basins — the outflow from which has been
measured — than from the smaller ; or to put it in another way,
the headwater tributaries discharge more water per square mile
of area from which this water flows than does the main stream
lower down. This loss is due to evaporation, and seepage, or
the discrepancy may arise from the facts that the rainfall is not
as uniformly distributed nor as general over the larger tribu-
tary country as on the smaller possibly more mountainous area.
For the eastern part of the United States, where the rain-
fall in general is from 30 to 40 inches in depth, the yearly run-
off is from 1.2 to 1.8 second- feet per square mile, while in the
less humid country it may drop, as in the case of the Rio Grande
and Colorado rivers of the West, to 0.01 or less second-feet per
square mile. In wet years the average flow may be double that
of the ordinary run-off and in times of drought the flow may
nearly or completely cease. Taking a dry year, the total dis-
charge is usually not less than half the average flow for a
decade.
Especial emphasis should be placed on the fact that the losses
by evaporation which take place, to a large extent, are constant,
regardless of the location, the chief differences depending upon
the length of the growing season. These losses range from
19 to 28 inches; unless the rainfall exceeds this amount there
will be practically no run-off, except floods due to excessive
precipitation. This fact is illustrated by plates 9 and 10 in the
fourth edition of Hoyt and Grover's "River Discharge," help-
ing to explain the wide difference in run-off from eastern and
western areas.
It is important to keep in mind the fact that during the grow-
ing period the losses amount to about SVs inches per month.
The losses during other periods will amount to about 5 inches ;
therefore, in an area where the growing season is six months, a
RUN-OFF 95
loss may be expected of about 25 inches, or with a 50-inch
rainfall, there should be about 25 inches of run-off.
During the days of greatest flood the rivers of the Atlantic
Coast may discharge for several hours at a time at a rate of
from 20 to 50 second-feet for each square mile of drainage
basin. In comparison with these, the western streams in flood
rarely contain more than one-tenth of this quantity.
Floods and Drought. The extremes of river flow are among
the causes of some of the great catastrophes to which humanity
is subjected; great floods destroying lives and property have
occurred in all ages and in all countries. During the present
decade the annual and often preventable losses in the United
States amount to many millions of dollars. The earliest legends
of many nations of antiquity refer to some great flood or deluge
which practically wiped out the majority of the people then
living, only a few persons surviving to perpetuate the race;
the impression made upon the human mind testifies to the over-
whelming damage wrought.
On the other extreme are the droughts which, while less strik-
ing in their immediate catastrophic effect, have had far-reaching
result in forcing the migration of tribes or of nations and in
thus producing great movements of humanity in which wave
after wave of barbarians from the more desert places have been
driven into Europe and have made history. While some floods
or droughts have been the immediate result of an unusually
large or small rainfall, yet many have come from the cumula-
tive effect of small differences of precipitation, their effect being
greatly magnified by the accompanying conditions of heat and
wind movement. Conversely, widespread droughts have accom-
panied a relatively small diminution in rain. A drought has
been defined for purposes of study as a period of time during
which in less than ten days there has fallen 0.10 inch of rain
or less ; or in less than 20 days, 0.20 inch or less ; or in 30 days
not exceeding 0.30 inch of rain.
Insurance against flood on the one hand and against drought
on the other, is among the most important undertakings of
mankind. The necessity of such projects is now being appre-
ciated as never before. Theoretically it should be easy to hold
96 WATER RESOURCES
over the excess of water from one time and place for use in
another. Practically this is extremely difficult and requires
for success the solution of many engineering and social prob-
lems, as will be discussed on later pages. The storage of water
in large quantities is not always practicable ; for safety against
flood damage there must usually be joined some form of protec-
tive work as distinguished from the preventive effects dependent
solely upon holding back the floods in reservoirs. This subject
is discussed on page 272 under the head of river regulation.
During floods most of the work done by rivers is accom-
plished. At that time the erosive effect is greatly increased.
Vast quantities of silt, sand, and gravel are picked up and
deposited at more or less distant points. The rapid increase in
volume of the stream causes correspondingly quick changes in
erosion and deposition or sedimentation. The lower plains
along the river are inundated and their level gradually built up
by the sand or mud dropped by the encroaching water. As
these flood plains are thus made of light and fertile soil, they
are usually first occupied by the pioneers in a new country and
later are thickly built upon by the inhabitants. The occa-
sional flood waters, and especially those of unusual floods
spreading over their old playgrounds, thus become highly de-
structive to the community which has taken possession.
As the result of the great losses of life and property due to
floods on these lowlands, various investigations have been made
to ascertain how best to meet future dangers. The most notable
of these studies and the ones which have led to earlv action,
are those which followed the March, 1913, flood in the Miami
River of Ohio. This river and its tributaries became filled to
overflowing by what may be termed an accidental coincidence
during five days of not very extraordinary rains. The waters
spread out over the river bottoms, which had been gradually
built upon and occupied in large part by towns, factories and
railroads. The loss of life directly and indirectly was over 400
and the destruction of property exceeded $60,000,000. The
larger cities damaged were Dayton, Hamilton, and Piqua. A
study of the situation was at once undertaken and under an act
passed by the Ohio Legislature, the Miami Conservancy Dis-
RUN-OFF 97
trict was organized.^ Work has been begun on six large deten-
tion reservoirs, the capacity of which is sufficient to hold back
a large portion of the flood flow, enough to prevent the waters
from breaking over the protecting works built through the
principal cities.
The city of Columbus, Ohio, also suffered from floods, which
began on March 24, 1913, during which nearly 100 lives were
lost, suffering was brought to 20,000 persons, and property
destroyed valued at over $5,000,000.^ The city authorities,
after having had reports prepared on various schemes of relief,
have concluded that the cost of establishing reservoirs on the
Scioto and Olentangy rivers would be too great and have there-
fore conflned their efforts to the straightening and deepening
of the river channel and to the building of protective works
through the city.
The floods which partly inundated the city of Pittsburgh
during the period from March 15, 1907, to March 20, 1908,
caused losses^ estimated at over $6,000,000. A flood com-
mission was organized in 1908, extensive investigations were at
once begun and carried on by means of an expenditure of up-
wards of $100,000. These have resulted in a remarkably com-
plete report, which goes into methods of flood prevention and
control, also recommends the building of large reservoirs on
the headwaters of Allegheny River. Little has apparently come
out of this report, other than a better comprehension of the
whole subject.
Erosion. During a downpour, the raindrops as they strike
the earth loosen the particles of soil and in a heavy shower even
move pebbles. A very small part of the soil enters into sohi-
tion in the pure rain water, but a larger portion is mechanically
held in suspension by the water as it flows off in muddy rills.
As these rills unite in swiftly moving torrents, they push and
roll along larger particles, carrying them into creeks and rivers.
1 Morgan, Arthur E., "Report of the Chief Engineer of the Miami Con-
servancv' District," 1916.
2 Alvord, John W., and Burdiclc, Chas. B., on "Flood Protection," 1913,
and "Flood ReUef," 1916.
3 Pittsburgh Flood Commission, Report, 1911, pp. 253; appendix, 452.
Illustrated with diagrams, maps, and views.
98 WATER RESOURCES
Thus, following the rainstorm, we have not only an increase in
the volume of flow but a muddied condition of water which testi-
fies to the movement of earth material. As the water in the
stream subsides it tends to become clearer and there are left
along the streams many low beds or bars of sand or silt showing
that the river water, with its diminished volume and lessened
velocity, was not able to carry away all that it had picked up.
Observation reveals the fact that the power of water to erode
and carry away small particles does not vary directly as its
velocity. That is to say, a stream flowing twice as rapidly is
not limited to twice as much material, but on the contrary, when
the velocity is doubled there may be thirty or forty times as
much solid matter held in suspension. Thus a slight change
in the velocity of the flowing water makes a great difference as
regards the load it can handle. While the water on one side of
the stream may be cutting into the overhanging bank, on the
opposite side, where it is moving more slowly, it may be drop-
ping some of the load it picked up a few hundred yards above.
Studies have been made of the behavior of water in this regard.
Perhaps the most elaborate have been those of G. K. Gilbert
on "The Transportation of Debris by Running Water," pub-
lished by the United States Geological Survey in 1914. Mr.
Gilbert built small flumes, some with glass sides, in which he
could observe and measure the erosive action of streams of
water of known velocity. He fed into this water particles of
determined size and noted the behavior of these, feteding each
stream until it became clogged. He found that the load travels
less rapidly than the current and that a mixture of coarse and
fine particles can be more readily transported than those of
single size alone. The tentative conclusions concerning the
laws governing the movement are found to be conflicting but
the old rule that the quantity varies as the sixth power of
velocity was discovered to pertain not to the quantity of mate-
rial but rather to the maximum size of the pebbles.
The prevention of erosion involves many problems of hydrau-
lics and reaches out into various flelds of engineering. Begin-
ning with the uplands of a river basin, as stated on the previous
page, it is of the highest importance to preserve a suitable cover-
RUx\-OFF 99
ing of vegetation on the soils which are easily eroded. Pro-
ceeding down the watercourses, it becomes necessary to protect
the banks from being worn away at points where the velocity
is greatest. For this purpose stone is used wherever possible,
but in many localities it is not practicable to obtain suitable
rock. Here the protection of the banks from erosion is achieved
largely by ingenious methods of placing and holding the brush
or small trees which usually grow in the vicinity. An illustra-
tion of one of the methods of protecting soft banks from erosion
is shown in Plate IV. C, consisting of wing dams of brush built
to extend out from the levees along Colorado River below Yuma,
Ariz.
The use of brush in the form shown in the illustration or
woven into mattresses has been brought to a high degree of
perfection; willows, cottonwoods, and other small trees have
been utilized to a degree such that the material for building
the mattresses has been largely consumed and it is becoming
quite difficult and expensive to secure an adequate supply.
Under these conditions a substitute has been sought in the appli-
cation of concrete. {Engineering NewSy December 7, 1916, p.
1094.) There is need of continued study and research — to be
followed by the use of inventive genius — into the factors which
control the erosion and transportation of earth or rock parti-
cles and into the mechanical devices for economically maintain-
ing the banks of the rivers subject to destructive floods.
Sedimentation. The deposit of sediment which has been
eroded from the land higher up on the stream may be a benefit
or an injury. Primarily, nearly all of the rich lowlands have
been formed in this way. Along the rivers of antiquity, the
Nile and the Euphrates, all agriculture and even civilization
itself came from these river deposits. After a flood subsides the
slime or sand left on the flood plain utilized for farms or other
industries is apt, in a humid country, to be more of a detriment
or nuisance than a benefit. There are conditions, even here,
however, when sedimentation can be turned to useful ends. By
controlling the access of muddy water to low-lying lands it has
been found possible, for example, in England to build up the
100 WATER RESOURCES
level of the land by a process known as "warping" and to pro-
duce fields of great fertility.
Another practical use of the silt carried by rapidly flowing
water is in vogue in the arid region. There where canals and
ditches have been built for many miles through sandy soils,
much of the water, if clear, is lost in transit during the first
few months or seasons after the canal is dug because of the
rapid percolation into the porous bed of the canal. The water
thus disappearing may later reappear in the form of seepage to
the injury of low-lying farm lands. To prevent such seepage,
efforts are made to seal up the bottom of the canals by bringing
in muddy water or by making muddy the natural clear water by
the addition of clay. Such an effort is shown in PL IV. D,
where silt is being added to the clear water of canals taken from
Snake River. This is being conducted through many miles of
canals built in the sandy Minidoka Project in southern Idaho.
The losses from these canals have been a serious matter in that
the water is not only needed elsewhere but, escaping from the
canals, has ruined many otherwise good agricultural lands.
As shown in the view, the muddy water is being brought in a
flume from which it spills into the clear water of the canal and
is swept along downstream. The particles slowly settle to the
bottom of the canal, forming a thin coating of slime, and grad-
ually work their way between the sand particles, plugging up
the pores and reducing the water loss. (See also page 218.)
The success attained here should stimulate additional research
into the law governing such phenomena.
Debris Problems. In certain portions of the country there
are special problems closely connected with erosion and sedi-
mentation following flood conditions. In particular, in Califor-
nia, the debris which has resulted from hydraulic mining has
introduced situations peculiarly difficult. Here man in his
efforts to secure gold has disturbed the otherwise stable condi-
tions and has initiated changes which have led to widespread
injury. The ancient sands and gravels in the upper mountain
valleys which have remained in place for ages have been moved
by the hydraulic "giants" of the miners and left in such posi-
tion that the occasional floods are able to sweep them down over
RUN-OFF 101
the lowlands, choking up the streams and encroaching upon
thousands of acres of land formerly valuable for agriculture.
Here is thus presented an important series of questions inti-
mately connected with the development of the waters and other
mineral resources of the country. The research conducted by
Dr. G. K. Gilbert, noted on page 98, was undertaken largely
with a view to aiding in the solution of some of these engineering
problems, where the economical conduct of one operation — that
of mining — has resulted in great losses to agriculture. By
obtaining more complete knowledge it is possible that a satis-
factory adjustment may be worked out.
Varying Quantities. The measurement of the amount of
water which flows in the principal streams and the resulting
data form the foundation upon which are based most of the
plans and estimates for investment of public or private funds
in projects for irrigation, drainage, hydraulic power and river
control. The quantity available for use for storage fluctuates
greatly from day to day and from season to season. The engi-
neer in preparing his plans must act the part of a prophet ; he
must anticipate conditions which will exist not merely tomorrow
but next year and for many years. The question is as to how
he can safely make these long-range predictions.
The permanence of natural phenomena is the foundation on
which the engineer builds. He assumes not only that the sea-
sons will follow in order as they have always done, but that the
supplies of water will fluctuate about as they have in the past
and within about the same limits. This being the case, the
obvious thing to be done is to ascertain, if practicable, what has
happened in the past, what is taking place now, and especially
what are the limits of quantity of flow of the streams at different
times and places. The more complete is this knowledge of past
and present stream behavior, the stronger may be our reliance
upon the anticipation for the future.
It has been shown on previous pages that the amount of water
running off the land is the resultant of many forces each acting
more or less independently. We can imagine an extraordinarily
heavy rain culminating in a series of great storms, in which all
of the natural conditions for producing a flood are at their
102 WATER RESOURCES
maximum. Such conditions may appear once in twenty years
or once in a century, but the probabilities of their occurring in
any one year are small. On the other hand, we can take the
mimimum condition of rainfall with maximum wind movement
and temperature occurring in such a way as to produce extraor-
dinary droughts. The probabilities also of these occurring in
any one season are small. If we have records for a century or
even for several centuries and find that neither of the theoreti-
cal extremes has been reached, we are reasonably safe in limit-
ing our computations to what has actually occurred. More
than this, it has become apparent through studies of the few
available long records that the extremes of flood and drought
are usually to be found in a period of less than fifty years.
When still shorter periods are taken, however, there can be
less and less confidence in using these as giving the limiting
conditions in our estimates for the future.
Data Available. It is obviously not practicable to wait for
half a century or even for a decade to obtain data on river flow
in order to prepare computations for projects of hydraulic
power or for works for conservation of water by storage. If
these are to be built for municipal supply, for irrigation, or for
industrial development, it is usually necessary that work be
begun within a few months from the time it is actually deter-
mined upon. The moment it becomes evident that such enter-
prise is practicable, steps should be taken to make measurements
of the flow of the streams which are to be utilized, ascertaining
first what observations may have already been made, prepara-
tory to supplementing these.
Fortunately certain governmental agencies, national and
state, directed by men of wide vision, have anticipated some of
these future needs and have entered upon research designed to
meet the demands which are likely to be made as the resources
of the country are developed. The most notable of these under-
takings has been that of the United States Geological Survey,
initiated under Major John W. Powell, which began in 1888 to
ascertain the extent to which the arid regions might be reclaimed.
In this work has been included the preparation of topographic
maps of the catchment basins of the streams and also of prob-
RUN-OFF 108
able reservoir sites, as well as of measurements of the streams.
This latter research into water supply was extended to the
eastern states to furnish data needed in considering possible
water power development, river control, drainage and other
needs. Cooperation in these investigations has been had with
other bureaus of the government and with some of the states, so
that there are now available data concerning many of the impor-
tant streams. The facts at hand, however, are by no means
adequate to answer all of the questions which occur to the engi-
neer, investor, or man interested in public affairs. There is
need of extending these studies and of taking up even more
thorough research in connection with special problems.
When the systematic work of stream measurement was initi-
ated in 1888 there were few instruments for river measurement
and no general understanding as to the kind of facts to be col-
lected or the way in which these should be preserved and pre-
sented. In the thirty years which have elapsed there have been
developed certain more or less arbitrary ways of procedure,
these having been modified from time to time to meet the needs
of the engineers.^
It is generally agreed that the data most readily obtained and
which have greatest value are those as to the amount of water
which passes a certain selected point near which the water is to
be used or stored. The choice of point of measurement is gov-
erned not only by the use to which the facts are to be put, but
also by the surrounding conditions which affect the accuracy of
the result. Often it happens that because of obstruction in the
stream, measurements cannot be made at the desired point and
can be satisfactorily had only at locations some distance above
or below.
Computations of the flow of a stream and of its diurnal or
seasonal fluctuations are usually based on systematic observa-
tions of the height of the water. It is generally assumed that
with increase of quantity the river surface will rise and with
decrease it will fall. The principal exceptions to this rule are
those which arise from the gradual filling up or the erosion of
1 Hoyt, J. C, and Grover, N. C, "River Discharge," several editions,
illustrated.
104 WATER RESOURCES
the bed of the stream or by temporary obstructions such as
ice jams. Also it is assumed that as the river rises it will flow
more rapidly and as it goes down the speed will decrease. The
quantity or rate of flow is determined by ascertaining the verti-
cal area or cross section of the stream taken at right angles
to its line of flow and by multiplying this area by the speed with
which the water passes. If the ordinary British units are used,
the results of the flow will be stated in cubic feet per second. A
stream having a width of 100 feet and an average depth of 5
feet will have a cross section of 500 square feet. If the water
passes this cross section at the rate of 2 linear feet per second
of time then the stream will be flowing at the rate of 1,000
cubic feet per second, abbreviated to second-feet or even to
cusecs.
The cross section of the stream can be obtained by direct
measurement of its width by a suitable steel tape or chain and
of its depth by sounding with a pole or other device. The ascer-
taining of the velocity of flow, however, is not such a simple mat-
ter because of the fact that the water is not moving with the
same velocity in the center and at the sides, or at the top and
bottom. It is moving most swiftly near the center a little below
the surface and is nearly motionless near the sides or may even
have a return eddy on the margin. To make measurements of
discharge, it is evident that a suitable cross section should be
chosen where the water, undisturbed by obstacles, is moving as
quietly and in as nearly a straight course as possible. Such
places are difficult to find and usually choice must be made of
the locality offering the fewest objectionable features. The
river channel usually offers an alternation of broad shallow
places where water is rippling over the stones, which below this
may be a deep pool with more or less dead water at the bottom.
Units of Watee Measurement. In discussing the quantity
of water which occurs in the streams or which may be held by
storage and measured out for various purposes, different units
are employed. The metric system is in quite general use, but
unfortunately in English-speaking countries adherence is still
had to the old system of measurements — the gallon^ being habit-
1 There are two gallons in common use, the standard United States
RUN-OFF 105
ually employed, for example, in domestic and municipal supply,
and the cubic foot for other purposes. Considering still larger
volumes of water, particularly in connection with the irrigation
of agricultural lands, the acre-foot is employed, that is, the
quantity of water which will cover one acre, or 43,560 square
feet, to a depth of one foot.
A stream discharging one cubic foot of water per second will
in the course of a day of 24 hours (60 x 60 x 24) discharge
86,400 cubic feet or very nearly 2 acre- feet (1.98). Thus there
is a convenient connection in that a stream of this size flowing
continuously delivers very nearly 2 acre-feet per day. The
cubic contents of a reservoir, if stated in acre-feet, can be
readily converted to a rate of flow, that is to say, a reservoir
containing, say, 10,000 acre-feet, if drawn down at a steady
rate through 100 days, would yield a flow of nearly 50 cubic
feet per second ; conversely, a stream which is flowing at a rate
of 100 cubic feet per second through a month of thirty days
will deliver 6,000 acre-feet.
In stating the quantity of the flowing water, the cubic foot
per second has largely superseded the gallon. In estimates of
storage capacity reservoirs, or use in city supply, the gallon
still survives, though when the figures run into the millions, the
term "million-gallon" has been used. In the western part of
the United States, where the hydraulic miners made measure-
ments of flow of water adapted to their needs, the so-called
"miner's inch" was devised, this term being perpetuated by the
irrigators, who frequently obtained water from the old hydrau-
lic workings. The miner's inch is supposed to be the continu-
ous flow of water issuing from an orifice of one square inch
section. This quantity, however, varies widely according to
the character or thickness of the plank or plate in which the
opening is made and according to the height of water above the
gallon contains 331 cubic inches, or 8^4 pounds avoirdupois, of distilled
water. This is almost exactly equivalent to a cylinder 7 inches in diameter
and 6 inches in height. It equals 3.78 liters. The British imperial gallon,
referred to in English publications, contains 10 pounds of distilled water, or
277 cubic inches, or 4.54 liters, and is almost exactly 1.3 United States
gallons. The cubic foot contains 7.48 United States gallons. A cubic foot
of pure water weighs 64.2 pounds and contains 28.3 liters.
106 WATER RESOURCES
opening. Thus the miner's inch, while convenient under cer-
tain conditions, is an uncertain quantity; it has been defined
in some of the western states as a fiftieth part of a cubic foot
per second, in other states as a fortieth part/
Station Equipment. As soon as a location for river meas-
urement has been selected and a temporary or permanent gage
has been established, the next step to be taken toward making
systematic measurements is to properly equip the locality for
convenience in handling the apparatus which may be used.
There are various methods of making the measurements and
upon the selection of one or another of the methods depend the
character of the equipment and the accuracy of the result. As
a rule, however, the current meter is generally employed, al-
though occasionally surface or submerged floats are used. In
handling the current meter the operations may be performed
by wading into the stream, if small, or by holding it from a boat
or bridge. Boats, however, are often dangerous in high water
und bridges not always conveniently located, so that recourse is
had to a cable suspended across the stream, from which can
be hung a small box or car in which the hydrographer can sit.
The height of the water is ascertained by reading some form
of gage of which there are many kinds ; the most common being
a vertical post marked to feet and tenths or a scale attached
to a bridge pier. Where the shores are sloping, it has been
found most convenient to have an inclined gage following the
slope of the bank. Other schemes are also in use ; in some cases
a weight is lowered from a bridge until it touches the surface of
the water and the distance is read downward from some fixed
point. Occasionally a well or pit is dug near the river and con-
nected with it by a horizontal pipe below low water level so that
the water will rise and fall in the well with that in the river.
There are various types of automatically recording gages,
many of these dependent upon the movement of a float in such
a well connected with the river. As the float rises or falls it
causes a pencil or pen to move across a sheet or dial driven by a
clock so that the time and amount of movement can be readily
1 Hoyt, John C, and Grover, N. C, "River Discharge," John Wiley &
Sons, New York, various editions, illustrated.
Plate V. A.
MeasuriDg flow of water in Ironstone Canal, near MontrOGc, Colorado.
Plate V. B.
Weir for measuring water in one of the canals of the Wllllston Project,
North Dakota.
Plate V. C.
A plains reservoir site, that uttltied for the Cold Springs Reservoir of
the Umatilla Project, Oregon.
Plate V. D.
A reservoir built on the plains or open valley lands, tiecanse of lack of
adequate natural storage sites in the luountains. Deer Flat Reservoir,
Boise Project, Idaho.
RUN-OFF 107
seen. On many streams there is a distinct diurnal fluctuation in
the quantity, noted by the self-recording gage, but often over-
looked by the ordinary observer.
There are usually few people residing near the point where
it is desired to make measurements of river flow for purposes
of water storage, as these places are mainly in or near high
mountains. It is thus frequently a matter of considerable diffi-
culty to secure systematic and reliable readings at reasonable
cost. Many of the observers become careless and some have
been known to write up the book at the end of the week. To
guard against this it is desirable to have an inspector visit the
locality at irregular intervals. Frequently it becomes necessary
to abandon a point because of the unreliability of gage readers,
or where it is too expensive to install automatic devices.
Discharge Measurements. The most simple method of
ascertaining the rate of flow of a stream is by observing the
speed with which some floating object passes downstream. For
example, a course along the side of the stream may be laid off
with a length of 100 feet. The time of passage of a floating
log may be taken from the upper to the lower end of measured
course. Smaller pieces of wood or metallic floats may be used
for this purpose, being placed at different distances across the
stream so as to obtain the velocity near the sides as well as
near the center. Inasmuch as the surface has greater velocity
than the lower portion of the water, the average speed can be
better determined by causing the floats to ride upright in the
water by loading one end until it sinks nearly to the bottom.
These vertical floats, if well placed, give nearly the average
speed of the stream.
To obtain more accurate facts as to the velocity at all points,
it is desirable to have an instrument which can be placed in
any part of the current. Such a device is shown in PI. V. A,
this being one of the current meters in use by the Water Re-
source Branch of the United States Geological Survey and also
by the United States Reclamation Service. This consists of a
revolving head or wheel held in such a way as to turn in the
moving water. The greater the speed of water the more rapid
the revolutions of the wheel.
108 WATER RESOURCES
The current meter can be used in a number of ways. For
example, it can be held at points systematically located across
the stream near the bottom, center and top. From the average
of these readings the mean velocity may be determined. The
method of use depends to a large extent upon the size of the
river and the device employed for getting at the stream. In
very small streams it is possible to wade out in them and hold
the meter in the desired location. On larger streams if there is
a small bridge conveniently located, as shown in PI. V. A, it is
possible to locate the meter wherever desired and to move it
from side to side as well as up and down. In working from a
car or box suspended from a cable, it is less convenient to move
sideways and so the method employed is usually to measure the
velocity of several vertical sections and to compute the dis-
charge of each independently of the others.
The engineer in charge of the work visits the locality at
intervals of a few weeks, checks up the daily record made by
the observer, verifies some of the readings and makes a measure-
ment of the discharge to ascertain whether the relation as pre-
viously established between the quantity of flow and gage height
remains unchanged. If there is a marked discrepancy then a
new rating table must be made.
The record of daily observations of height of water is usually
so prepared that the equivalent discharge can be entered upon
it. This quantity is obtained from the rating table prepared
from the occasional measurements of flow. Such record for
each day in the month or year enables a study to be made of the
maximum, minimum and average discharge.
Wherever practicable to do so, installation is made of other
permanent measuring devices. With some of these it is usually
possible to obtain more accurate results than through the occa-
sional current meter measurements which supplement the obser-
vations of river height. Where the stream is small the entire
flow can be put through a carefully constructed module or over
a weir such as is shown in PI. V. B, installed on one of the dis-
tributing canals of an irrigation system. For accuracy they
should be constructed in form similar to those for which experi-
mental data are available. Large weirs may be constructed
RUN-OFF 109
across streams of considerable size and automatic devices
installed for recording the height of water on these weirs, thus
giving continuous record of flow.
Other methods of measuring flowing water have been devised,
such as the Venturi^ meter invented by Clemens Herschel, or
the Pitot tube. Colors have also been employed and observa-
tions made by the eye as to the length of time required for a few
drops of coloring fluid to reach a given point. ( See Engineer-
ing News, September 23, 1915, p. 617.) Chemical methods have
been successfully tried using salt, a suitable amount of which is
injected into the water, tests being made from time to time of
the effluent. The speed of flow is thus found by direct observa-
tions. Indirect methods are also employed as, for example, by
comparing the strength of a salt solution flowing into the stream
at a certain rate with the degree of salinity of the stream as
shown by samples taken at a lower point.
The velocity with which the stream flows is also computed in
less obvious fashion by using somewhat empirical formulae based
on measurements of the slope or fall of the surface of the flow-
ing water. The simplest of these formulae is that of Chezy, pub-
lished in 1775. In this the velocity is stated as the product of
a constant, C, multiplied into the square root of the product of
the figures representing the slope times the figures expressing
the shape of the channel or V=C\/RS.
The Chezy formula was developed by Kutter and others into
a somewhat complicated form in which the factor of roughness
of the bed of the stream has been expressed by the letter n.
Various values have been found for n and these, when inserted in
the formulae have enabled a close approximation at the veloc-
ity and consequently the discharge of the stream. For example,
in a smooth, cement-lined canal such as is shown in PL XII. A,
the value of n is as low as 0.01, while for a clean earth canal it
may be 0.02 and so on up, depending upon the fact as to whether
the natural channel is cut in sand, gravel, or bowlders.
There is need of continued research and exercise of ingenuity
in perfecting these methods for quick and fairly accurate meth-
ods of ascertaining the flow of water under the various condi-
1 Merriman, Mansfield, 'Treatise on Hydraulics," 1912, p. 89.
110 WATER RESOURCES
tions which are encountered in the investigation of the water
resources of the country. Many plans for future use of the
water are dependent upon the obtaining of such data; in turn
these rest upon the ability of the engineer to achieve the desired
results economically.
Fluctuating Flow. In projects for larger use or develop-
ment of water resources, especially by storage in reservoirs, it
is of great importance to study in advance as completely as
possible the time and quantity of the fluctuation of flow of
natural streams upon which dependence is placed. It is found,
as a rule, that these changes are of many kinds; for example,
there is a diurnal wave, in streams coming from the high moun-
tains, when the warm sunlight of the day melts the snow and
causes an increase in discharge with corresponding check dur-
ing the cool night. The effect of the heat of one day may give
rise to a maximum flow, possibly at midnight or early morning
of the next day, at some point lower down the stream. There is
also the variation in quantity from day to day, resulting from
the constant changes in temperature, wind movement, and pre-
cipitation.^
More important is the seasonal change; the streams usually
have a flood stage in the spring and decrease to a minimum in
August or September. Each year also shows a marked differ-
ence from that of the preceding, so that in any study of the
behavior of streams it is necessary to have observations con-
tinued through a long period of time. It is probable that in the
course of forty or fifty years most of the peculiarities of any
given stream will be developed, unless radical changes are made
on the watershed by cutting the trees or by cultivation.
There is a notable difference in the behavior of rivers in dif-
ferent parts of the country. Those of the humid east, with
rainfall fairly uniformly distributed throughout the year, are
not subject to fluctuations relatively as great as those in the
arid west, where the spring flood may be succeeded by complete
drought. (See page 94.)
Range of Fluctuation. Computations of run-off when
iSee "River Discharge," by Hoyt and Grover, 4th edition. Figs. 37
and 38.
RUN-OFF 111
stated in tabular form by days, months, and years, permit com-
parison to be made and conclusions to be drawn concerning
streams in different parts of the country. The streams issuing
from the high summits of the western mountains are quite simi-
lar in character to the rivers of the humid region because of the
fact that these mountains, rising to great height, receive a rela-
tively large precipitation, and the hill slopes, covered often
with forests, are more humid than the surrounding country. In
their lower reaches, however, the western rivers take on a dif-
ferent character and the waters coming from the hills may dis-
appear into the broad sandy beds during the extreme heat of
summer. Thus the fluctuations of these streams at lower points
may be from zero almost to infinity, in that an extraordinary
cloudburst may send down such quantities of water as to com-
pletely overflow the banks and drown the adjacent country.
In the case of rivers of a humid region there is a more steady
flow. Their beds rarelj'^, if ever, become completely dry, but
their flow continues until it finally reaches the ocean. Thus the
minimum is considerably above zero and the maximum, on the
other hand, is rarely as high as in the case of the erratic streams
of the West. Because of this small range of flow, the waters
as a whole are clearer as there is less violent attack on the beds
and banks, such as characterizes the sudden floods of the arid
region. The water of eastern streams, as a rule, is considerably
softer than that of the western and is more nearly free from the
so-called alkali which plays such a large part in problems of
conservation in dryer areas.
Because of the fact that the natural or unregulated streams
fluctuate thus widely, it is desirable to ascertain the range of
these fluctuations for various periods of time, such as the day,
month or year. The regular diurnal changes as described on
page 110 are usually small, but regular. The monthly range
may be quite considerable. It is usual to state the maximum
and minimum quantities which occur on any one day or shorter
period of time in each month, and also to average the figures for
the entire month, giving the rate of flow in terms of cubic feet
per second.
It is also desirable to compare the quantity of water deliv-
112 WATER RESOURCES
ered during a month with the area of country from which the
water is derived, or in other words, to divide the average run-
off for the month by the number of square miles drained. This
gives a method of comparing one drainage area with another.
From a mountainous area the run-off per square mile may be
from 5 to 20 cubic feet per second per square mile. Going
downstream, however, and including larger and larger catch-
ment areas or more nearly flat land on which the rainfall is less,
the proportion rapidly decreases until near the mouth of the
river the run-off per square mile drained may be a tenth of the
rate found above. (See also page 94.)
Depth of Run-Off. For certain purposes it is also con-
venient to compare the run-off during various ^^ears from cer-
tain drainage areas in terms of depth over the area. For exam-
ple, from the tributary to a given reservoir, the amount of
water which flows into the reservoir may be stated in depth in
inches and thus be compared directly with the depth of rainfall.
The rain gages may show during a given month that 3 inches of
rain fell. The run-off received in the reservoir or the amount
which flowed in the stream, if all caught and put back in the
catchment basin, would perhaps cover an equivalent flat area to
the depth of one inch ; thus a third of the rainfall was available
for storage.
These several quantities, the maximum, minimum, and mean
daily discharge in cubic feet per second ; the quantity per square
mile drained and the depth of run-off in inches are usually com-
puted for each month of the year for all of the points of meas-
urement on any given stream — thus enabling direct comparison
and a study of the quantities which exist.
Ordinary and Average Flow. The item of most importance
in considering many of the problems of water power or of con-
servation by storage is as to the average or ordinary flow of a
stream which may be depended upon. It is, of course, necessary
also to know the maximum as noted above and to make suitable
allowance for the extraordinary floods; also to ascertain
whether at certain seasons the stream will probably drop to a
minimum or become dry ; but throughout all the computations,
the ordinary condition is of prime interest. In this connection.
RUN-OFF 118
it is important to point out the difference which exists between
the average flow and the ordinary flow. In streams having
relatively small fluctuation, the average and the ordinary flows
are practically the same, but in streams of erratic behavior, with
floods which may occur in rapid succession during a single
month and not again for years, the average flow is considerably
higher than the ordinary and a statement of the average may be
misleading.
The ordinary or natural flow are terms in common use and
like many such expressions must be carefully explained in order
to prevent misunderstanding. Various definitions have been
attempted of which that given by Robert E. Horton in Engi-
neering Record t May 2, 1914, p. 495, is probably the most use-
ful. He gives it as the most uniform or median stage and
arrives at it by taking the flow for each day in the year, arrang-
ing these quantities in their order of magnitude. Then it is
evident that the middle or median quantity in the table will
represent the ordinary stage or discharge, as the case may be.
That this is the most usual stage or discharge is evident, since
the stream is just as likely to be higher as lower. As to ordi-
nary high water, and ordinary low water, the finding of satis-
factory definitions may appear a little more diflfcult. Mr.
Horton has, however, used the following definitions for the
terms :
"The ordinary stage is the median stage."
"Ordinary high water is the median point for stages or discharges
of the stream which are above the median stage or discharge for the
whole record."
"Ordinary low water is the median point for stages or discharges
of the stream which are below the median stage for the whole
record."
"As a rule^ the ordinary stage of a stream is less than the average
or mean stage : as a rule a stream is below its mean stage more than
one-half of the time and above its mean stage less than one-half of
the time."
There has been as yet no general agreement among engineers
with reference to the definition of ordinary flow, and the term
"natural" flow has been used synonymously. It has been given
114 WATER RESOURCES
interpretation by the courts at various times, as noted in the
"Cyclopaedia of Law," to the effect that "the natural flow is the
quantity of water ordinarily flowing in the stream at the times
when its volume is not increased bv unusual freshets or rains."
Natural and ordinary flow are in some cases, at least, used
synonymously. Thus in 67 Neb. 325, "Hall at most, as a
riparian owner, was entitled to only the ordinary and natural
flow of the stream."
Another method of ascertaining the ordinary flow is to
arrange the table of daily discharges, listing them in the order
of magnitude, then divide this table into four parts, taking the
average or middle half of the values listed. A third method con-
sists of simply finding the average of the quantities in the middle
third.
In order to illustrate the difference in the results obtained by
these various methods, the following figures have been prepared
for two of the important streams on the Canadian boundary in
northern Montana. One of these, the St. Mary River, rises
in the Glacial National Park of Montana and has a relatively
steady flow. There are, however, occasional floods which tend
to increase the average. The other stream, the Milk River,
rises in more open country and does not have the steady flow
characteristic of streams but depends for its supply largely
upon occasional storms. Thus the flow is more irregular and
the influence of the erratic floods is shown in raising the average.
The ordinary flows tabulated below have been computed under
the direction of N. C. Grover, by three slightly different meth-
ods, described above, as follows :
First, by what may be known as Horton's method (R. E.
Horton, Engineering Record, May 2, 1914, p. 495), the result
is the median value as described above.
Second, which may be known as the middle half method, the
result is the average of the values in the middle half of the values
listed; an adaptation from rules in Rankine's "Manual of Civil
Engineering."
Third, consists of simply finding the average of the quantities
in the middle third.
In each method it is necessary to list the values for a year in
RUN-OFF 115
their order of magnitude, or else determine their frequency
between limits selected arbitrarily. The results follow :
1. St. Mary River near Cardston, Canada, 1910.
1. Ordinary flow by Horton's method 700 sec. -ft.
2. Ordinary flow by middle half method 729 sec.-ft.
8. Ordinary flow by middle third method 723 sec.-ft.
4. Mean annual flow as published 917 sec.-ft.
2. Milk River at Milk River, Canada, 1913.
1. Ordinary flow by Horton's method 69 sec.-ft.
2. Ordinary flow by middle half method 68 sec.-ft.
3. Ordinary flow by middle third method 65 sec.-ft.
4. Mean annual flow as published 155 sec.-ft.
3. Milk River at Havre, Montana, 1910.
1. Ordinary flow by Horton's method 88 sec.-ft.
2. Ordinary flow by middle half method 46 sec.-ft.
3. Ordinary flow by middle third method 87 sec.-ft.
4. Mean annual flow as published 148 sec.-ft.
The ordinary monthly flow for St. Mary River at Inter-
national Boundary and Kimball has also been computed. The
records used were for 1904 to 1908 and 1910 to 1914. The
month of January, 1904, was estimated at 200 second- feet, thus
making available ten complete years.
1. Ordinary flow by Horton's method 540 sec.-ft.
2. Ordinary flow by middle half method 622 sec.-ft.
3. Ordinary flow by middle third method 595 sec.-ft.
4. Mean annual flow for ten years 939 sec.-ft.
If reservoirs on a stream are so situated that they can receive
the entire flow irrespective of time, then there is less importance
attached to this difference between the average and ordinary
flow, but if the floods must be conducted through canals or
artificial structures, it can readily be appreciated that it is the
ordinary flow which has value and for utilizing which plans may
be developed. The erratic floods which tend to raise the aver-
age are often of more injury than value and in any comparison
of streams the inclusion of these in the averages may lead to
fallacious conclusions.
116 WATER RESOURCES
To illustrate, if we have two streams of approximately the
same average flow we may find on analysis that on one of them
practically all of the water occurs during one or two storms and
for the greater part of the year the bed is dry. Under these
conditions it may be practically impossible to utilize any con-
siderable proportion of this average. On the other hand, the
stream of about the same flow may have such regularity of
behavior that the entire volume can be successfully handled.
The difference between these streams will be brought out if,
instead of depending upon the average, we have before us the
ordinary flow, namely, that which is most usual and which in
the case of the flashy stream may be very nearly zero, because
the bed is dry for a great part of the year.
CHAPTER VII
STORAGE OF WATER
Necessity. The ability to obtain enough water at the right
time and place makes possible an increase of food supply, of
population, and the development of many industries. Without
water secured by storage it is impracticable for many communi-
ties to increase and prosper or for men to find steady employ-
ment in various industries. If there is not sufficient water dur-
ing summer droughts, agricultural areas are abandoned and
many mills are compelled to shut down, discharging the work-
men temporarily. Important electric light plants operated by
steam have been crippled at critical periods through lack of
condensing water for their engines. As cities and industries
grow there becomes a greater dependence upon an artificially
regulated water supply. The investment of large sums of
money in providing works for insuring a uniform or full amount
of water at the proper time is one of the marks of advancing
civilization.
The primitive savages, appreciating the needs of water stor-
age, enlarged or improved the water holes, or made cisterns.
Among the oldest monuments of engineering skill are the works
connected with water supply. Through all historic time there
has been some progress, but the last two decades have been
particularly notable for the great increase in number and size
of storage works and in the larger application of engineering
skill and appliances in building these.
The storage of water is necessary for two contrasting condi-
tions; first and primarily, to provide water when needed, and
second, to hold back an excess which might be destructive. This
latter use of storage on a large scale is comparatively recent,
although from early times dykes and low dams were built to
restrain flood water and in some cases large reservoirs were
118 WATER RESOURCES
constructed to regulate floods. The systematic development of
these restraining works for river regulation or control is now
recognized as a matter vital to the future growth of the country.
In Egypt large depressions in the desert near the valley of
the Nile were utilized many thousands of years ago, the flood
waters when in excess being conducted to low-lying reservoirs
in order to prevent extremely high water from injuring the
irrigated lands. In some cases it is probable that, as stated by
Sir William Willcocks, portions of this excess water thus
stored were returned to the river in time of low water. The
modern British engineers in Egypt have studied the methods
of these ancient and forgotten engineers and although conditions
have changed somewhat, especially through cultivation of the
bottoms of some of the old reservoir areas, — making it imprac-
ticable to restore all of these older works, — yet similar enter-
prises have been undertaken in holding back a certain portion
of the flood in basins built in the main course or valley of the
river itself. The lakes and swamps near the headwaters of the
Nile are being explored with a view to regulating the outlets of
the natural basins which exist there and to converting these
basins into storage reservoirs.
In the western part of the United States, particularly along
the great Colorado River of the West, there are similar condi-
tions where reservoirs may be built not only on the headwater
streams but also at points lower down.^ To the west of the
Colorado River in southern California is a deep depression
extending about 800 feet below sea level, similar to the sunken
valleys in the desert west of the Nile. The lands around this
depression, lying both above and below sea level, known as the
Imperial Valley, have been overflowed in past ages. At the
present time they are being irrigated in part by the water of
the Colorado River. The future development of this area to its
full capacity is dependent upon water storage, not only to fur-
nish a needed supply in years of scarcity, but for increased
protection against floods such as have produced disastrous
results in recent years.
1 "Colorado River and its Utilization," by E. C. LaRue, U. S. G. S.,
Water Supply Paper No. 395, 1916.
STORAGE OF WATER 119
The effect of these floods in breaking over the river banks on
the way to the Salton Sea, which occupies the bottom of the
Imperial Valley, is shown in PL XVIII. B. This illustrates the
condition of the farm lands which have been cut away in part by
the uncontrolled waters. The deep, rich soil has been rapidly
eroded into gorges of fifty feet or more in depth, thousands of
acres being ruined. These flood waters are now usually con-
trolled by dykes, but the ultimate solution of many difficulties
and the realization of the largest opportunities will come from
the consummation of well-considered plans of storage.
Modern Methods. Recent progress along lines of water
conservation by storage has resulted largely from the adoption
of modern machinery and from the application of more highly
developed principles of efficiency and economy in handling mate-
rials. There are relatively few new principles involved, but the
resulting structures are quite different in plan and appearance
from those of olden times. The experience acquired in large
numbers of works recently built has added greatly to the knowl-
edge of the subject. The relatively few accidents or failures
which have taken place — although disastrous — have served to
shed light on many conditions which in previous years were not
fully appreciated.
The principal advances have been in the adoption of quicker
and more economical methods of placing earth in dams and in
protecting it from erosion ; also in methods of placing concrete
and in the proportioning of the dimensions of dams, particularly
those having an arched form or consisting of slabs or decks
supported by buttresses. Here a wide diversity of practice is
seen, accompanied by a rapid advance in economy of construc-
tion. The demands made upon the hydraulic engineer have
forced him to put into play all his ingenuity and to use to the
utmost all his wits to meet the rapidly expanding range of uses
of water. He is being called upon to solve more and more intri-
cate problems growing out of the increasing density of popula-
tion and the multiplication of industries.
In the practice of his profession, especially in relation to the
larger problems of storage, the engineer must have available the
results of meteorological observation of the occurrence of water
120 WATER RESOURCES
in the form of rain or snow, and must obtain data, as noted on
page 54, as to the variations in precipitation which take place
from day to day and from year to year, as well as to the re-
sulting stream flow. He must consider the topography of the
country and the possibility of building storage reservoirs to con-
serve the supply ; he must be prepared to discuss the questions of
river control, of erosion and sedimentation and of the use of
water in domestic and municipal supplies, also in the production
of power in manufacturing and for other purposes or necessities
created by the ever growing needs of a civilized community.
In earlier years when the sparse population was occupied
mainly in agricultural pursuits and the industries were few,
there was usually enough water and to spare, especially in the
humid areas of Europe and America; no great difficulty was
found in procuring ample drinking water and there was little
interference of one community with another through pollution
by discharging sewage or manufacturing wastes into the
streams. With the rapid change from a rural to an urban
population and with the growth of manufacturing centers, the
question of obtaining adequate supplies has become more press-
ing; joined with this have been conflicts between the diverse
interests of manufacturing, power production and navigation.
All of these changes call for more research, more detailed study
of the data available and a larger application of the results in
preparing engineering plans.
Topography. The conditions which render storage feasible
on a large scale are quite rare. There must necessarily be a
combination of a broad basin or nearly flat valley, with a narrow
outlet, so situated that an adequate supply of water can be
brought to the basin. The proximity of suitable material with
which to form a dam must be such that its cost in the dam as
well as that of acquiring the necessary land and water must be
within reasonable limits. This is quite unusual; out of a hun-
dred localities where it is popularly supposed that water might
be stored there are only a few which comply with all the require-
ments of economv.
In most cases the outlet to any broad, shallow valley is itself
broad and the length of structure required to close this outlet
STORAGE OF WATER 121
may be too great to enable a dam to be built within the required
cost. If the outlet to the valley is narrow it usually happens,
from well-understood geological reasons, that the valley floor is
so steep that a dam of prohibitive height will be required to
hold back any considerable amount of water. If these condi-
tions are favorable it usually happens that the location does
not have a watershed large enough to furnish an adequate sup-
ply of water or the site is too high above the surrounding coun-
try to enable water to be brought to the basin. Again, if this
rare combination of capacity of reservoir, short and low dam,
and adequate supply of water exists, then comes the question
of material for the dam and the cost of putting this in place,
keeping this cost so low that the finished structure falls within
the requirements of funds available.
Mountain Storage. The conditions which have given rise
to the mountains with their highland valleys are most favorable
for the creation of reservoir sites ; hence the most striking exam-
ples of storage works are to be found in a mountainous country.
There is also usually ample good building material at hand and
in some cases nature has already formed small lakes, particu-
larly at the headwaters of the streams where glacial action has
resulted in innumerable ponds. The outlets of some of these
may be closed at relatively small expense and the level of the
water surface raised, giving increased storage capacity. There
are also many valleys which in former ages contained lakes;
here the old, worn-down barriers can be restored at relatively
small expense. The chief difficulty encountered in connection
with these mountain reservoirs is that of securing an ample
supply of water, because of the fact that the mountain valleys
He at high altitudes, often hundreds of feet above the level of
the main streams.
The typical mountain reservoir site offers advantages in that
rock suitable for masonry is usually found in the vicinity and
the foundations for the dams are firmer than in the case of sites
in the more open country. The loss by evaporation from the
surface of the reservoir built in the mountains is usuallv small
because of the prevailing low temperature. One of the largest
and most economical of the mountain reservoir sites is Lake
122 WATER RESOURCES
Tahoe, shown in PI. I. A. Another notable locality is Jackson
Lake in Wyoming, shown in PL IV. B. This is south of Yellow-
stone National Park and is at the head of Snake River. By
building a dam 5,000 feet in length at the outlet, the United
States Reclamation Service has made available a storage capa-
city of 789,000 acre-feet at a cost of about a million dollars.
Plains Storage. The rivers issuing from the mountains
increase in volume as they descend, thus affording an ample sup-
ply of water for storage in the lower courses. This condition is
in striking contrast with the scanty amount available at the
headwater basins. Because of this, it is often necessary to
consider the question of water storage at points out on or adja-
cent to the lower valleys or plains through which the rivers flow.
The disadvantages, however, in these lower altitudes are usually
great, because of the scarcity of good reservoir sites and of
suitable material for building the impounding dams. The meth-
ods to be employed and plans to be adopted are less obvious in
connection with these lower reservoirs. When built, the loss by
evaporation and seepage must be taken into account to a larger
degree than in the case of the storage works at higher altitudes.
Among the notable instances of plains reservoirs is the Deer
Flat of the Boise Project, Idaho, built to hold the flood waters
which occur below the upper mountain reservoirs. The flat
itself was not particularly well adapted by nature for an arti-
ficial lake, as it required several earth dams of considerable
length to inclose the basin. One of these dams is shown in PL
V. D. This dam is of earth, 7,200 feet long and 40 feet high,
containing 1,207,670 cubic yards.
Another plains site is that of the Cold Springs Reservoir of
the Umatilla Project in Oregon. The view, PL V. C, does not
give the impression of a favorable locality. It is simply a de-
pression in a broad sagebrush-covered plain, and with a wide
outlet. Yet this was the best place which could be found for the
storage of the erratic floods of the Umatilla River. The seep-
age losses are large and the basin is shallow — but in spite of
these disadvantages, the reservoir is performing its part in the
development of the country.
Surveys. The first step to be taken in considering the prob-
STORAGE OF WATER 128
lem of water storage is that of a general reconnoissance of the
whole country under consideration, including both mountains
and valleys. If a good topographical .map, such as that pre-
pared by the United States Geological Survey, is available,
a great part of the time and expense of the reconnoissance may
be saved. In any event, whether there is a map or not, the
reconnoissance should be made by the best man available — one
experienced not only in the larger details of construction but
accustomed to form correct judgments as to topographic fea-
tures and hydrographic conditions. It is largely upon the
exercise of such judgment that the extent and character of
future detailed surveys depend and the economical working out
of any plan which may be adopted. It not infrequently happens,
where the preliminary work was done by men inexperienced
in the matter, that the wrong beginning has been made and
unnecessary expenditures have been incurred, because in the
preliminary study certain important features were not appre-
ciated.
When the general conditions, both of topography and hy-
drography, of the river basin have been examined, it becomes
necessary to prepare some definite estimates of the relative
capacity and cost of various storage sites. Although it may be
possible to judge by the eye something as to the relative value of
various basins, yet in the mountains particularly, there are
many optical illusions as regards slope. Carefully run lines of
levels and topographical sketches are necessary to verify the
first assumptions. It may be necessary to follow these first
topographical maps with others even more detailed as the choice
begins to narrow down to a few alternatives. The basin ulti-
mately chosen should be mapped with a contour interval of at
least 10 feet vertically and in some cases of a smaller scale of
5 feet. It is important to know the capacity of the reservoir for
each foot of water height and the corresponding area exposed to
evaporation.
At the dam site where the heavy expenditure is to be made,
there is need of even more careful topographic surveys. It
usually happens that when the best basin has been chosen for
a reservoir there is considerable latitude for judgment as to the
124 WATER RESOURCES
location of the dam itself. A change of a few feet up- or
downstream may involve notable increase or decrease in the
quantity of material to be handled. The various possible loca-
tions should be surveyed with such degree of care as to show
contours at two-foot vertical intervals. On this map should be
placed all facts connected with depth to bedrock or to imper-
vious strata. Ample time should be allowed for making these
topographic maps and related studies. Every dollar econom-
ically spent on this work may result in a saving of $10 in con-
struction. As a rule, too little time has been allowed for work
of this kind, as it usually happens that when the people building
the work have reached the point of making detailed surveys
they are anxious to begin to assemble the construction plant.
The engineer is thus often swept off his feet by the demand that
work be begun and is not given the opportunity of thoroughly
exploring the foundation and of considering the most economical
method of handling the material available.
The surveys and examinations of any proposed storage sys-
tem and of the catchment area tributary to it will usually reveal
the existence of several basins or depressions which may be con-
verted into reservoirs. They should also show the character of
material available for construction and the foundations upon
which each proposed structure must be built. Having obtained
these essential data, the next question for the consideration of
the engineer and of the investor is as to the relative cost and
permanence of the structures which may be needed to create
the necessar}'^ water storage.
Alternative Sites. It is usually necessary to examine a
number of alternative locations for the site of the dam. Some-
times there must be provided not only the principal dam at the
main outlet of the valley or depression, but also a number of
supplemental dams or dykes to raise the rim of the basin at
various points. Even if there is only one gorge or narrow out-
let where apparently the dam can be located, yet there are
usually points, a short distance apart, where the underground
conditions may be better than at others, although on the sur-
face all look alike. This fact can be determined only by care-
ful exploration, usually by digging test pits or by putting down
STORAGE OF WATER 125
drill holes. When the foundations are finally opened, condi-
tions may be discovered which will force a relocation higher up
or lower down in the gorge.
If the foundations are found to consist of solid rock and there
is ample similar good material in the vicinity, the structure may
be designed to be built of ashlar or rubble masonry throughout.
Usually, however, it is desirable to consider the practicability of
building the works of concrete. With the recent developments
in methods in the manufacture and use of cement, it frequently
occurs that economy in construction can be secured by crush-
ing the rock which formerly would have been used in ordinary
masonry, and then making a relatively homogeneous mixture
of concrete instead of attempting to quarry large blocks and
lay each of these separately in a bed of mortar.
Mat£eials. The essential features of any work for river
regulation or for conservation of water by storage is the dam or
barrier built to hold back the flow of water. This usually con-
sists of a bank of earth or a wall of masonry or wood placed
across a watercourse. With the development of modern
machinery and appliances it is now possible to build dams of an
almost infinite variety of materials and shapes; the principal
question being as to the relative efficiency and economy' of each
type. These facts are determined by the position of the struc-
ture itself and particularly the character of the materials avail-
able in the vicinity ; also to a large degree by the texture of the
rocks or soil which occur at the place where the dam is to be
built.
As regards materials, earth or disintegrated rock may be
considered as the most common. The word earth includes prac-
tically all varieties of the softer matter composing the surface
of the globe as distinguished from the firm rock. There is in
reality no sharp line of distinction between earth or soil and
rock; from the geological standpoint rock may be considered
as including all of the mineral substances, hard and soft, which
form the crust of the globe. It is this fact which gives rise to
more or less controversy in construction work, and to avoid mis-
understanding there should always be given a careful definition
as to the way of distinguishing between rock and earth. From
126 WATER RESOURCES
the scientific standpoint granite, sand, gravel and clay are rock ;
but for engineering purposes it may be necessary to define earth
as material which may be moved by any ordinary plow as dis-
tinguished from firm rock which cannot be thus easily disturbed.
The reason for this inability to distinguish clearly between
earth and rock arises from the fact that most earths are formed
by the disintegration of more solid rocks. As the decay pro-
ceeds there is no sharp line of demarkation between the crum-
bling rock and soft soil. On the other hand, the harder rocks are
to a large extent formed of sand or clay which has been con-
solidated in the course of ages. Thps while there may be no diffi-
culty in deciding that a given substance is rock and that another
is earth there are innumerable intermediate conditions where
such classification is impracticable without some arbitrary
definition agreed upon in advance, such as the plow test.
In considering the materials used in building dams, we may
start with the disintegrated rock in the form of clay, sand or
gravel and consider as earth dams those which are built up by
the proper arrangement or mixture of these substances. If we
imagine that the individual particles become grouped or con-
solidated into larger masses, we pass into the class of loose rock
dams in which, as in the earth dams, stability is secured by each
block or mass resting against and being held in place by its
neighbor. The next step in evolution would consist in fitting
together these loose masses and causing them to adhere to each
other by suitable cementing substances, giving rise to rubble
masonry or if the stones are carefully squared, to ashlar
masonry. Again, if instead of fitting the stones together, we
crush them to smaller size and then mix them with cementing
material, we have the concrete structure. The latter substance,
being semifluid, can be poured or molded into form and used
under many conditions where earth or rock would be inadvis-
able. We may also substitute timbers for masonry, building
tight walls supported by suitable frames or even by a rock back-
ing, thus having various combinations of wood, stone, earth, or
cement. Metal also is used, both in sheets and in beams, replac-
ing the older wooden dams and enabling structures of great size
to be built with a high degree of economy.
Plate VI. A.
An unusually good dam site In a narrow granite ^rge with bedrocic a
few feet below the surface. Site of the Pathfinder Dam on North Platte
River, Wyoming.
Site of Siioshone Dam,
Plate VI. C.
Showing highly tntlined strata of Bide
Plate VI. D.
Building; a dam of earth, showing core wall In center with earth banks
above and below, to be widened until they join, coverlnfr the core wall;
test pits on hillside in line of core wall; Strawberry Valley Dam, Utah,
looking upstream.
STORAGE OF WATER 127
Each and all of the above*namcd substances and others such
as brick or terra cotta have been employed in storage works,
large and small. The question to be considered in each case
is that of safety as well as efficiency and economy, both in
construction and in later maintenance.
Foundations. The character of the foundations largely
determines the material to be used for a dam. It is obvious that
on a soft base, heavy masonry cannot be readily used. The
crucial point and the one where failure has usually taken place
has been at the base. There the hydrostatic pressure is at its
maximum and under a head of 100 feet or more, water finds
its way through minute cracks or joints and exerts a pressure
sufficient to disrupt the weaker rocks. The character and
design of the dam are dependent largely upon the foundation,
both as to its permeability and its strength in holding the
structure.
As a rule the spot where the foundations are to be placed is
concealed by overlying loose material. A few rare cases have
been found where, in the case of some of the harder granites,
stream erosion has laid the bottom bare and there is no dis-
integration or weakening of the surface. Such a condition was
found at the Pathfinder Dam in central Wyoming, where the
North Platte River, as shown in PI. VI. A, had sawed its way
through a rising block of granite and was flowing between
granite walls over a granite bed covered to a depth of only a
few feet with loose material which had fallen from the walls.
Borings. Investigation has shown that throughout the arid
west the streams have been choked with material which is washed
in or has fallen from the sides so that the present bed is usually
from 50 to 100 feet above the level at which the river flowed in
earlier times, as shown in PI. VI. B. It is necessary to pene-
trate this loose material and to ascertain before construc-
tion exactly what are the conditions of the bottom and the
side of the valley where a dam is to be placed. ' The primi-
tive method of ascertaining these facts is to sink a well or shaft
down to and into the bedrock. Usually, however, the inflow of
water is so great that without powerful pumping machinery
the digging of such a shaft is impossible. To overcome this
128 WATER RESOURCES
difficulty the usual method is to drill holes of from two to six
inches or more in diameter, such as those made by the ordinary
well drills, and to carefully clean out each hole as it is cut down-
ward, saving and studying the debris which comes from the
bottom of the hole to ascertain the character of the material
penetrated. Great skill is required in judging correctly as to
whether the hole is penetrating solid material or is in loose rocks
which have fallen into a depression.
An improvement on the old-fashioned hand or churn drill
is that of the rotating diamond or steel point which cuts an
annular hole from which a core can be obtained. This core
enables an expert to judge accurately as to the character of
the material penetrated. In all cases, however, great care must
be exercised to see that the drill is actually working in the solid
rock and not in a great bowlder; for example, at the Shoshone
Dam a granite bowlder over twenty feet in diameter was
encountered; had the precaution not been observed of going
forty feet or more into the rock the long solid core from the
bowlder would have been considered as proof that bedrock had
been reached. It so happened, however, that the drill at about
the twentieth foot of penetration passed into sand and gravel
and then again into granite which finally proved to be the real
bedrock.
In planning the field research, drill holes must be placed at
short intervals across the outlet of the valley, where the dam is
to be placed, and up and down the stream far enough to deter-
mine the character and slope of the underground layers of
earth or rock. The holes also should be continued up on the
hillsides until a place is reached above water level where pits
or shafts can be sunk exposing the abutments on each side.
It frequently happens that the rocks at the dam site are strati-
fied and that water percolates along the bedding or through
the joints. This condition must be thoroughly studied, as it
affects the stability of any structure which may be built at
this spot. It is possible to adopt methods which will render a
dam reasonably tight, but for safety and economy of construc-
tion it is far better to know and anticipate any unfavorable
STORAGE OF WATER 129
conditions than to attempt to rectify them after the structure
has been built.
The conditions which exist at the site of the Roosevelt Dam
in Arizona are illustrated in PI. VI. C. There the gorge con-
sists of stratified quartzite dipping upstream at a high angle.
The cliffs afford excellent opportunities for quarries. The
stratification of rock dipping toward the reservoir site was
considered as being of advantage in that any leakage which
might occur along the seams must necessarily flow uphill and
be thus reduced in volume. There are, however, a number of
faults or planes of fracture which intersect the rock at this
place. The location of the dam, therefore, was considered with
reference to these lines of weakness.
The character of the foundations and of the rock or other
substance to be used in building the dam determines to a large
degree not only the ultimate cost and safety but also the imme-
diate plan of operation and the kind of equipment to be used.
Under ideal conditions where there is a firm, water-tight
foundation, and solid rock to be had in the walls of the valley,
the plans may be relatively simple, but if, as is often the case,
the foundations are weak and imperfect and there is not within
easy reach a good supply of rock, then there must be a bal-
ancing of cost between bringing from a distance of a mile
or more a better quality of material or shifting the site and
adopting plans such as to use a greater quantity of poorer
material nearer at hand. For example, on a soft foundation
it may be decided to use a great quantity of earth, thus building
a dam of unusual thickness as was done in the case of the Gatun
Lake in Panama rather than to risk building a masonry or
concrete structure on the yielding base. There is usually a
wide range of conditions to be studied and it is hardly possible
to make the research too thorough or to gain too much informa-
tion regarding the character of the material and of its prob-
able behavior under different forms of handling or arrangement.
CHAPTER VIII
DAMS
Earth Dams. The oldest and most numerous of the struc-
tures built for the control or conservation of water by storage
are of earth. Many ancient dams antedate written his-
tory; some are still in use and the remains of thousands which
have been destroyed through age and neglect are to be found
in all parts of the earth where man has long lived. Earth dams
are still being built, of larger and larger size, and with greater
skill and economy than in the past. In spite of the notable
development in handling other more stable materials, they offer
many advantages.
Because of the fact that earth is a result of decay or dis-
integration, it is essentially stable, for it cannot deteriorate
nor change its character ; but since it consists of small particles,
it is easily eroded, its form though not its substance is easily
altered by rains or floods. Earth dams if properly built and
protected from erosion or other mechanical change are thus
among the most permanent works of man, but if not thus
protected, they may be destroyed in a few days or hours.
The chief claim for consideration of the use of earth for a
proposed dam lies primarily in the fact that earth or decom-
posed rock occurs almost everywhere on the land surface. It
is, of course, of widely differing composition and texture, vary-
ing from fine silica, sand or gravel to complex silicates such
as clays and silts, or it may have an admixture of organic
matter and earthy salts forming more or less soluble and fertile
soils. In considering earth for use in dams, it is necessary first
to define what the earth consists of, as it may have a very wide
range of chemical or physical properties.
The only quality common to all earth is that it is relatively
loose or friable and can be easily dug or moved by hand or
DAMS 131
simple machinery. The earth under consideration for use at
some locality may consist of loose sand. It is obvious that
this alone will not be suitable for building a dam of any consid-
erable height. On the other hand, if the material is a silt or
loam, this used alone will not be suitable, but mixtures of the
sand and silt with possibly the addition of some gravel may
result in a combination which is not only impervious to water,
but can be built to withstand a considerable pressure. The
study of the earthy materials available near any given dam site,
and of the possible combinations of these, demands experience
and ripe judgment.
The condition of the foundations with regard to permea-
bility and strength to sustain a weight, as noted on page 127,
may be such as to lead to the conclusion that, even though rock
may be available, yet safety will be promoted by building an
earthen structure. The question then arises as to the quality
of the various deposits of earth which may be mixed and the
methods of handling these and of placing them in the dam.
In olden times all this work was done by hand labor, the dirt
being shoveled into baskets and carried to the point of deposit.
Later came the use of carts or scrapers drawn by horses, fol-
lowed by the small construction railroad in which cars loaded
with dirt by a steam shovel were brought to the desired place.
In turn the latter method has been superseded in part by con-
veyors of various types and even water itself is being used to
sluice the earth into place. Every year brings out some im-
proved mechanical device for moving earth and as a result of
studies by engineers or researches into the hydraulic processes,
economies are being effected resulting in a low cost which a
few years ago was considered impossible.
There is usually to be considered not only the question of
the selection of suitable material near the chosen dam site but
also that of handling it in a systematic fashion, depositing it
in place with great care and uniformity, such as to secure
practically water-tight conditions. An earth dam is similar in
some respects to a loose rock dam in that the upper or water
face should be made as nearly impervious as possible, while the
downstream or dry portions may be built of coarser material.
132 WATER RESOURCES
Although it may be practicable to permit water to overflow a
masonry, concrete or loose-rock structure, such action means
destruction to an earth dam, and hence every precaution must
be taken to prevent water from flowing over the top.
Usually in building an earth dam it is not practicable to
carry the foundation down to bedrock, as is necessary with
masonry structures. In all cases, however, the ground must
be stripped to an impervious layer of clay or "hardpan" and
the materials composing the dam placed on these and carefully
incorporated with the new surface thus exposed. The selected
earth to be used in the body of the dam should be slightly wet
and rolled in thin layers to secure the highest degree of com-
pactness. Layer after layer of three or four inches to six
inches in thickness is thus worked into place, care being con-
tinually exercised to secure thorough compacting, no details
being slighted or omitted. The results are tested from time
to time to see that the body of the dam is homogeneous and
does not contain any defined layers or incipient cracks into
which water may enter.
In cross section, the earth dams are in striking contrast with
those built of masonry or concrete in that the slopes must neces-
sarily be well within what is known as the angle of repose. On
the upstream face, these slopes are usually one foot, vertical,
to three horizontal, and on the downstream or dry side, one
vertical to two and one-half horizontal.
The upstream or water side of any earth dam must be pro-
tected from wave washing by some relatively hard material
such as a heavy paving of rock two or three feet in thickness, as
shown in PI. VII. C, or by concrete blocks six inches or more
in thickness, held in place against disturbance by storms. ( See
PI. XI. C.) In some cases a thick layer of heavy gravel has
been applied, as for example, on the earthen banks of Deer
Flat Reservoir in southern Idaho ; the waves are allowed to carve
this gravel bank into relatively stable slopes. The downstream
side of the earthen dams must also be protected, usually by
encouraging the growth of vegetation and by preventing the
washing of rain water by providing suitable gutters or drains
to keep the water from gullying the surface.
DAMS 133
The main features of an earth dam are: first, the incorpora-
tion of the lower layers with the underlying earth of the entire
foundation in such a way as to prevent water from percolating
along under the dam, and, second, to secure an impervious layer
as near the upper or water face as possible to hold back the
water from entering the body of the dam. The strength and
stability of the dam are evidently decreased if the particles of
which it is composed are saturated with water. Hence the
larger the proportion of the dam which is dry the greater the
strength.
Core Wali.s. It might be assumed that the entire body of
an earth dam should be impervious, but experience has shown
that such conditions can rarely be produced and that it is
better to make the lower side of the dam less water-tight than
the upper, so that any water which does succeed in entering
through the upper face may escape freely below. In this way,
the lower or dry side of the dam is rendered relatively more
stable.
In some cases, for convenience of construction, the plans call
for a vertical wall of masonry or concrete throughout the length
of an earth dam as in PI. VI. D. Under these conditions the
portion of the dam above the core wall becomes saturated with
water while the lower portion, cut off from seepage by the core
wall, is kept nearly if not quite dry. The dam under these
conditions may be considered as consisting of a water-tight wall
or diaphragm supported from overturning upstream by the
wet earth and held from falling downstream by the dry earth.
Where an ample supply of good clay can be found, the center
core wall is frequently made of this substance, carefulh' puddled,
or the clay is placed on the upper half or third of the dam,
being carefully compacted while slightly moist. Coarser mate-
rial is then placed on the downstream side to afford free drain-
age of the small amount of water which may penetrate the clay.
As a rule in building earth dams the use of pure clay is
avoided, except for a water-tight face or core wall, and sand
or gravel is largely employed, incorporated with clay, to form
a mixture which is less likely to slide or slough off. Pure clay
absorbs such great quantities of water and shrinks so greatly
134 WATER RESOURCES
upon drying that it is not used except under conditions where
it will be kept continually wet.
Paving. The water slope of all earth dams must be pro-
tected from wave action. As the water rises and falls in a
reservoir, the shore line advances or retreats along the earth
bank and at this shore line wind action produces waves which
tend to cut a shelf or beach. To overcome this action and to
maintain the earth slopes in symmetrical and safe conditions,
it is usually necessary to pave them with rock or in some cases
with cement blocks. An example of ordinary paving is shown
in PI. VII. C and in PI. XI. C, this being on a portion of the
Owl Creek Dam of the Belle Fourche Project, South Dakota.
The paving is usually placed by hand on a gravel base, the
stones being of such weight and so carefully placed as not to
be liable to be drawn out by the waves.
Hydraulic Dams. The use of water to transport earth for
the building of dams is being steadily extended because of the
economies which are possible under favorable conditions. The
practice is the outgrowth of hydraulic operations carried on
by the gold miners of California. The debris which they moved,
as stated on page 134, was of such great volume that it ob-
structed the streams and suggested to ingenious men the
practicability of utilizing the method for filling depressions or
building banks. The illustration, PI. VII. A, gives an idea of
the way in which the material is moved. In the foreground is
a hydraulic giant or nozzle from which water is issuing with
great velocity. This water is obtained from some high mountain
stream, being conducted by gravity through wooden Humes
or it may be pumped from lower ground. The main object to
be achieved is to have an adequate pressure such as to make
a stream which will tear out the loose soil and small rocks. As
these roll down they are caught with the muddy waters and
carried away on Humes built at a grade sufficient to enable the
water to transport stones weighing sometimes as much or more
than 100 pounds.
The Hume for transporting the debris is constructed in such
a way as to divide and spread the material over the surface of
the dam to be built. By manipulation of the Humes, it is pos- .
Plate Vri. A.
Earth dam built by hydraulic process, washing the earth and loose rock
from the hillside and sluicing the debris out to the site of the dam.
Conconully Reservoir.
Plate VII. B.
Earlh dam built by hydraulic process; spillway at left in recent rock
excavation. Conconully Dam, Okanogan Project, Washington.
Plate VII. C.
1 water aide of earth dam, Belle Fourche Project. South Dakota.
Plate VII. D.
Concrete storage dani, at East Park, Orland Project, California.
DAMS 185
sible to drop the larger rocks on the outside of the proposed
dam and to leave the smaller sand and gravel nearer the center,
the finest silt being placed at the center or near the upstream
side. As a result there is formed a dam such as that shown
in PI. VII. B, the outside being covered with heavy stone to
prevent erosion and the inside consisting of fine water-tight
materials.
Among the examples of the dams built by this method are
the Gatun Dam at Panama, Necaxa Dam in Mexico, and also
the Calaveras Dam in California now under construction. A
smaller dam built by the Reclamation Service for the Okanogan
Project, Washington, PL VII. B, has been mentioned. The
Necaxa Dam in Mexico and also the Calaveras Dam in Califor-
nia are notable because of the fact that in building each of these
failure took place under almost identical conditions. Clay fill-
ing, deposited in water and forming the interior of the dam,
did not dry as it increased in height, but continued of semiliquid
consistency until the pressure laterally pushed out the upstream
side and the clay flowed into the unfinished reservoir. In the
case of the Necaxa^ Dam the failure occurred on May 20, 1909,
when two million cubic yards of earth and rock had been placed ;
at that time about 720,000 cubic yards flowed into the dry
reservoir. In the case of the Calaveras,^ the failure occurred on
May 24, 1918, when 2,800,000 yards had been placed; of this,
800,000 yards flowed inwards. These failures illustrate on a
large scale the instability of the undrained clay and the neces-
sity of observing suitable precautions in permitting it to dry out
slowly. The hydraulic process requires great skill, but for
handling sand, gravel, small rock or mixtures of these with clay
and silt this method has been found to be generally economical.
A loose rock dam such as that described on page 169 at Mini-
doka on Snake River in Idaho, may be considered as closely
related to the hydraulic dam, since a large part of the material
has been sluiced into place. It forms an intermediate stage
between the solidly constructed and carefully laid masonry dam
and the ordinary earth dam. It possesses certain advantages
1 Engineering News, July 15, 1909, Vol. 62, p. 72.
2 Engineering News-Record, April 11, 1918, Vol. 80, p. 704.
186 WATER RESOURCES
in overcoming local difficulties and permits the utilization of
materials and of forces which at first appear to be unfavorable.
It is under conditions of this kind that the engineer shows his
highest ability in turning to advantage the conditions which
appear to oppose his efforts but which on research can be made
to serve the larger needs of humanity.
Timber Dams. Mention should be made of timber dams
which, although no longer built in as large numbers as in
former decades, are still in use and are occasionally employed,
especially for temporary structures such as coffer dams. In
the heavily forested areas among the mountains where timber is
plentiful, it is still being used in dams erected in connection
with lumber operations. Many of the works of river regulation
and of water conservation have been made practicable by using
timber and at a later day, when success has been assured, more
permanent materials have been substituted.
The timber dams are of many varieties and shapes. In most
of them the framework has been constructed with an inclined
deck of plank or a series of decks, the upper face being sloped
upstream and held down in part by the weight of the water
resting upon it. Lower decks or aprons are provided to con-
duct the water away from the base of the dam and prevent
undercutting. In many instances rectangular log cribs have
been built and filled with heavy stone, making a combination of
timber and stone structure, the weight of the stone holding the
timber in place and the timber protecting the stones from being
carried away by the force of the flowing water.
Loose Rock Dams. The ideal structure for water storage
is a massive dam firmly set in rocky walls — ^but like many ideals,
it is not always practicable of achievement. This is usually
because of lack of suitable foundations such as are sufficiently
strong to carry the weight of the wall or because of the difficulty
of obtaining in the vicinity a sufficient supply of rock of proper
shape and quantity to build a dam. Wherever conditions are
favorable, masonry is being employed and probably will be used
indefinitely, although concrete is rapidly rising in favor.
There is a wide range of rock dams, from the simplest primi-
tive type of a pile of loose rocks supporting a relatively imper-
DAMS 187
vious layer of earth to the ashlar masonry, each unit of which
is carefully dressed and laid in mortar or with cement joints.
Loose rock dams are occasionally built but under somewhat
exceptional conditions. For example, the Minidoka Dam in
southern Idaho, noted on page 169, illustrates how certain diffi-
culties have been overcome. The river where the dam was built
was of too great a size and volume to be diverted through a
tunnel or flume. Thus it was necessary to build a dam while
the river was flowing over the foundations. To do this large
rocks were dumped at the site, the size of the rocks being suflS-
ciently great so that the force of the current did not wash them
away. By placing these rapidly, it was possible to retard the
flow and cause the water level to rise. At the same time the
stream penetrating the loose rocks and escaping in large volume
below tended to consolidate the masses by washing the loose
pieces into place.
A loose rock dam of this character, built of stones as large
as can be handled, is in effect a barrier which withstands the
pressure or attack of the water by its own mass or weight. The
body of a dam thus composed of big and little pieces of rock
is, of course, permeable to water. Its function is to hold in
place the water-tight diaphragm or apron placed on the up-
stream side. To put it in another way, a loose rock dam con-
sists of a relatively thin water-tight wall or layer of steel, wood
or clay held in place by a heavy mass of pervious material. In
constructing such a dam, the larger blocks are thrown or
dropped into the stream or depression to be closed. On the up-
stream face smaller and smaller stones, gravel, and sand are
applied in succession, gradually reducing the size of the inter-
stices and finally on the upper water face is put a layer of clay
of such fineness that the water, cannot penetrate it.
In some cases where the dam can be built in the dry, the
impervious layer consists of a plank or steel or iron covering
suitably held in place. Such loose rock dams, if carefully built
and maintained, may serve indefinitely and at a cost — when
interest on this investment is considered — far less than that
of the more substantial masonry structure. There is, however,
138 WATER RESOURCES
always the element of doubt as to what may happen, especially
in those portions which cannot be inspected.
Masonry Dams. In contrast with the loose rock dams are
masonry structures in which the rocks instead of being dumped
into place are carefully quarried, dressed to a certain size and
then laid in mortar or with cemented joints so nearly water-
tight that no perceptible percolation occurs. Such masonry
dams have been built to a large extent in the past, but because
of the expense, the majority of the newer structures are being
built of concrete. There are certain exceptional conditions,
however, where masonry works may be considered. These have
an advantage in popular opinion at least, because of their mas-
sive appearance and the fact that well-laid masonry has
endured through many centuries.
Until within the last generation the typical dam was one
which depended for its stability upon the weight of the material
used. It was assumed that tension in masonry should not be
permitted and that at any horizontal plane through the dam
the weight of the material resting upon this plane, when con-
sidered in connection with the pressure against, would be so
adjusted that the resultant force would fall within the middle
third of the plane. The theoretical section thus became a rec-
tangular triangle with vertical water faces and downstream slope
approximately two feet horizontal to three feet vertical. Addi-
tional width was given to the top of the apex of the triangle in
order to provide for a roadway, and in some cases near the
base a slight curve was introduced as in the profile of the Croton
and other dams of the New York water supply and in the
Roosevelt, Elephant Butte, and similar masonry dams of the
United States Reclamation Service.
Concrete Dams. The use of concrete for dams has rapidly
increased because of economy in handling the material due to
modern methods and machinery, and because of the fact that
the concrete may be poured or molded into forms most advan-
tageous for the particular use. In comparing a concrete with
a masonry dam, we may consider that the aggregates instead
of consisting of great stones carefully laid are replaced by little
pieces which, because of their small size, can be easily handled.
DAMS 189
mixed with raortar and conveyed by rapidly moving machinery.
While it is comparatively difficult to obtain large blocks of
stone suitable for masonry, it is easy to get rock fragments or
to crush the imperfect large blocks containing soft spots or
cracks into small pieces, each of considerable unit strength. In
the case of a single large block, the machinery for handling it
must be ponderous and slow moving; the operation of bedding
each rock requires great care and a considerable expenditure of
time.
The shaping of the dam to conform to natural conditions or
to give the greatest strength with the least amount of material
is practicable with concrete to a far greater extent than with
large masonry blocks. (See PL VII. D.) It is possible to arrange
machinery so that it can crush and size the rock, mix it with
other aggregates and have a continuous process. It is even
possible to inclose the work and continue construction during
extreme weather when it would not be practicable to operate
heavier machinery.
The question has been raised for investigation as to whether
it is preferable to attempt to place in the concrete large dimen-
sion stones or pieces weighing several tons, or on the other hand,
to reduce all of the stone to small pieces fairly uniform in size
and to handle these systematically by modern high-power and
high-speed machinery. The present tendency is toward a sys-
tematic organization of machinery and men such that one simple
procedure is followed day and night, continuously'' for months
from the time the structure is started until it is finished. It has
been found that, although theoretically at least there might be
an advantage in using large stones, bedding these in the body of
the dam, yet, as a matter of fact, the time spent in quarrying
and conveying these, and particularly in setting or bedding
them in place, interferes with the otherwise orderly procedure
so that the gain from their use is not as great a source of
economy as was anticipated, nor is it apparent that the strength
of the structure is increased.
In most instances the materials in the quarry available for
building the dam are of such character that the obtaining of
large blocks is a matter of considerable expense, necessitating
140 WATER RESOURCES
much stripping and waste of material. If the attempt to secure
such large blocks is abandoned and the firm material from the
quarry, irrespective of size, is broken up, run through a suitable
crusher and selection made automatically by screens and other-
wise of suitable small pieces, the proportion of available mate-
rial is greatly increased; there is less waste in the quarry and
in the subsequent handling, and more than this, the machinery
can be operated at a relatively steady rate. Thus with the
development of machinery and effective methods of organizing
equipment not only is the use of ashlar or rubble masonry
declining rapidly even for massive structures, but also the use
of large blocks or "plums" in concrete is decreasing in favor
of the more uniform mixtures.
As yet no limit has been set to the size and height of struc-
tures which may be built of masonry, and particularly of con-
crete. The highest dam in the world, so far as known, is that
built by the Reclamation Service on Boise River in southern
Idaho, known as the Arrowrock Dam, PI. VIII. A, 350 feet in
height and 1,100 feet long on top. This is a curved structure,
of gravity section, containing 585,000 cubic yards of rubble
concrete, built with expansion joints and with inspection gal-
leries, PI. VIII. B, running through it in such a way as to
permit continuous observation of the behavior of the dam,
including the temperature changes and percolation which may
take place.
There is nothing as yet developed which would indicate that
the limit in height has been reached, or that it is not practi-
cable, by increasing the dimensions, to build structures of even
greater size. Theoretically there may be a point where the
hydrostatic pressure on the foundations will severely test the
porosity of some of the materials employed, but it is proper
to assume that such limitations have not yet been reached, and
that by proportioning the structures so that the pressure on
the base will not be excessive, provisions may be made for still
higher dams. In all cases care must be exercised in securing
proper drainage of the foundations and of the dam itself, so
that any water which may penetrate the foundations or get into
DAMS 141
the body of the dam may escape freely without accumulation
of upward pressure which may tend to lift the structure.
For relatively long and high dams the straight gravity
section appears to be the best type; but in narrow canyons it
is possible to secure higher economy of material combined with
safety by constructing what are known as arched structures.
These may consist of a single arch, PI. VII. D, in which the
radius may be the same from the top to the bottom of the
structure or in which greater economy in material may be
obtained by changing the length of the radius of the arch so
that the same angle is subtended. For long low dams the so-
called buttress type may be more economical than the gravity.
Among these may be included the multiple arch type in which
there is a combination of buttress and arch usually inclined to
the horizontal. There is much yet to be done in the way of
research and study of economical design as well as of materials
of construction.
Gates. In connection with every reservoir or dam for hold-
ing water, provision must be made for regulating the outflow
so that the stored water may be available when needed. The
character and position of the outlet are determined largely by
the foundations of the dam. As far as practicable the outlet
and gates should be built independently of the dam and located
in solid rock so as not to introduce points of weakness in the
dam itself. The ideal condition is to place the gates on solid
rock at one side of the structure. Occasionally, however, it is
necessary to build these through or in the body of the dam and
in such case great care must be used to prevent water from
entering the material or percolating along the conduit. With
earth dams the outlet should be placed on the solid undisturbed
base and should be provided with cut-off walls to prevent water
from following along the surface of the outlet pipe or tunnel.
Many failures have resulted from lack of suitable care in this
particular.
The types of gates ordinarily employed are vertically sliding
valves, usually rectangular and carried on friction rollers. For
smaller outlets the circular valves such as are used on city water
142 WATER RESOURCES
I
pipes are employed and for low heads or emergency outlets
occasionally the hinged butterfly type is used.
It has been found that the larger valves or gates leading from
the reservoir should be placed and operated if possible in such
way as to avoid opening them when under a pressure or head
of 100 feet or more. While it is possible to open or dose them
under these high heads, yet the erosive action of the sediment-
bearing waters and the vibrations set up introduce so many
complications or dangers that with deep reservoirs it is safer
to provide methods of letting out water at various elevations,
gradually letting it down through successively lower outlets and
using the lowest outlet only when the water level has sunk below
that of the higher gates. One of the latest and most striking
instances of this arrangement is in the case of the very high
Arrowrock Dam on the Boise River in southern Idaho. Here
the gates are placed in a series at various elevations. The
highest row of gates or valves is shown in PI. VIII. A and in
PI. X. A. These are of the Ensign type, circular in form, as
shown in the picture. These valves are operated from the
gallery inside the dam, as shown in PL VIII. B, the operating
cylinders for controlling these balance valves having been placed
inside the dam at a point convenient for access; at the same
time provision is made for inspecting the changes which may
be taking place on the interior of the dam.
As a rule all of the gates for the outlets through or over a
dam are placed at the upper end, so that when the gates are
closed water is excluded from the pipes or conduits within the
body of the dam. In the case of earthen dams, for example,
with sloping water faces, this necessitates the building of an
outlet tower rising from the upper toe of the dam and thus
standing out in the reservoir when water rises to its greatest
height. This tower is connected at its top with the roadway
on the dam as shown in PL XI. B and PL XI. D.
Spillways. In making plans for any dam, whether masonry
or earth, there must be ample provision for spillways for passing
excess water, especially that of unusual floods. In the case of
a solid masonry or concrete dan) of moderate height, the entire
crest may be made into a spillway, but as a rule it is wiser to
Plate VIII. A.
One of several ron-s of slutce gates to control water flowing through the
Arrowrock Dam, Boise Project, Idaho.
Plate VIII. B.
OperatiDg cylinders for sluice gates, also portion of inspection gallery in
Arrowrock Dnm, Boise Project, Idaho.
Plate VIII. C.
A series of curved spiUvaf sections near East Park Dam, Orland Project,
California.
Plate VIII. D.
Erosion at tower toe of Mexican diversion dam on Rio Grande above
El Paso, Texas.
DAMS 148
provide a depression or low point of overflow at some little
distance from the dam, so that the water of great floods may
not be able to attack the foundations and wear away the sup-
porting walls. As previously noted, it is absolutely essential
that in the case of earthen structures the spillway be of such
size and shape as to render it impossible for water ever to over-
flow the earthen banks; the margin of safety against overtop-
ping by any probable flood must be large. Long-continued
observations of river flow are showing that there is possibility
of the occurrence of floods surpassing those recorded in previous
years and that in these matters w^e cannot afford to take any
chances, but must provide maximum flood openings.
Examples of spillways are given in the accompanying illus-
trations ; that marked PI. VIII. C shows a series of small, verti-
cal curved dams which form the spillway for the East Park
Reservoir on the Orland Project, California. The reason for
adopting this shape was to give additional length to the spillway
and to permit a larger volume of w^ater to escape for a given
increase of height than would have been practicable with a short
straight overflow section. The form also gives additional
strength to the work.
In PI. XVIII. C is shown a similar spillway whose plan is rec-
tangular in form, being arranged in this way to enable a closer
automatic regulation of the height of water in the canal below.
These and other spillways are of great importance in connection
with various devices for regulation of river flow. They have
their widest application on streams which are subject to rapid
change of height or where floods may occur without warning.
Retarding Dams. A type of dam is being developed in
which the spillway is the most essential feature because of the
fact that the dam is built for the purpose of providing a safe
outlet, in contradistinction to the fact that in the past the
spillway has been built merely as an adjunct to the dam. In
other words, retarding dams arc constructed in a manner such
as to hold back any sudden flood and force it to pass through
a constricted opening or over a spillway with a limited capacity
so that only a part of the flood can continue immediately
down the river. Thus the flood is flattened out, removing the
144 WATER RESOURCES
dangerous features, and high water is prolonged, the flow con-
tinuing until the water which has temporarily accumulated
behind the dam is able to pass through the restricted opening.
The reservoir in this case is built not with the idea of holding
the water for use, but only to provide temporary storage for a
few days at most.
The important part played by retarding dams is being more
and more appreciated as the results of study of them are made
available. At first when it was assumed that the reservoir
must or should be used for storing water for long periods of
time, the conception of the retarding dam was ignored. Now,
however, there is a better grasp of the subject and the value
of this character of work is being made known on a true basis.'^
Failures. A successful dam teaches few lessons. The fact
that it stands shows that it has been strong enough to meet the
conditions to which it has been exposed, but as to whether it is
unnecessarily strong or is on the verge of failure no one can
demonstrate. Whenever a dam fails, however, the loss is not
only great, but incidentally the lesson to be learned is valuable.
It is important, therefore, that each case of failure be studied
and deductions made for guidance in other works. When com-
pared with the number of successes the failures have been rela-
tively small, but nevertheless they are deplorable through loss
of life and property. The principal cause has been weakness
of foundations or carelessness in making a water-tight joint
under the dam. Next to this has been the overtopping of earth
dams due to lack of provision of ample spillway capacity.
1 See Engineering News, December 7, 1916, p. 1093, where in connection
witli the Miami, Ohio, flood prevention project it is stated:
**Not less important is the court's declaration that retarding dams com-
bined with channel improvement furnish for the Miami Valley the only
practicable and complete protection from floods; again there is opportunity
for reflection by engineers. Flood prevention by reservoirs has been under
a cloud — and for that matter is today under a cloud, and with good reason.
The proposal to provide empty space for flood water and yet keep that
space full of water for other use has proved very difiicult to defend. But
temporary impounding of flood waters, applied with patiently calculated
precision and properly adjusted to the other variables of the problem can
accomplish the best and cheapest flood control for the Miami Valley, for
the Scioto Valley and perhaps for some other locations. This is a new
fact."
DAMS 145
In many cases the failures were the result of neglect after
the structure was completed, such neglect being shown in lack
of attention to the protection of the foundation or in permitting
the spillway to be clogged. In the case, for example, of the
Austin, Tex., Dam, the gradual undercutting at the base
was generally known but was not given attention and in an ex-
treme high water the dam slid forward into the hole excavated
in part during a preceding flood. Such undermining of the
toe is illustrated by the accompanying PI. VIII. D of the
diversion dam built by Mexicans above the city of El Paso,
Tex., showing how the water flowing over the dam has cut
away the protection at the lower side. This is probably a
condition which has existed prior to many of the failures of
dams, but by being concealed by standing water has not been
given proper attention.
As shown by a study of dams which have failed, the weakest
point in their construction or the one important matter which
has been most frequently neglected is that of making a water-
tight joint beneath the dam such as to prevent seepage under
the structure. Over half of the recently recorded failures of
dams have been caused directly by seepage through the founda-
tions. All failures of reinforced concrete dams have been from
the escape of water beneath the foundation and subsequent
undermining. Many of these failures occur because cut-oflF
walls were not carried deep enough, but in most cases there was
little or no attempt to build cut-off walls and seepage occurred
through fissured rock which was supposed to be sufficiently
impervious to retain the water.
Next in importance is the construction of ample wasteways.
Neglect of this precaution has resulted in an excessive head of
water against the dam, with an accompanying pressure greater
than that for which the structure was designed. The size of the
wasteways was based upon an assumption as to volume of flood
flow entirely too small, overlooking the fact that the floods
which had actually been measured were by no means repre-
sentative of the possibilities which might occur. In many
instances the engineer feared to invite the ridicule of so-called
"practical" men by building wasteways several times as large
146 WATER RESOURCES
as would have been necessary to pass the normal floods. Or to
put it another way, he did not insist upon a factor of safety
sufficiently great to take care of the extraordinary floods of
a century.
Lack of proper care in the maintenance of the works is the
cause of many disasters. For example, the failure of the hollow
reinforced concrete dam of the city of Plattsburg, N. Y., was
apparently due to the destruction of the foundations after
several weeks of neglect. (See Engineering News, Vol. 75,
June 8, 1916, page 1006.) In order to save expenses the
public officials decided some time before the dam failed to do
away with a city engineer as an expensive and unnecessary
officer ; thus apparently no one was responsible for the dam and
little is known as to just what happened. The responsibility
appears to rest on the city officials for disregarding the condi-
tion of the dam which was known to be leaking, and for at-
tempting to plug up the holes which were giving warning of
danger.
Careful investigation should be made as to the cause of each
failure of water control or storage works and an analysis made
of the causes. The results of such study have peculiar value
as a guide in future construction and also as a means of reliev-
ing the apprehension of the public regarding dangers of such
work. If it can be shown that in each case of failure there was
some peculiar condition which need not be repeated, then the
public mind may be set at rest to that extent. Without definite
explanation there is apt to be a blind, unreasoning prejudice
against work of this kind. Reference should be made to the
action of the Conservancy Court in connection with the Miami,
Ohio, Flood Protection Project as noted in Engineering News,
December 7, 1916, p. 1093, where it is stated:
"Earth Dams are safe. The judges in the Miami case carefully
and deliberately state their conviction of this fact. They reject the
searching and persistent criticism of such dams^ which the opposi-
tion put forward. Their opinion, formed after hearing elaborate
evidence on every possible phase of this subject, is a salutary lesson
to many an engineer.
"Bridges are safe, though some bridges have failed. Buildings
are safe, though wretched design and bad work made many a wreck.
DAMS 147
Dams are safe, though quackery and incompetence and neglect hare
brought about many a washout.
"The judges did not ask: May not a weak dam fail. They were
willing to venture their own lives and the lives and property of
their neighbors on the assumption that good dams would be built.
And aaauming good dams, they declared that the dams would be safe
and of auiEcient strength to sustain at all times any burden that may
be J>Iaeed upon them by impounded water. Many an engineer can
study with profit this calm and deliberate statement made by lay-
men after weighing the merits of affirmative and negative in a.
lengthy battle of fact and opinion."
The literature on the construction of dams is quite volumi-
nous—notably the articles in the technical journals and in the
transactions or proceedings of the Engineering Societies of
various countries. One of the most complete statements is a
treatise by Edward Wegmann' in which he discusses the dis-
tribution of pressure and gives practical profits, with descrip-
tions of important dams throughout the world, also an excellent
bibliography.
■ Wegmann, Edward, C. E., "The Design and Construction of Dams, In-
eluding Masonry, Earth, Rocb-flll, Timber, and Steel Structures, also the
Principal Type of Movable Dams," John Wiley St Sons, six editions.
SECTION '
Figure 5. Comparison of Roosevelt Dam with Capitol at Washlngtor
CHAPTER IX
NOTABLE WORKS
Reclamation Service. The great works which are yet to
be built and operated for the benefit of mankind are best advo-
cated by the showing of what has been accomplished. The
achievement of the national government in conserving flood or
waste waters and in converting parts of the desert into pros-
perous farms is both proof and prophecy of what can and
should be done on a larger scale. For this reason space may
well be given here to a brief description of some of the larger
dams built by the United States Reclamation Service. These
have been made possible by the use of the data already de-
scribed; they embody many of the principles which have been
the subject of research such as noted in previous pages. They
serve to demonstrate the fact that other storage works may
be built safely and efficiently in many different localities, using
an almost infinite variety' of materials and methods. Among
the best known of these are the Roosevelt, notable for its size;
the Shoshone, for some time the highest dam in the world; the
Pathfinder, built in its granite gorge; the Arrowrock, now the
highest dam; the Elephant Butte, remarkable for its straight
gravity section ; and others of earth and concrete each adapted
to meet the surrounding limitations.
Before entering into these engineering details, it is desirable
to give a note of explanation of the United States Reclamation
Service. This organization, under the Secretary of the Interior
of the United States, was created by Act of Congress, June
17, 1902, for. the purpose of survey, examination, construc-
tion, and operation of works for the reclamation by irri-
gation of arid and semiarid lands. Funds were provided in
the act by setting aside the proceeds of the disposal of public
lands which from 1902 to 1919 aggregated over $100,000,000.
NOTABLE WORKS 149
This amount has been supplemented by an additional loan of
$20,000,000 — all of which has been spent in works for con-
servation of water by storage and the distribution of the stored
supply in the western part of the United States.
The necessity for this law arose from the fact that the western
two-fifths of the United States consists in great part of public
land. The conditions of aridity' are such that only a very small
portion of this land can be utilized for agriculture. Attempts
made by individuals and organizations to irrigate the Jands,
although successful from an agricultural standpoint and from
that of the development of the country, were not profitable to
the investor, hence the development and the use of the resources
of the West were not progressing rapidly. It became appre-
ciated about 1900 that further progress could not be expected
without direct effort on the part of the federal government, the
owner of the great body of the arid public lands. The objec-
tion to making direct appropriations for improving these lands
was met by the ingenious plan proposed by the late Senator,
then Representative from Nevada, Francis G. Newlands, to the
effect that money derived from the disposal of portions of the
land should be used in reclaiming other portions.
The Reclamation Service was an outgrowth of the work of
the United States Geological Survey. The latter bureau was
authorized by Congress in March, 1888, to investigate the
extent to which the arid region might be reclaimed, this action
being taken largely through the effort of the then director, John
Wesley Powell. The investigations were made by what was
known as the Hydrographic Branch, measurements of water
supply in many streams being begun and also surveys of possible
reservoir sites. The information thus obtained and widely dif-
fused laid the foundations for a presentation of the needs and
opportunities of water conservation and furnished the facts for
action by Congress, taken in accordance with the recommenda-
tion of President Theodore Roosevelt in his first message in
1901. As organized immediately on the passage of the Act
of June 17, 1902, the work was under a chief engineer, F. H.
Newell, who continued in charge, reporting to the director of
the Geological Survey until 1907, when the service became a
150 WATER RESOURCES
separate bureau and the chief engineer was then made director,
reporting to the Secretary of the Interior.
Under the original organization, plans were prepared during
the years 1902 to 1907 for works whose completion has re-
quired all of the funds which would be available from the pro-
ceeds of the disposal of public lands for a decade or more.
These plans were so drawn as to permit expansion to the full
limit of the available water supply in each locality. The work
was undertaken in such manner as to enable completed portions
of each project to be utilized before all parts were finished. It
was also considered wise to start work on a broad basis in a
number of localities rather than to concentrate it in a few places,
because by so doing a more nearly normal growth of each pro-
ject was possible. This line of procedure was in contrast to
the attempts made by private investors to complete one large
project and then operate it as a whole without having had the
advantage of experience acquired through the slow growth of
the component parts. Most of the works thus planned from
1902 to 1907 have been brought to a degree of completion such
that a large part of the land is being utilized.
The principal works are those for storage of flood or waste
waters and for conducting the waters thus made available from
the natural streams to the lands to be watered. Besides the
storage dams, many diversion dams have been built in the rivers,
turning the water into large canals which divide and subdivide
into smaller distributaries or laterals leading to each farm. In
these canals and at each outlet, gates are provided to control the
water; there are also flumes, pipe lines, bridges, culverts, as
well as almost innumerable other structures, each requiring'
engineering skill in its construction and maintenance.
Storage Works. For the purpose of storing flood water
over fifty noteworthy dams have been built by the Reclamation
Service. They are listed and described in the annual reports
of that bureau and are discussed at some length in several
recently issued books^ and engineering publications. In the
1 Davis, Arthur Powell, "Irrigation Works Constructed by the United
States Government," John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1917, pp. 413, illus-
trated.
James, George Wharton, "Reclaiming the Arid West. The Story of the
Plate IX. A.
Sheep grazing along canal In vidnltv of Huntley, Montana, Illustrating liuw
tiicy may be used to keep down the weeds on canal banks.
Plate IX. B.
Tunnel for diversion of North Platte River at Pathfinder Dam, Wyoming.
Plate IX. C.
Shoshone Dam, Wyoming, as seen from water side before completion
Plate IX. D.
r created hy Shoshone Dam, Wyamlnp, with wagon road
ind side of reservoir leading to Yellowstone National Park.
^
»
NOTABLE WORKS 151
aggregate, it appears that upwards of 20,000,000 cubic yards
of earth, rock and concrete have been handled in the construc-
tion of these. They range in height from 50 to 850 feet and in
length along the crest from 500 to over 7,000 feet. The reser-
voirs created by these dams have an area of from about 1,000
acres up to 40,000 acres and a capacity of from 10,000 to over a
million acre-feet. They thus cover a wide range of conditions
and afford examples, for future emulation, of methods success-
fully adopted in meeting and overcoming various difficulties.
The wide diversity in quantity of run-off per square mile
available for storage in various reservoirs is notable. This is
partly due to the great variation of yield, from year to year,
of the arid region streams. The run-off of any one year or
the mean of a few years may differ widely from the average of
a 10- or 20-year period. The principal reason, however, for
the great diversity in quantity of water which may be held is
that some of the reservoirs are near the headwaters with catch-
ment areas on which is a heavy rain- and snowfall while others
are so located as to receive the meager and erratic drainage
from a large extent of low-lying, arid land.
Cost anix Value. In connection with these reservoirs, the
most interesting item, perhaps, is the cost as compared with
the benefits received directly and indirectly. In the case of the
Roosevelt Reservoir in Arizona, where stored water has great
value, the capacity for storage or quantity which may be had
each year has cost at the rate of $7.76 per acre-foot. The
lowest expenditures are naturally in the case of preexisting
lakes which have been utilized, this being for Lake Tahoe only
$1 per acre-foot. The highest cost of stored water is for the
smaller artificial reservoirs, the large expenditure upon which
has been justified by some special circumstance.
In considering the cost and value of any reservoir for con-
serving water, it is necessary to make allowance for losses. It
is obvious that the full amount of water delivered to a reservoir
cannot be depended upon as, under ordinary conditions, it is
impossible to draw out as much water as has been put in. The
United States Reclamation Service," Dodd, Mead & Co., New York, 1917,
pp. 411, illustrated.
152 WATER RESOURCES
losses are of two principal kinds : first, that by evaporation from
the surface; and second, that by seepage from the bottom and
sides. The seepage loss may be reduced and in time may become
negligible, but the evaporation losses are practically perma-
nent (see page 65), and although the quantity varies from sea-
son to season, yet it is always a considerable part of the water
received. This amount may be measured by apparatus similar
to that described on page 70, a standard evaporation pan being
placed on or as near the surface of the water in the reservoir as
possible and maintained at the same temperature.
Knowing the average amount of water available each year
for a reservoir and its cubical contents, it might be supposed
that the problem as to the amount to be delivered from the
reservoir would be a simple arithmetical computation. This is
not always the case because of the fact that the water flowing
into the reservoir varies in quantity from season to season and
a statement of averages may be quite misleading. Moreover,
the demand upon the reservoir is not constant and may occur
at times when the basin is partly empty, and then it cannot be
fully met. The capability of the reservoir to deliver water or
what may be called its working capacity can be ascertained
only by making certain assumptions followed by somewhat
elaborate computations based upon these.
In making these estimates of the working capacity of a reser-
voir, it is desirable to take into consideration separately each
day or period of a week or ten days, and for this period the
probable inflow during that time, deducting the probable losses,
and from this to compute the total amount of water left in the
reservoir at the end of this day or week. If the reservoir is
full to overflowing there cannot, of course, be any added accumu-
lation. At such time also the losses by evaporation and seepage
are at a maximum. If, on the contrary, the reservoir is nearly
or quite empty, the losses will be at the minimum and the reser-
voir can probably hold all of the water which flows in during
that time.
By these computations there is built up a series of estimates
which follow as closely as possible the fluctuations and which
take account of conditions which are not revealed if reliance is
NOTABLE WORKS 153
placed on seasonal or annual averages. For example, if it is
assumed that during the year 100,000 acre- feet are received
in the reservoir and the loss by evaporation and seepage is
10,000 acre- feet, then there should be available 90,000 acre-
feet. This amount can be held in a reservoir of a capacity of,
say, 50,000 acre- feet if drawn out steadily during the irrigation
season and at the same time replenished by summer floods. As
a matter of fact, however, the greater part of this 100,000 acre-
feet might occur early in the season before it was needed for
irrigation and would thus pass through the reservoir, bringing
in great quantities of silt and being unavailable at the time when
most needed. iVIoreovcr, the losses by evaporation would be
greatly affected by the time at which the water filled the reser-
voir. For these and other reasons it is important that these
shorter periods be used in our computations in order that we
may properly take into account the fluctuations, time of occur-
rence and uses of the water.
Roosevelt Reservoir. This is one of the best-known and
most important of the works built by the government under the
terms of the Reclamation Act. The structure shown in Pis.
I. B and II. C is about 70 miles east of Phoenix, the capital of
Arizona, and consists of a rubble masonry, curved dam located
in the river canyon with a height of 280 feet and a length on the
crest of 1,125 feet. The relative height of the dam as compared
with the capitol at Washington, D. C, is shown on Fig. 5.
The reservoir formed by the dam has a capacity of 1,365,000
acre- feet and covers 16,800 acres. It was first filled in April,
1915, over four years after the completion of the dam. A
series of unusual storms then caused the stored water to over-
flow the spillways, as shown in PI. II. C. The excess flood was
disposed of without harmful effect, leaving in storage sufficient
to insure a supply for several years. The water is utilized to
irrigate nearly 200,000 acres of land in the vicinity of Phoenix.
The stream flow records, conducted for twenty-five years, show
an extremely erratic run-off and indicate that the reservoir may
be filled by floods at irregular periods with an occasional series
of low years, at the end of which time it may be nearly empty,
causing temporary shortage of water. This will then necessi-
154 WATER RESOURCES
tate strict economy in irrigation. Such shortage may be a
benefit rather than an injury, as it will tend to reduce the waste
and prevent destruction of the lowlands by overirrigation.
As an incidental benefit in the conservation of this flood
water is the creation of hydro-electric power. As the water
is drawn from behind the dam for conveyance down the river
to the arid lands a large amount of power is generated, the
quantity depending upon the height of water in the reservoir
and the volume turned out. There are four hydro-electric units,
with capacities varying from 1,000 to 5,000 kilowatts. A por-
tion of this power is used for pumping, but the greater part is
sold and the returns credited to the cost of the plant.
The stored water when released passes down the canyons for
about 50 miles to the Granite Reef diversion dam, where it is
forced to flow into canal systems on the north and south banks of
the river. These include over 800 miles of main canals and
laterals bringing water to nearly 5,000 farms. Along these
canals at several points hydro-electric plants have been built
to utilize the falls which have been necessary because of the
slope of the country.
The total investment in this complete system of water con-
servation by storage and distribution of water and power is
approximately $11,500,000. This will be repaid to the United
States by annual installments from the farmers whose lands
are benefited. Although the system has hardly been com-
pleted, yet crops of a gross value of over $18,000,000 were
harvested in 1918 and the increase of taxable property in the
community due to the building of the works has been at least
five times the original cost.
The area supplied with water from the Roosevelt Reservoir
is known as the Salt River Project. The characteristic feature
of this project, which distinguishes it from other enterprises of
the Reclamation Service, is the warm climate which, where
water is obtainable, renders crop production possible through-
out the greater part of the year. The number and value of the
crops justify a relatively large expenditure for the storage
of water and necessitate a high degree of economy in its use.
In this respect the project is similar to the costly private works
NOTABLE WORKS 155
in southern California, where water for irrigation has its great-
est value as compared with any other part of the United States,
and where during each succeeding decade larger and larger
sums are being expended in conserving the scanty supply.
The engineering problems are those which grow out of the
necessity of attempting to control a river which is not only
erratic in its floods, but which apparently has a cycle of wet
and dry years, more distinctly marked in this case than has
been made apparent on other rivers on which reclamation works
have been built. This results in the necessity of considering
storage not merely for the current year, but with relation to
the series of dry years which have been known to exist, following
seasons during which floods have occurred with more or less
regularity. Consideration has been given to the question as to
whether storage should be provided adequate only to handle
the floods which occur during the low years, or whether the
expense would be justified of building a reservoir capable of
holding larger floods, and with the probability that it would
not be filled during the succession of low years. In working out
any plan it was necessary to meet certain conditions of human
origin, namely, the existence of irrigating canals built by the
irrigators acting individually or in cooperation, or by investors
hoping to secure a profit on the sale of water rights and of
lands.
Salt River Valley includes the lands in southern Arizona,
extending from the point where Salt River emerges from the
mountains near the mouth of Verde River, its principal tribu-
tary, to the locality where Salt River flows into the Gila, a tribu-
tary of Colorado River. Irrigation was carried on in this valley
in prehistoric times by ancient peoples whose canal lines have
been nearly obliterated. The river has a decided fall, so that
water can be diverted at almost any point and carried diago-
nally away from the stream, covering considerable land within a
short distance from the point of diversion.
The first use of water for irrigation by white men was in
1868, through the Salt River Valley Canal. From this time on
the building of new works continued rapidly until the combined
capacity of the canals was far in excess of the normal low water
156 WATER RESOURCES
flow of the river, their construction having been induced by a
superficial consideration of the series of years of abnormally
high run-off between 1888 and 1897. Following that period
the reverse occurred, and for over six years general drought
conditions prevailed, resulting in the destruction of valuable
orchards, vineyards and alfalfa fields, stimulating active efforts
on the part of the inhabitants of the valley to secure the con-
struction of storage reservoirs.
The original plan of the Reclamation Service in accordance
with the then needs was simply to build a reservoir, leaving the
companies and associations operating the canals in the valley
to enlarge and extend them later as needed for the delivery of
additional water supply. A great flood in 1905, however,
destroyed the diversion dam and otherwise injured the works of
the Arizona Water Company, which controlled all the canals on
the north side of Salt River. The inability of the company to
promptly repair the works led to their purchase by the Rec-
lamation Service and to the subsequent reconstruction of the
diversion and distribution system.
As worked out, the Salt River Project includes the largest
hydro-economic system practicable: viz., a storage reservoir,
a large concrete diverting dam, with sluices and headworks on
each side of the river, a complete system of canals and laterals
to cover over 200,000 acres of land, and a power plant at the
Roosevelt Dam with a transmission line to bring the electric
power to the valle}'^ below, where it joins other power develop-
ments on the canals, and is used in pumping underground waters
and for similar purposes.
Pathfinder. The Pathfinder Dam and reservoir on North
Platte River in central Wyoming is of particular interest as
illustrative of excellent natural conditions for conservation of
water by storage and of certain problems which arise in con-
nection with such an enterprise. The dam is of simple gravity
section, built of granite quarried from the immediate vicinity.
The river at the point has cut its way through a mass of gran-
ite and unlike many other gorges in the arid region the ancient
river channel has not been deeply buried. Thus it only required
excavation of the loose debris to a depth of not to exceed ten
NOTABLE WORKS 157
feet to reach the solid granite bottom. The gorge itself in which
the dam is built is narrow, and with vertical walls, as shown in
PL VI. A. The diversion of the river was easily accomplished
through a tunnel located on the north or right hand side looking
downstream. A view of the tunnel is shown on PI. IX. B. In
this tunnel have been placed gates for controlling the outflow
of the reservoir. During construction the river was diverted
through this tunnel and when the dam was partly completed the
tunnel gates were closed, enabling flood water to be held in the
reservoir.
A short distance upstream the valley widens and affords
space for a storage reservoir of over 22,000 acres, in which
nearly the entire discharge of the river can be held from the
time of the spring floods to the dry period of summer. After
the completion of the dam it was found advisable to build a
higher outlet than the one originally provided, on account of
the excessive erosion of the controlling device under the high
heads when operating with the reservoir nearly full. As com-
pleted the masonry dam is 218 feet high and 432 feet in length
along the crest. A short distance to the south of the dam a
dyke has been built to raise the level of the reservoir and pre-
vent water overflowing a gravel ridge which extends south from
the granite gorge above described. This ridge closes what is
apparently an ancient channel or depression.
The stored water held in this reservoir in central Wyoming
is permitted to escape as needed and is recaptured by what is
known as the Whalen diversion dam, over 150 miles down-
stream and at the head of the Interstate Canal in eastern
Wyoming. This has a capacity of 1,400 cubic feet per second,
is nearly 100 miles long, extends into western Nebraska and
serves about 130,000 acres in the states of Wyoming and
Nebraska. On the opposite or south side of the river is under
construction a similar large canal known as the Ft. Laramie,
intended to water 100,000 acres. Besides supplying the two
large government canals with water for the 230,000 acres, above
noted, the Pathfinder Reservoir provides water in ordinary years
to supplement the supply of a number of private older canals
along the river. The cost of the reservoir is, in round numbers,
158 WATER RESOURCES
2,500,000, and of the canal system nearly an equal amount.
In 1918 when only about 85,000 acres were irrigated, the annual
crop value reached $8,000,000. With the increase in area and
with the more thorough farming methods, the returns are
increasing rapidly.
When the United States entered this field a large number of
small canals had been built taking water from the river, some
in Wyoming but most of them in Nebraska, so that in August,
in years of low run-oflF, the stream was nearly dry at the state
line, and in normal years most of the canals in Nebraska were
short of water in the late summer. The government investiga-
tions began with a search for reservoir sites, resulting in the
discovery of several possible locations. The one finally selected
is that about fifty miles west of Casper, Wyo., where the reser-
voir, formed by the building of the Pathfinder Dam, has a capac-
ity of 1,070,000 acre- feet, a magnitude sufficient to provide
storage for irrigation purposes of all the unappropriated sup-
ply of normal years, and to hold a large reserve from the years
of heavy run-oflF for use in years of drought.
The entire supply received by the Interstate Canal is used
during the summer for the direct irrigation of the lands under
it. In the spring and autumn, when less water is used, the sur-
plus capacity is employed to convey water to two reservoirs
that have been constructed in the valley, beginning about 100
miles below the headworks of the canal. Lake Alice, with capac-
ity of 11,400 acre- feet and Lake Minatare, with a capacity of
about 67,000 acre-feet. These reservoirs enable the main canal
to bring water to a much larger area than it could otherwise
supply, and also furnish insurance against drought to the lands
under them. Without them the cultivated lands might be left
waterless in the event of a break in the main canal, the liability
to which increases with its length.
Shoshone. In contrast to the massive dimensions of the
Roosevelt and Pathfinder dams, but similar in having a curved
plan, is the extremely high and relatively thin concrete dam on
Shoshone River in Wyoming, east of Yellowstone National Park,
shown from the upstream side in PI. IX. C. This, when built,
was reputed to be the highest in the world, the crest being over
NOTABLE WORKS 159
328 feet above bedrock, and only 200 feet long, the dam con-
taining 78,576 cubic yards of material. The canyon at this
point is very narrow, as shown in PL IX. C. Above the canyon
the valley spreads out, permitting the formation of a lake which
when full has a surface area of 6,600 acres and a capacity of
456,600 acre-feet.
At a point about 16 miles below the storage dam, the water
is diverted by a low overflow dam into what is known as Corbett
Tunnel, 17,355 feet in length, which delivers it to the main canal,
which has a capacity of approximately 1,000 second- feet and
a length of 18 miles. This in turn distributes water to over
380 miles of smaller distributaries, providing water for upwards
of 150,000 acres, of which, however, only a portion is at present
under cultivation — the canal system being constructed well
ahead of farm developments. On these lands, hay and grain
are produced and small tracts are devoted to vegetables.
Alfalfa is the principal crop here as elsewhere on the irrigation
projects, exceeding all others both in area planted and in value.
The reservoir created by the Shoshone Dam is in the line of
direct travel from the town of Cody, Wyo., to the Yellow-
stone National Park, and hence it has been necessarv to build
roads around the margin of the water to replace those sub-
merged. The country in which these are located is quite rough
and in places the roadway passes through tunnels, as shown in
PL IX. D. As finally built, a few feet above the level of the
reservoir, the road forms one of the most attractive approaches
to the park.
Arrowrock. The highest storage dam in the world, that on
the Boise River in Idaho, is a concrete structure, curved in
form and with relatively thin section. It rises 350 feet above
the lowest point of base and measures 1,100 feet along the crest.
The storage provided is small compared to that of other large
dams because of the fact that the valley does not widen out
above the dam site but continues as a narrow gorge. The local-
ity chosen was, however, the best point available for holding the
floods of the stream and the value of water is such as to justify
the larger expenditure per acre-foot stored than in the case of
some of the other dams. The cost per acre-foot capacity is
160 WATER RESOURCES
approximately $25, as compared with less than $8 for the
Roosevelt Dam and less than $2 for the Pathfinder.
The accompanying view, PL X. A, was taken when the dam
was approaching completion and shows in the background a
portion of the reservoir, also near the center of the dam the
water issuing from the highest row of outlets. On the extreme
left is the spillway, formed by making a narrow cut in the hill-
side. The water stored here is allowed to flow down the river
as needed and at a point about twelve miles below is taken out
by a lower dam into the head of a large canal. This serves not
only certain of the agricultural lands but also carries a large
part of the flood water to a depression out on the plain known
as Deer Flat Reservoir, where it can be held to meet later needs.
By utilizing the Arrowrock Reservoir in the narrow river
valley to regulate the floods as well as to store a part of the
water, it is possible to so control the stream as to make more
largely available the Deer Flat Reservoir and to conserve the
greater part of the floods which otherwise run to waste.
Among the many notable features of this dam may be men-
tioned the method of discharging the stored water. Instead of
having one or two large outlets built in tunnels through the
rocky walls, the plan has been adopted of providing a series of
outlets directly through the dam and at various heights. The
problem has been to discharge the water at necessary times in
such a way as to overcome the destructive energ}*^ of the water
as it issues.
Flood flows of such magnitude that they cannot be controlled
by various valves in the dam are taken care of by the spillway
located at the extreme left, PI. X. A. This is regulated by a
rolling device which allows the flood to pass over the spillway
or which can be raised to maintain the desired water level. The
operation is automatic, the rolls falling and permitting a larger
and larger volume to escape as the flood rises or as the flow
declines the discharge is automatically checked. By the device
installed, floods of 40,000 second- feet can be handled and the
flow regulated from 1 second-foot to 10 second- feet {Engineer-
ing Becordy September 30, 1916, p. 409).
Elephant Butte. This structure is of interstate and inter-
Plate X. A.
Arcowrock Dam, Boise Project, Idaho, water issuing from Ave openings
in the upper row.
Plate X. B.
Elephant Butte Dam, New Mexico, under construction.
Plate X. C.
Earth dam on Carson River, Nevada.
Plate X. D.
Lake Keechelus, Waslilnrfon, one of tliree larjte lakes converted
Into reservoirs at head of Vaklma River. Teiiiporarj' wooded crib dam
above site of permanent earth dani.
NOTABLE WORKS 161
national interest in that it stores the water of the Rio Grande,
which rises in Colorado, flows in a southerly direction through
New Mexico, forms a portion of the boundary between New
Mexico and Texas and finally forms the international boundary
for several hundred miles between the states of Texas and Chi-
huahua, Coahuila, and Tamaulipas, in the Republic of Mexico.
The water stored in the reservoir is to irrigate land in New
Mexico and Texas, 60,000 acre-feet being set apart to be dis-
tributed to Mexico in recognition of prior rights and of inter-
national comity. The dam, unlike the Roosevelt, Arrowrock,
and other large storage works built by the Reclamation Service,
is perfectly straight in plan, the width of the valley being too
great to utilize economically the curved form. In vertical sec-
tion it is somewhat similar to the Roosevelt Dam, the extreme
height is 800 feet, as contrasted with 280 feet on the latter, and
the cubical contents are nearly double.
The reservoir created by the dam is one of the largest in the
world, being nearly 40 miles in length and contains over 2,600,-
000 acre-feet. The necessity for this large storage capacity
arises because of the large fluctuations of the river from year
to year, the maximum annual flow being about 2,422,000 acre-
feet and the minimum 200,700. It is necessary to provide stor-
age to hold the high floods so that some of the water may be
carried over the years of drought. Another necessity for hav-
ing great reservoir capacity lies in the fact that a large amount
of silt is brought down by the river and left in the still waters
of the artificial lake. The size of the reservoir will enable this
silt to accumulate for many years without material injury.
The stored water is discharged through numerous sluices, as
shown in PI. X. B, which gives a view of the dam as it was
approaching completion. In the background is to be seen the
mass of black basalt known as Elephant Butte, rising through
the sedimentary rocks and forming a striking landmark.
Lake Tahoe. In marked contrast to the costly works just
described is the low, easily built dam which regulates the out-
flow from this natural lake, one of the largest and most economi-
cally operated of the natural reservoirs in the arid west. The
lake, partly in California and partly in Nevada, is remarkable
162 WATER RESOURCES
for its high altitude, over 6,000 feet, and for the peculiar beauty
of the surrounding mountains and forests, making it very
attractive for summer residence. The use of the lake for stor-
age has been governed to a large degree by aesthetic considera-
tions as it was not desired to raise the level bevond a certain
fixed point to avoid flooding the lands along the shore valuable
for residence, nor was it practicable to lower the water more
than a few feet because of possible interference with navigation
by the small craft which form the principal means of convey-
ance to and from the hotels and houses lining the shores. It
has been possible within these narrow limits to work out a
scheme of control such as to hold the greater part of the spring
freshets which reach the lake and not permit any considerable
amount of water to flow to waste.
A view of the lake is given in PI. I. A, illustrating the general
topography. The outlet is a relatively small river, the Truckee,
which, flowing north and continuing for a time in California,
turns easterly and with rapid descent enters the eastern edge
of Nevada, where it soon disappears in Pyramid or Winnemucca
lakes, these being shrunken remnants of the ancient fresh water
body known as Lake Lahontan. To regulate the outflow of
Tahoe into Truckee River, it has been necessary merely to build
a low dam, originally of logs, similar to that shown on PI. X. D,
but less elaborate. This early structure has been replaced by
one of concrete, founded mainly on the river gravel, and pro-
vided with gates of sufficient width to permit drawing down the
lake during the few da^^s of extreme demand for water in the
lower valleys in Nevada.
In its course in California, several water power plants, mainly
for electric transmission, have been built, and farther down in
Nevada a number of private irrigation canals take most of the
water from the river. Still lower and a few miles above the
lakes or sinks into which the river disappeared when in a state
of nature, a large canal, PI. XII. C, built by the United States
Reclamation Service, takes the remaining water to the adjacent
desert lands and in flood time to a reservoir on Carson River.
The problems of water conservation and of distribution are thus
quite complicated. Storage in Lake Tahoe of the excess waters
NOTABLE WORKS 168
of spring is relatively simple, except as modified by the require-
ments of the summer residents. In letting out this water, how-
ever, provision must be made for the rights asserted by the
officials of the two states concerned and by the owners of the
power plants and of the older irrigation works whose claims to
the water are somewhat indefinite. The lower storage on Car-
son River aids in economically handling available water, but
the floods and the return water from the old canals add various
complications.
Lahontan. The low-lying reservoir on Carson River formed
by this dam presents many interesting features in connection
with the solving of problems of saving waste water on the
lower reaches of torrential streams. The ideal condition in
storage is to hold the water at as high a point as practicable
in the mountains, as is done in the case of Lake Tahoe, situated
at the head of Truckee River. On the Carson River, which
rises in the high valleys immediately south of the Truckee, are
numerous reservoir sites. The first question which naturally
occurs to the student is as to why storage works have not been
built there instead of at the place selected. This might have
been done had it not been for certain artificial limitations set
by the manner in which the country has developed and the
adverse rights which have attached to the use of water.
The streams which go to make up the Carson River rise on
the east side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in an area included
within the boundaries of the state of California. The reservoir
sites, therefore, which are needed for impounding the water for
use in Nevada are in the adjacent state. The condition is simi-
lar to that which exists at Lake Tahoe, except that the line
between the two states has been drawn through Lake Tahoe,
dividing its water surface between the two states. The questions
of the rights to the use of the water of the tributaries of the
Carson River have not been settled as between the two states
and the various claimants residing therein. It is probable that
many years of expensive litigation must ensue before these rights
are fully determined. In the meantime it Has seemed unwise to
wait for decisions on these points inasmuch as apparently, in
164 WATER RESOURCES
whatever manner the questions are decided, there will be a con-
siderable volume of flood water coming down the main stream
each year.
The Lahontan Reservoir has been built to conserve the water
which escapes from the irrigated lands in the valley of the
Carson River and particularly the erratic floods which may
occur at any time, but particularly in the spring. Its position
far down the main stream near the edge of the desert enables
this to be done, and also permits it to be used in connection with
the excess water of Truckee River, as noted above. Hence it
serves the purpose of taking care of much of the water of both
rivers which otherwise w^ould have been lost in the lakes or sinks
into which during past ages they have disappeared.
The dam shown on PL X. C is notable for the large size and
massive character of the spillways built at each end of the
earthen structure. These were necessitated by the fact that
the underlying rocks are quite soft and easily eroded. They
are of such doubtful character that it was not deemed wise to
attempt to build a high masonr}'^ dam upon the site nor was
there sufficient hard material near by to justify making a con-
crete structure. In fact, in order to secure suitable earth it
was necessary to make careful selection from among the mate-
rials in the vicinity. The dam itself has been made of ample
dimensions so as to distribute the weight and to completely
cover the foundation.
The Lahontan Dam being of earth placed in the path of the
floods and in a locality where the native rock is easily worn
away, it has been necessary to take somewhat extraordinary
precautions against overflow of the main structure and to break
up or neutralize the destructive forces of the waters which may
escape over the spillway. This has been done by so arranging
that the water which escapes around the ends of the dam shall
fall, not in one continuous body, but shall be dropped from step
to step until finally it arrives at the level of the river. Here,
instead of being turned directly downstream, it is given a
course parallel to the axis of the dam. The water, brought in
a curved path down this series of steps forming one spillway,
and finally reaching the lowest point, encounters directly in its
NOTABLE WORKS 165
path an equal and similar volume which has come down the other
spillway. Thus we have two equal and opposing volumes of
water expending their destructive energies on each other instead
of upon the easily eroded native rock. This action takes place
in a massive cement-lined basin and the tumultuous water, over-
flowing on the lower side, passes down the river with its destruc-
tive energy greatly reduced.
This whole system, beginning with Lake Tahoe and ending
with the distribution below Carson Dam, is illustrative of vari-
ous methods of overcoming difficulties which at first seemed
almost insurmountable, these arising not merely from physical
conditions but from legal or artificial restrictions set by state
lines and by imperfect or indefinite water laws.
Strawberry Valley. An earthen dam affording interesting
contrasts with the one just described is that built at the outlet
of Strawberry Valley near the crest of the Wasatch Mountains
of Utah. Strawberry Creek is a tributary of the Duchesne
River, whose waters flow into the Green River and through this
into Colorado River. On the west side of the range are small
streams which flow into the interior valleys of Utah, their water
being used in part for irrigation, the remainder being lost by
evaporation, mainly in Great Salt Lake. In order to supple-
ment the flow of these streams and to increase the area of land
irrigated in Utah Valley, a tunnel about three miles long was
built to carry water from Strawberry Valley westerly. An
adequate supply has been secured by building a dam to hold
back the flood flow of Strawberry Creek, thus creating a lake
with an area of 8,200 acres and a capacity of 250,000 acre-feet.
The dam is an earth fill with reinforced concrete core 72 feet
high, with a crest length of 488 feet. Being near the head of a
relatively small stream it has not been necessary to provide
spillways as elaborate as those of the Lahontan Dam and the
adjacent rock is sufficiently strong to withstand the erosion
which takes place during the brief floods. A view of the dam
when under construction is given in PI. VI. D. In this view
the top of the core wall can be seen projecting above the two
unfinished banks of earth between which is an area to be filled
in, completely covering the concrete wall. On the hill above the
166 WATER RESOURCES
dam and marking the upper limit of high water in the reservoir
are shown the shops and mixing plant.
Yakima Lakes. Somewhat similar to Lake Tahoe are the
Yakima Lakes in the state of Washington. These are a group
of three large and several small lakes on the east side of the
Cascade Range at the head of Yakima River. The regulation
of these was undertaken before the land around their borders
was largely utilized for summer residents ; hence it was possible
to provide a greater range of height of water than in the case
of Lake Tahoe, drawing it down below the natural level and
allowing it to fill up to a point above the former height. These
lakes are known as Keechelus, Kachess and Clealum. The Rec-
lamation Service has built dams of earth across the valley at
the lower end of each of these lakes. These earthen dams, as
a rule, have been built with core walls of puddled material. The
outlets of the lakes have been lowered by means of tunnels or
deep excavations across the line of the dam. A view of the tem-
porary or preliminary timber dam at the outlet of Lake Keeche-
lus is shown in PI. X. D. The final or permanent earth dam
has been built immediately below this point and raises the sur-
face of the water about 40 feet.
The water stored in these upper reservoirs is utilized in sup-
plying lands along the Yakima River, it being the intention to
hold practically all of the fiood flow and bring about develop-
ment of the arid lands to the limit of the supply thus made avail-
able. The principal canal system depending upon these reser-
voirs is that known as Sunnyside, the head of which is shown
in PL XI. A. There are about 80,000 acres under this canal;
the land being at a low altitude and with warm climate produces
very valuable crops — the gross return in 1918 being about
$7,000,000.
Deer Flat Reservoir. In contrast with the mountain stor-
age in Roosevelt, Tahoe, the Yakima Lakes and other reservoirs
near the headwaters are the conservation works built in the low,
open valleys such as the Lahontan. Here, in such valleys, the
conditions for storage are rarely favorable because of the long
length of dams necessary to inclose the depression and the
broad expanse of relatively shallow water exposed to evapora-
NOTABLE WORKS 167
tion. In the case of the Deer Flat Reservoir in southern Idaho,
the land utilized for water storage was originally devoted
largely to agriculture. The broad valley or depression selected
between the low, rolling hills, to the eye at least, does not offer
any particular advantage as a reservoir site. However, care-
ful survey disclosed the fact that a reservoir could be made by
building several low, earthen dams, as illustrated in PL XI. B.
One of these earth dams, 70 feet high, is 4,000 feet long, the
other, 40 feet high, is 7,200 feet long, each containing over a
million cubic yards of earth. Thev are faced on the water side
with heavy gravel obtained in the vicinity, no large rock being
available. A somewhat noteworthy experiment is being made
in that the embankments were widened at the top to a total of
from 60 to 70 feet, by dumping gravel from cars on the 8 to 1
water slope. This was allowed to lie at its natural angle of
repose. As the water surface rises and falls, the wave action
works this gravel gradually down the slope. The cutting has,
however, been much slower than expected, the top width after
several years being but slightly reduced.
Belle Fourche. Similar in some respects to the Deer Flat
Reservoir is that of the Belle Fourche Project created in the
broad valley of Owl Creek, South Dakota, by building an earth
dam 6,200 feet long and containing 1,600,000 cubic yards. In
its relatively thin cross section and great height this is one of
the notable earthworks, the crest being 115 feet above its base
and the side slopes two feet horizontal to one foot vertical. To
defend the dam from wave action it was deemed desirable to
cover the water side of the embankment with large concrete
blocks, as shown in PI. XI. C.
In building this dam the only material available in the vicinity
was found to be adobe clay. This material was handled with
difficulty unless the moisture contents were just right. When
wet the adobe is sticky and refractory and when dry it bakes
into hard masses or lumps and pulverizes into a fine powder
which forms dense clouds of dust. Moreover, it contains in
some places a considerable amount of gypsum, which is quite
readily soluble, so that care was necessary to make selection of
168 WATER RESOURCES
the layers which were nearly free from this objectionable
material.
The water collected in the reservoirs is that from the occa-
sional storms which occur in the drainage basin of Owl Creek,
but the chief source of supply is that obtained from a feed canal
from Belle Fourche River. Water is diverted from this stream
by means of a dam located about two miles below the town of
Belle Fourche, S. D., the canal leading from this point
being 6.5 miles in length and having a capacity of 1,600 cubic
feet per second. There is relatively little danger of overflow of
the dam because the greater part of the water which comes to
the reservoir is thus under control. Nevertheless, ample provi-
sion for wasteways has been made but on a scale by no means
comparable to those for the Lahontan Dam.
Umatilla. A somewhat difficult problem in water conser-
vation has been solved in the case of the Umatilla River in
northern Oregon. This stream, flowing in a general northern
direction into Columbia River, has early spring floods which
quickly run to waste. At the time they occur there is little
need of the water. There are few, if any, suitable reservoir
sites along the course of the stream, but careful topographic
surveys revealed the presence of several depressions or shallow
valleys in the relatively flat land near the lower end of the river.
None of these localities was particularly attractive and their
topographic advantages were lessened by the fact that the
country is composed largely of eruptive rocks overlaid with
sands and gravels so that there were considerable doubts as
to whether the depressions if filled would hold water. The out-
lets also of these shallow valleys are so broad as to require
dams of considerable length to close them. Selection was made
of one of these sites known as the Cold Springs and an earth
dam constructed, forming a basin of a capacity'' of 50,000 acre-
feet. The maximum height of the earth fill is 98 feet and the
length of the crest 3,800 feet. The dam contains 789,500 cubic
yards of earth. In outline it is curved in order to fit the con-
tour of the ground. A general view of the upper side of the dam
and of the outlet tower is given in PI. XI. D.
The reservoir is filled bv flood water taken from Umatilla
NOTABLE WORKS 169
River and conveyed for 25 miles through a canal with capacity
of 850 cubic feet per second. The water of the floods in excess
of this quantity is necessarily wasted, but by utilizing the canal
to its full capacity, there is usually obtained ample water to
fill the reservoir during the flood season.
One of the matters which has given considerable concern has
been the leakage under or around the embankment. A study
of the character of the water issuing indicates that it does not
come through the dam but probably -percolates in a round-
about way through the natural formation. The fact that it
issues clear and is decreasing in amount is an assurance of
safety. The experience gained in this and similar earth struc-
tures leads to the belief that other works of this character can
be built to advantage.
The feed canal is shown in PI. XII. A. At this place it is
lined with cement in order to prevent loss of water through the
rock, which as shown in the picture is shattered and pervious.
Here also there is particular need of care not only for economy
of water '^ut to prevent softening the earth of the roadbed of
the railroad which lies parallel to and immediately below the
level of the canal.
The flood waters delivered into the reservoir are drawn out
during the summer season for irrigating about 25,000 acres of
land. Much of this agricultural soil is very sandy so that dur-
ing the first few years the amount of water applied has been
excessive. A quantity to a depth of 15 or even 20 feet has been
put upon some of the small farms with resulting heavy seep-
age and necessity for building large drains. With greater skill
in applying water, the average duty has dropped to 6 acre-
feet, with prospects of still further reduction toward the average
of other projects, namely, between 2 and 3 acre-feet.
Minidoka. This combined storage and diversion dam is
notable as one of the large structures built of loose rock across
the river without diverting the main stream. Provision was
made for suitable river gates at the north side and then the
main channel was obstructed by large rocks dumped in place
and rearranged by the rapidly rushing water. Smaller and
smaller stones were dropped on these until the interstices be-
170 WATER RESOURCES
tween the larger blocks were filled and the river raised to a point
where it could be diverted through the gates already provided.
In the comparatively still water above the obstructions, gravel
and finer materials were dropped, making the loose rock struc-
ture fairly water-tight. The dam thus built raised the water
level about 40 feet and forced the stream into the gravity canals,
one on the north and the other on the south side of the river, at
the same time making a reservoir, named Lake Walcott, in
recognition of the work of Hon. Chas. D. Walcott, now secre-
tary of the Smithsonian Institution, in the reclamation of the
arid west.
A considerable amount of water belonging to lower appro-
priators must be permitted to flow through the dam. As an
easily available head of water was thus created by the dam, it
was considered wise to utilize this and thus conserve and put
to use as far as possible the power resulting. In PL XVIII. D
are shown the gates installed on the south side of the river
channel which, now closed, hold back the flow and force the water
to pass through the circular openings above the gates. These
openings lead to the penstocks of the power plant which has
been erected below the dam. The five large river gates 8 feet
wide by 12 feet high are kept permanently closed, furnishing a
head of 48 feet used to drive a 7,000 kilowatt power plant. The
cost of power produced under these conditions averages slightly
over one mill per kilowatt, including all operating expenses and
plant depreciation. This low cost makes it possible to sell the
energy for many varied and novel uses in the small towns in the
agricultural communities which have grown up as a conse-
quence oi the building of the irrigation works. A considerable
proportion is used for heating. For example, in the new high
school at Rupert, Ida., electricity is used for heating, light-
ing and operating all the devices necessary in a modern high
school that includes physical and chemical laboratories. It is
this utilization of what may be termed the by-products of water
conservation which best illustrates the far-reaching importance
of the subject.
To more completely utilize the dam, an extended overflow
weir has been built as shown in PI. XII. B, affording a broad
NOTABLE WORKS 171
spillway for the floods which enter Lake Walcott. It follows
a somewhat irregular line of lava or basalt. The weir consists
of a low concrete wall, on which have been built concrete piers so
arranged that by use of flashboards or stop plank the water
level can be raised, creating the storage in Lake Walcott of
150,000 acre-feet, of which, however, only about one-third is
available above the fixed crest. In the distance is shown the
power house above described, this being located near the deep
part of the channel immediately below the river gates shown in
PI. XVIII. D.
B£AR Lake. An interesting example of water conservation
by storage in which the reservoir is created not by raising tlie
height of the water, but by lowering it, is the case of the Bear
Lake in northeastern Utah. Bear River, flowing from the moun-
tains of Utah in a northerly direction through a corner of
Wyoming, passes by the northern end of the lake and in high
water overflows into the broad depression occupied by the lake,
the stream receiving back some of the water later in the summer.
In its lower course the river is used for developing hydro-
electric power, as well as for irrigation. For many years
studies have been made of the situation in the attempt to
improve the storage capacity. Plans have finally been adopted
by a water power company for drawing down the lake, not by
dredging out the outlet through the long, flat country which
rises to the north, but by lifting the water a few feet out of the
lake basin and sending it down Bear River in large quantities
at the time of year when needed. Power for pumping is pro-
duced by the use of the same water at points farther down the
stream, the fall in the river used in developing the power being
a hundred-fold that of the lift required to take the water out
of the lake.
St. Mary-Milk River Systems. The storage of St. Mary
River water in Montana and its transportation across the divide
into Milk River is an interesting solution of a somewhat diffi-
cult international problem of conservation. The St. Mary re-
ceives water from the high mountains of northern Montana,
which have recently been included in the Glacial National Park.
In broadly viewing the topography of the country it would
172 WATER RESOURCES
appear that the torrents issuing from the eastern slope of these
mountains should continue in an easterly direction and be avail-
able for use in watering the dry lands lying be3'ond the foot-
hills. These streams, however, instead of continuing in this
general direction are caught by St. Mary River, which turns
abruptly northward and flows along the front of the range.
The reason for this peculiar behavior lies in the fact that glacial
material brought from Canada forms a low ridge sufficient to
obstruct the normal easterly flow of the streams and to turn
them from the Missouri River drainage into the streams which
flow into Hudson Bay. The rain which falls on this low inter-
cepting ridge flnds its way eastward by several streams, the
principal one known as Milk River. Not heading in the moun-
tains, these are of small size, being dependent upon the some-
what scanty and erratic rainfall. They do not have the con-
tinuity of flow which marks the rivers issuing from the snow-
banks around the higher summits.
The boundary line between Canada and the United States
has been drawn in such a way as to put most of the head-
water and sources of water supply for St. Mary River and
for Milk River in the United States, each flowing into
Canada. Milk River, however, turns toward the east, fol-
lows along nearly parallel to the international boundary
on the Canadian side, then crosses back into Montana and
finally enters the Missouri River in that state. Along its lower
course are extensive areas of dry land which need irrigation
but for which an adequate supply cannot be obtained from
Milk River.
Seeing the large flow of water which is steadily pouring north-
ward into the Hudson Bay drainage, the idea immediately
occurs to an observer that this water originating in the moun-
tains of the United States should be held there and utilized if
possible for the development of the low-lying dry land in the
Milk River Valley of Montana. There are ample reservoir
facilities in the natural lakes and broad valleys, but the ques-
tion at once arises as to whether the water thus stored can be
conducted across the low dividing ridge. Surve3'^s of this have
shown that although the conditions are more favorable for
NOTABLE WORKS 178
diversion at points in Canada north of the boundary, yet it is
possible to take the water across the divide within the boundary
of the United States and to drop it into the headwater of Milk
River. Next, however, the promoter of such an enterprise is
confronted by the fact that the waters continuing on their way
to the lower Milk River Valley in Montana must flow into Can-
ada. Traversing a part of the country they return naturally
to the United States. It was found to be practicable for the
Canadians to divert this water while it was on its way down
the channel of Milk River and to take it out on to the lands lying
north of the valley so that even if water was stored in the
United States, taken across the natural barrier and started on
its way to the lower Milk River Valley in Montana, it might be
diverted from its course in Canada.
Each country naturally desires to obtain as much of the
available water as possible. The Canadians have built large
irrigation works heading on St. Mary River immediately north
of the international boundary; also other works, a part of the
same general system, which can take water from Milk River.
In the United States many canals were built further down on
Milk River and lands under these developed to an extent where
there was urgent need of water during the crop season. After
many negotiations, a treaty, dated January 11, 1909, was
finally concluded between the United States and Great Britain,
in Article VI of which it is stated "that the high contracting
parties agree that the St. Mary and Milk Rivers and their
tributaries in the State of Montana and the Provinces of
Alberta and Saskatchewan are to be treated as one stream for
the purpose of irrigation and power and the water thereof shall
be apportioned equally between the two countries."
With this understanding the United States proceeded to
utilize its share of the water and to complete a conduit with a
capacity of 850 cubic feet per second for taking water from St.
Mary River to the headwater of Milk River down the channel
of which the stored supply might travel through a portion of
Canada and back into the United States to the irrigation sys-
tem built by the Reclamation Service in the Milk River Valley.
In this instance the natural difficulties to be overcome in the
174 WATER RESOURCES
way of storage and diversion of water are not as serious as
those interposed by artificial conditions such as the laws of the
two countries and the conflicting claims which arise because of
the fact that there is not enough water to meet the desires of
both sets of claimants. The structures are notable perhaps
mainly from the fact that they are built in a northern region
where the climatic conditions are extreme and where ice may be
expected to interfere with the manipulation of the works at
critical times. The storage dams already completed are similar
to those built elsewhere, the principal feature being the canal
about 80 miles long which, starting from the west side of the
St. Mary River, follows down the valley and then, before reach-
ing the international boundary, turns abruptly, the water being
continued across St. Mary River in steel pipes.
After entering the Milk River Valley, the water follows nat-
ural channels into Canada, then along the north side of the
boundary, and enters the United States. It is finally diverted
into the low-lying reservoirs in the vicinity of the agricultural
lands. The successful operation of these works brings in many
complications because of the long distance from the reservoir
on the headwater to those in eastern Montana. There wilbalso
be for many years a necessity of exercising almost daily discre-
tion in the adjustment of conflicting claims to the water between
the citizens of the two countries.
Deliveries to Reservoir. In planning works for water
conservation the practicability of one scheme or another often
rests on the possibility of bringing water to a dry but other-
wise desirable reservoir site. In several of the storage works
just described the necessity was shown of procuring water at
some considerable distance, taking it through flood water canals
built for this purpose and utilized only during the time of an
excess of water in the river. Such a canal has been noted in
connection with the Umatilla Project, see PI. XII. A. An
earlier and larger feed canal used also to some extent for direct
irrigation is that shown in PI. XII. C. This is the cement-
lined conduit described on page 162, which takes the water of
Truckee River out of the stream near the lower end before
being lost in its sinks and carries it on a gently descending
NOTABLE WORKS 175
grade along the mountain side for thirty-one miles. The canal
has a capacity of 1,500 cubic feet per second. For the most
part it is necessarily narrow and deep, and occasionally passes
through short tunnels.
When the cement-lined canal from Truckee River leaves the
narrow valley and reaches the open country, it widens. Some
of the water is there used for irrigation and the remainder is
discharged into the reservoir on Carson River above the dam
described on page 168. The illustration, PL XII. D, shows this
reservoir site not yet filled, with the Carson River in the dis-
tance and in the foreground the water from the Truckee Canal.
At this point the descent to the reservoir is rapid. At the lower
end a concrete chute is provided, inclined upward at the tip in
order to throw the water clear of the foundation. The picture
illustrates an interesting phenomenon in the flow of water. It
is rushing down at high velocity and at this stage accumulates
in a large standing wave as shown in the foreground of the
picture. When the volume increases somewhat, however, this
wave is swept out and with increased flow at this point, the
stream continues unbroken to the very end of the chute.
Underground Storage. Nature has made provision for
water storage not only in the lakes and ponds which dot the
map, but in less evident ways. In many localities water is
stored underground, as noted on page 76, not in spacious
caverns as popularly supposed, but in innumerable tiny inter-
stices between the gravel pebbles or particles of sand. Such
material has accumulated on the lowlands along the rivers,
usually as a result of storms washing down the disintegrating
covering of the hills. It is evident that at the time of deposition
of this sand and gravel by rapidly flowing water, the mass was
saturated and thus remains until the water is slowly drawn off.
In the arid valleys of the west the gravels have accumulated
to an extraordinary depth because of the fact that many of
the streams from the steep mountains are intermittent and
torrential in character. They bring down during annually
recurring storms more material than can be transported across
the more nearly level plains near the foot of the hills. Some
of these mountain valleys because of later earth movements are
176 WATER RESOURCES
now completely inclosed; the rivers no longer escape to the
sea, but disappear in marshes or alkaline lakes. The gravel
terraces and valley slopes even where dry on the surface have
received and retained much of the water which has come from
the hills. When this water is not too heavily charged w^ith
earthy salts or alkali, it has great value for use in the drought-
stricken areas. This condition is particularly notable at the
outlets of the narrow canyons where the bowlders and smaller
stones have been deposited in the form of low cones or deltas
over which after storms the water flows, a part of it disappear-
ing into the gravel masses and then slowly seeping to lowlands.
The water thus temporarily or permanently stored in these
gravel cones can frequently be recovered by tunnels or deep
trenches and thus utilized during the crop season. In the
springtime the gravel cones are again replenished from the
floods and thus there is provided, as above noted, a reservoir
which is highly effective in time of need.
Investigations of the extent and availability of these natural
storage reservoirs have been made by the United States Geo-
logical Survey and various publications prepared, notably in
relation to irrigation development.^ The importance of these
waters stored underground is attested by the vigorously con-
tested lawsuits concerning their ownership and control — in
particular the case between San Bernardino County in Cali-
fornia on one side and Riverside County on the other relative
to the artesian waters of San Bernardino Valley. This case
has required a more exhaustive study of details than, so far as
known, has been undertaken in similar work. The examinations
extend into the geology, hydrography, and conservancy fea-
tures, accompanied by the spreading of flood waters over the
1 See J. B. Lippincott, U. S. G. S., Water Supply Papers Nos. 59 and 60,
relating largely to the underground water supply of San Bernardino
Valley; Mendenhall in Paper No. 142,' giving details particularly of the
geology, and Charles Lee on the water supply of the Owens Valley in
Paper No. 292. Also Frank H. Olmstead on "Control of Mountain Tor-
rents by Check Dams" in Engineering News, February 17, 1916, p. 314;
H. F. Olmstead in Engineering Record, May 13 and 20, and by O. E.
Meinzer and A. J. Ellis on "Ground Water in Paradise Valley, Arizona,"
and by O. E. Meinzer on "Ground Water in Big Smoky Valley, Nevada."
NOTABLE WORKS 177
gravel beds at the edge of the valley. Extensive tests have
been made on the effect of opening and closing artesian wells.
The water which is stored underground can be utilized some-
times by direct gravity flow as, for example, where the saturated
deposits of sand and gravel lie on the hill slopes in such position
that a tunnel can be driven on slightly ascending grade to
penetrate them and draw out the waters which are slowly per-
colating downwards. At various times considerable popular
interest has been taken in these so-called underflow^ tunnels,
particularly out from the Great Plains. (See page 78.) It was
known that there were considerable bodies of water under-
ground saturating the sands and gravel and that this water had
a general movement toward the east and south. The rate of
movement, however, was exaggerated, as it was not appre-
ciated that this is extremely slow, being perhaps at the rate of
a foot or two a day. (See page 79.) The level of the country
drops towards the east at the rate of about seven feet to the
mile. If an open trench or tunnel starting at the ground level
were continued westerly with a rise of 0.5 foot per mile, at the
end of the first mile it would be 6.5 feet beneath the surface and
in ten miles 65 feet deep. It was assumed that this tunnel
would tap the so-called underflow and permit it to flow easterly
to the surface of the ground.
Large amounts of money were spent in building works of
this kind, but after the near-by deposits were drained of water,
the progress of percolation was found to be so slow that a very
small stream of, say, a second-foot or less was obtained. In
other words, the cost of the tunnel was disproportionately large
when compared to the value of the supply. An equal amount
of water could have been pumped at far less cost.
Pumping to bring this stored water to the surface (see page
221) and to furnish an adequate supply for agriculture and other
purposes is being resorted to in a continually increasing degree.
An almost innumerable variety of mechanical appliances are
being improved and developments arc taking place along
various lines, particularly in the use of electrical power and in
the perfection of the steam and gas engines. The oldest and
simplest devices and one of the most widely used are various
178 WATER RESOURCES
forms of windmill or wind engines. From the earliest times
the power of the wind has been employed to supplement the
strength of man and of animals in lifting water for irrigation
and drainage. The great mills built by the Dutch for reclaim-
ing the lowlands of Holland are particularly well known.
Modern developments have resulted in building comparatively
cheap, rapid-running steel mills. These are used by the thou-
sands, particularly in countries, as in Kansas and Nebraska,
where there is considerable wind movement throughout the year.
There they are employed largely for pumping water for
domestic supply and for watering animals. To a less extent
they are utilized in bringing water which is stored underground
to small reservoirs or tanks on the surface, as shown in PI.
IV. A, where it can be held and usually warmed by the sun
until needed for irrigation of gardens.
Where wind movement cannot be depended upon, steam power
is being largely emplo3'ed. This finds a competitor in the
gasoline engine, especially in power plants. One of these small
irrigation systems is shown in PI. XIII. A, where there is an
earth tank or pond built above the general level of the adjacent
country. Water is pumped into this from the so-called under-
flow and is drawn out as needed for the irrigation of the sugar
beets in the vicinity. (See also page 221.)
Plate XI. A.
Dam at bead of Sunnyside CanHl, Washington, diverting water wliich
comes from storage at the head of Yakima River.
Plate XI. B.
Lower embankment of Deer Flat Reservoir, Boise Project. Idaho.
Plate XI. C.
Laying concrete blocks on upp«r face of Owl Creek Dam, Belle Fourebe
Project, South Dakota.
Plate Xr. D.
Cold Spring Dam and outlet tower, Umatilla Project, Oregon.
4
V
» »
<
i
CHAPTER X
USES OF WATER
Costs and Benefits. The feasibility of water conservation
by storage is dependent largely upon questions of economics,
that is, of relative cost and benefits, and these in turn rest upon
the uses to which water may be put. Although it might not
be profitable to conserve water for irrigation alone, it may
pay to store it for municipal supply combined with irrigation
and power development.
Thus in any discussion of water conservation it is necessary
to consider the ultimate uses of the water as these bear directly
upon the practicability of incurring considerable expenses for
any proposed system.
There is a wide divergence in the uses, some being of such
character that any expenditure would be proper, as, for
example, in procuring pure water for drinking; to save and
prolong life, a man or community will be justified in going to any
length. On the other hand, there are uses which cannot be
considered unless water is abundant and cheap. For example,
in some manufacturing processes the margin of profit is so
small that the question as to whether the enterprise is worth
undertaking is determined by the fact as to whether there
already exists plenty of good water which can be had at a merely
nominal cost.
In considering the uses of water and consequently the expen-
ditures which may be made in conservation by storage, we may
divide these uses into five classes.^
First, support of life.
Second, production of food.
1 See Progress Report of the Special Committee on "A National Water
Law," Proceedings of the Am. Soc. C. E., December, 1915, p. 2747.
180 WATER RESOURCES
Third, carrying away wastes.
Fourth, manufacturing, including water power.
Fifth, navigation.
This relative rank has not been widely adopted in the past ;
on the contrary, from a legal standpoint, the claims of naviga-
tion are often given precedence over other uses. This is because
of the fact that in the early days there was usually plenty of
water for all ordinary purposes. Manufacturing had not
developed any considerable needs, while on the other hand, the
transportation of persons and goods by water was imperative.
In the treaty with Great Britain signed January 11, 1909,
and promulgated May 13, 1910, relating to boundary waters,
it is stated in Article VIII that "The following order of preced-
ence shall be observed among the various uses enumerated here-
inafter for these waters, and no use shall be permitted which
tends materially to conflict with or restrain any other use which
is given preference over it in this order of precedence :
(1) Uses for domestic and sanitar}' purposes;
(2) Uses for navigation, including surveys of canals for the
purpose of navigation;
(3) Uses for power and irrigation purposes."
From the standpoint of human needs it is probable that irri-
gation, which means the production of food, should have pre-
cedence over everything except domestic and municipal supply,
and that the development of water power is more important
to humanity than navigation as now employed. However this
may be, there is no question but that all uses must yield to those
of prolonging life.
Support of Life the First Use of Water. The first and
most important use of water to mankind is for drinking pur-
poses; this is self-evident since it is not possible for a human
being to exist for more than two or three days without water.
More than this, continued health is dependent upon having an
ample supply of water of a high degree of purity, especially
one not polluted with animal or vegetable matter. It is possible
to continue to drink water containing a considerable amount of
mineral matter but on the whole the more nearly pure the water
the better the general health of a communit3\ Absolutely pure
USES OF WATER 181
water cannot be had, and the nearest approach to this is rain
water, especially that caught after the first part of the shower
has washed out most of the dust in the air.
Because of the prime importance of water for drinking and
for domestic and municipal supply, it is practicable and desir-
able to make large expenditures for water conservation by
storage for such purposes. In fact the needs of mankind are
such that no expense is too great to procure good water, assum-
ing that such expenditure is advisedly made. For this reason
some of the largest engineering works in the world have been
built for municipal supply. Such work includes dams creating
reservoirs, especially in the mountains where the purest water
can be had, also long aqueducts constructed to bring this water
to centers of population.
The amount which can thus be expended in procuring good
drinking water is limited only by the resources of the people.
Practically, however, other considerations have come into play
and, unconsciously at least, there has been a weighing of costs
and benefits in which human life and comfort have not always
been valued at their true worth. In other words, while theoreti-
cally a community should utilize all its resources to procure
good water, practically the consideration of cost is balanced
against the prevailing opinion of the value of human life and the
risk which may be assumed. This is not done in a direct manner
but, until the loss of life and health becomes alarming, the
ordinary community does not bestir itself to make strenuous
effort to procure good drinking water. Or to put it in another
way, the men in responsible charge usually have the feeling that
the penalty of neglect will fall on some other person : although
they would indignantly deny the charge, yet a careful analysis
will reveal the conviction that only the poorer or less worthy
members of society will suffer.
A rather interesting example of justice in this regard has
been furnished by a recent event in one of the smaller cities in
Illinois. Here public sentiment was strongly aroused because
of the known pollution of the city supply and the necessity of
taking immediate action. The mayor, however, a man of strong
personality, stood out against the proposed changes, urged
182 WATER RESOURCES
that the community had always used the water from that source
and, on the ground of economy, was successful in defeating the
effort of the great body of citizens. He himself was one of the
first victims of the typhoid epidemic which followed: he paid
with his life for his attempt to cut down necessary expenditures.
If each instance of parsimony or of official indifference were
followed by such prompt penalty the loss of life and health due
to the neglect of water conservation and protection would cease.^
Quantity Needed. The amount of water actually needed
for supporting life is relatively small. It is necessary for an
ordinary individual to have approximately four pounds daily
and under normal conditions, comfort is assured only by having
this amount available for use at short intervals. Some animals
drink very little water, but obtain the needed liquid through the
herbage cropped. In the case of the camel it is stated that he
has traveled 500 miles in 40 days with only 3 gallons of water
on the thirty-second day and 3^/^ on the fortieth.^
Although a very small quantity, namely, a half gallon per
person each day, is absolutely necessary, yet in constructing
waterwork systems, it has been found that to bring this half
gallon to the individual needing it and to supply his other
needs connected with cooking, washing and other household
purposes, from 100 to 200 times this quantity is demanded. In
European cities 40 to 50 gallons per day per inhabitant are
not unusual. In the United States the quantity usually taken
as a fair minimum is 100 gallons per day per unit of popula-
tion. It is thus apparent that in considering water conserva-
tion for supporting life, a large allowance must be made for
related purposes.
In this connection it may be well to call attention to the value
put upon human life as compared with the cost of safeguarding
it. One of the best discussions on this point is that given by
Marshall O. Leighton in Popular Science Monthly, June, 1902,
Vol. 61, p. 120, where he arrives at an estimate for various ages
1 Bass, F. H., "The Public Water Supply and Means of Protecting It,"
1910.
Hazen, Allen, "Clean Water and How to Get It," John WUey & Sons,
1914, 196 pages.
2 Coles-Finch, "Water, Its Origin and Use," p. 430.
USES OF WATER 188
based on court decisions, in which award was made largely on
life expectancy but without consideration of the suffering em-
bodied nor any punitive measure nor solace to the survivors.
In some cases the state law sets a maximum of $5,000, but by
taking an average of all the cases the values range from approx-
imately $1,000 at 5 years of age up to $3,000 at 16 years, then
increasing rapidly to about $7,000 at 80 years, dropping
sharply to old age.
It is apparent from the action which has been taken by courts
and by administrative bodies that there is a certain pecuniary
value kept in mind and that this is subject to the same economic
laws as ordinary commodities. Unconsciously, at least, some
such values enter into so-called practical consideration as to
whether or not a community will incur large expenses for obtain-
ing good water and thus reducing the death rate. Purely
humanitarian considerations must be supplemented by the logic
of the saving in money to bring conviction to certain types of
mind.
Value of Pure Water. The value of pure water is to a
certain extent fixed by the value set upon human life, as above
noted, and upon comfort, as well as upon industrial conditions.
This has been discussed by George C. Whipple in his "Value of
Pure Water," 1907. Without pure water any community is
subject to lower health conditions, and with water occasionally
polluted there is constant danger of typhoid and similar dis-
eases. In fact, the typhoid death rate to a certain extent
marks the degree of purity of water supply. Under ordinary
conditions no town can grow or increase in prosperity which
does not guard its reputation in this way.
In speaking of pure water from a sanitary standpoint there
is not implied the degree of purity required by the chemist. In
fact a good or fairly wholesome water may contain a consid-
erable amount of coloring matter or of various earth salts or
mineral matter in solution; also considerable organic matter,
although the presence of the latter should give rise to suspicion.
To be safe as well as palatable a water should be reasonably
clear, odorless and tasteless and free from contamination by
sewage or industrial wastes.
184 WATER RESOURCES
Various waters which are highly charged with mineral matter
may be used for drinking and some are regarded as having
desirable medicinal properties. These have been classified into
thermal or warm waters, muriated or containing traces of
chlorine, alkaline such as most western waters containing sul-
phates and carbonates, sulphated having sulphates in excess,
chalybeate or iron bearing, sulphur, calcareous, etc. That these
mineral waters are considered as having value is shown by the
fact that quantities valued at about $7,000,000 are disposed
of annually, of this over $1,000,000 being imported from abroad.
At the present time the greatest activity in water conserva-
tion as well as in hydraulic engineering in general is in connec-
tion with procuring water, suitable in quality as well as quan-
tity, for domestic supply, especially for municipalities. The
ideal condition for obtaining water for drinking and related
purposes is from some elevated watershed which can be pro-
tected from intrusion and where the erosion of the soil may be
prevented by the maintenance of forests or other suitable vege-
tation. Such conditions are found, for example, in the water
supply of Portland, Ore., which obtains its water from a national
forest, a vast tract of almost unexplored wilderness.
Favorable surroundings such as these are rare and for large
cities such as New York and Boston it has been necessary to
purchase large areas of land near the headwater of small streams
and to build storage reservoirs; in some instances small towns
and factories have been removed in order to secure the neces-
sary land and to insure the purity of the supply. Among the
more notable works are those of the city of Los Angeles, Cal.,
which brings its water supply from Owens Valley, a distance
of upwards of 240 miles.
The use of water taken directly from a reservoir or stream is
gradually being abandoned in favor of some form of filtration.
Theoretically the water stored in a reservoir should be so pro-
tected from pollution as to be suitable for use, but frequently
it happens that the waters are not only contaminated but in the
reservoir itself organic matter develops and certain changes
take place causing the water to deteriorate and to become unpal-
atable because of color, taste, or odor. For this reason, and
USES OF WATER 185
also because the density of population increases the correspond-
ing danger of pollution, more and more complete systems of
filtration are being introduced.
CHAPTER XI
FOOD PRODUCTION THE SECOND USE OF
WATER
After air, without which man can live only about two min-
utes, and water, without which man can exist for about two
days, comes food. This he should have daily and must have
at short intervals to maintain strength. Men have lived 80 or
40 days or even more without nutrition, but with rapid running
down of activities. All food materials, whether for plants or
animals, require water. Plants receive their supply mainly
through the moist earth, which in ordinary soils should contain
from 8 to 16 per cent of water in order that the plants may
thrive. If in certain soils the percentage drops much lower
the plants wilt, and if it rises much higher many of them become
drowned out. There is thus a narrow margin which must be
preserved to enable plants to find nutriment for themselves and
to act as food for animals. This proper proportion of water,
if not the result of natural conditions, may be produced arti-
ficially either b}^ irrigation, by bringing water to the plants
when needed when the water content of the soil drops below a
certain point, or, on the other extreme, by drainage to remove
the excess.
The watering of livestock is a use which may be considered
in this connection and which usually takes precedence even over
that of irrigation of the ground. Thus in this second class of
uses of water, that in food production, there come the following
items.
(a) Watering livestock and maintenance of animal industry.
(b) The production of crops by irrigation.
(c) Increase of crops by drainage.
In watering livestock, conservation by storage is widely em-
Plate xrr. A.
Main feed canal, concrete-lined section, for cariyinfi flood water to Cold
Springs Reservoir, Umatilla Project, Oregon.
Plate XII. B.
pillway of the Minidoka Dam, Idaho, with power house in distance.
Plate XII. C.
Cement-Uned canal carrying the water of Tnickce River
Reservoir, Nevada.
Plate XII. D.
Flume delivering water of Truckee River into Careon Reservoir, Nevada.
(
f
USE IN FOOD PRODUCTION 187
ployed, especially in great pastures and on the plains where the
cattle roam at large. Throughout the western part of the
United States, thousands of small reservoirs have been built for
this purpose. Some of these are formed by damming the little
streams and others are depressions in the ground into which
water is pumped usually by windmills. From the earliest antiq-
uity there was resort to this kind of water conservation. In the
biblical narratives there are accounts of deep wells or springs
developed and protected for the purpose of watering the cattle
and sheep.
Irrigation and Drainage. Throughout the western two-
fifths of the United States on much of the best agricultural
land the rainfall is insufficient in quantity, or so irregularly
distributed throughout the year that valuable crops cannot be
produced with certainty without an artificial supply of water
provided largely by storage. In the Mississippi Valley and
to a certain extent in most of the states of the Union there are
vast tracts of otherwise fertile lands which have an excess of
water to a degree such that crops cannot be profitably raised.
Here the hydraulic engineer is called upon to solve the prob-
lems of drainage. In many respects these are similar to those
of irrigation and are intimately connected with it, as the object
to be attained is the maintaining of the moisture in the soil
within relatively narrow limits.
For the production of crops by irrigation or for relieving
the lands of an excess of water by drainage, quantities of water
must be handled which are relatively large when compared with
those needed for city supply. For example, a 160-acre farm
will require for its irrigation or may need for drainage the
handling of a volume of water as large as would be needed for
domestic or general supplies if the area were covered with
dwelling houses or factories. When it is considered that an
ordinary American city of, say, 1 00,000 persons covers an area
of about 10,000 acres, while an irrigation or drainage project
may include 100,000 acres or more, some conception may be
had of the relative magnitude of the works needed for the two
purposes. Although for irrigation or drainage there must be
constructed works of large capacity, yet it is not practicable
188 WATER RESOURCES
to pay for these works an amount comparable with the expendi-
tures which may properly be incurred by a municipality.
For farming purposes a cost of irrigation exceeding, say,
$100 per acre, or for drainage, $50 per acre, may be practically
prohibitive, but for municipal supply the cost of providing
water for a similar-sized, but densely populated area may prop-
erly run into thousands of dollars. Thus the hydraulic engi-
neer, while encountering in either instance problems of quan-
tity and quality of water, adequacy of supply and difficulties
of storage and distribution, must keep down the cost of these
works to a small fraction of that which is feasible in consider-
ing questions of municipal supply.
In preparing for irrigation or drainage extensive studies
must be made by the engineer and detailed maps prepared to
show the topography of the country from which water may be
obtained for irrigation and to which it may be carried. This
mapping should be accompanied by measurements not only of
the rainfall, wind movement, and other meteorological phenom-
ena, but especially of the flow of various streams at typical
points on their course. Problems of flood conservation or
water storage are usually involved, these being on a larger scale
than those in connection with municipal supply. The result of
these measurements of rainfall and run-off should be available
for a considerable period of time as the fluctuations during five
consecutive years, particularly in the arid region, may not fully
reveal the ordinary conditions. Ten years are better, but it
appears from study of data now available that the engineer
cannot assume to have complete knowledge of the climatic fluc-
tuations from observations extending for a shorter period than
half a century. Of course, it is impossible to wait that length
of time before preparing plans for works, but when utilizing
data which extend over a short period, a large "factor of safety,
especially with reference to extreme drought and flood, should
be employed. (See page 57.)
The United States government has recognized the necessity
of being prepared to furnish data of this kind and has insti-
tuted through its Weather Bureau and Geological Survey a
series of obser\'ations of climatic factors and stream flow, which
USE IN FOOD PRODUCTION 189
enables the hydraulic engineer to make his estimates with a fair
degree of accuracy.
Rapid advances have been made throughout the United
States, especially the western or arid portions, since 1900, in
the construction of larger storage reservoirs and of distributing
canals for bringing water to agricultural lands; so that in 1918,
about 16,000,000 acres were under irrigation, out of possibly
50,000,000 acres in all, which may be watered. Also in other
parts of the country drainage works have been provided for, say,
10,000,000 acres out of 70,000,000 acres needing such treat-
ment to relieve the lowlands of an excess of moisture. No accu-
rate statistics are available of these acreages. Large works
have been and are being built, notably in Egypt, India, South
Africa, and Australia, by the British engineers. In other dry
lands, notably in Spain and Italy, there has been a gradual
development and in many cases restoration and enlargement of
great works built centuries ago.
While the necessities are not such as to justify as large
expense per unit of water stored, in the case of irrigation as in
municipal supply, yet the values involved are sufficiently great
to warrant large outlay for irrigation works. For example,
comparing the land in its original condition as shown in PI.
XIII. C, with the companion view, PI, XIII. D, it is apparent
at once that this desolate area, with an occasional patch of
prickly pear, has little, if any, value. It may sell at the govern-
ment price of $1.25 per acre and be used as a stock range when
there may be some herbage following the infrequent rains. But
compare with this the same area after water has been brought
to it from a storage reservoir located in the mountains. Here
the settler is able almost the first year to secure a fair crop
and the land provided with water will pay an interest charge
on, say, $100 per acre. If we assume an average cost of irri-
gation at $50 per acre and that a tract of 100,000 acres can
thus be supplied, it is assumed that an outlay of $5,000,000
would be justified. For this sum works of considerable magni-
tude can be built. In this view, PL XIII. D, the area has been
planted in alfalfa, the most important crop of an irrigated
region. This is not only cut as hay, crop following crop.
190 WATER RESOURCES
throughout the season, but is especially valuable in its green
state in the production of pork and in the feeding of farm
animals.
Inteknal Expansion. It is by means of this kind that it
becomes possible to greatly extend the area of land available
for agriculture and related purposes, and thus to realize the
dreams of increase of available territory without encroaching
upon neighbors. The engineer by conservation of water is thus
creating new and valuable agricultural lands and making oppor-
tunities for self-supporting citizens in localities where up to this
time there has been merely waste space. He is adding not
merely to the material prosperity of the country, but more than
this, he is increasing the opportunities for better citizenship,
for greater health and comfort and for the enjoyment of many
of the higher ideals of life. He is bringing about an internal
expansion of usable territory far more valuable than the mere
extension of external boundaries.
This internal expansion is, in effect, the putting into practice
of the principles of conservation; a term which really implies
good business management, or common sense applied to the use
of natural resources. The engineer, finding that certain areas
are neglected or that agriculture is not being practiced to its
highest efficiency, knowing also that the soil is fairly good and
that the climate is adapted to the production of crops, naturally
inquiries into the reasons. He tries to ascertain the cause for
the lack of full use of the lands. This he discovers is usually
connected with an excess or deficiency of water supply. He finds
that the plants useful for mankind are adapted to a relatively
wide range of soil and temperature, but are more narrowly lim-
ited by the quantity of moisture. More than this, he appre-
ciates that the control of the water, while in part an agricul-
tural operation, is largely dependent upon the application of
engineering principles.
Knowing, for example, that a certain area is arid and desert,
or subject to periodical drought, the first consideration of the
engineer is to seek out the sources from which water may be
obtained and brought to the land to raise the water content
USE IN FOOD PRODUCTION 191
of the soil from the original 1 or 2 per cent up to 10 per cent or
more.
On the other hand, finding a neglected or abandoned swamp
or overflowed area or one whose soil is habitually wet or heavy,
the problem presented to the engineer is to take away this excess
and bring the water content down from the saturated condition
of 100 per cent to 15 per cent or less of water.
These two operations are intimately connected because of
the fact that when water has been provided in abundance for a
piece of arid land the tendency is to use the water in excess and
to saturate it to an extent such that a large part of the area
is injured for agricultural purposes. It thus becomes neces-
sary to provide means for reclaiming these saturated lands;
drainage is found necessary in localities where in their original
state the lands were dry and barren.
Irrigation and drainage are thus related, much in the same
way that city water supply and sewage are "connected. The
better the water supply, the more complete should be the sewage
system. The larger the supply of water for irrigation, the
more necessary the installation of effective drains and waste-
ways. This very simple relation has very frequently been over-
looked or at least ignored to an extent such that throughout
arid North America, 15 per cent to 20 per cent of the irrigated
lands, formerly producing large crops under irrigation, have
been ruined by careless handling of the water and by lack of
drains. The surface has been converted into swamps or covered
with alkali over tens of thousands of acres.
The watering of lands by artificial means to increase crop
production, is widely practiced in the western or arid portions
of the United States, as well as in the dryer parts of the Old
World. It necessitates the application of many of the prin-
ciples of hydraulic engineering and in addition, as above noted,
requires for success a knowledge of agriculture and related
economic matters. There is, on the whole, a far larger extent
of dry land than can ever be provided with sufficient water for
maturing crops. Thus land values, in a large way, depend upon
the ability to obtain water ; many other industries besides agri-
192 WATER RESOURCES
culture can be developed only in localities where an artificial
water supply can be had.
Irrigation in the United States began with a few hundred
thousand acres in 1880, by 1890 the irrigated area had increased
to approximately 4,000,000 acres, in 1900 to 8,000,000 acres,
and in 1910 to 14,000,000, representing a total investment of
approximately over $800,000,000. The hydraulic works for
conserving and distributing the scanty water supply have been
built to a point where all of the easily available sources of water
have been utilized. Future progress must necessarily be rela-
tively slow and expensive because of dependence upon works of
increasing magnitude and cost per acre served. This cost,
beginning originally with $15 or $20 per acre from small canals
built by farmers, has increased to an average of about $50 per
acre for supplies obtained from the larger and more difficult
undertakings such as the Roosevelt Reservoir in Arizona and
the Arrowrock Dam in Idaho. The most notable advances in
irrigation development were made possible by the passage of the
Reclamation or Newlands Act, described on page 149.
Nearly 95 per cent of the lands irrigated in the United States
obtain their water supply by gravity from surface streams. A
relatively small, but valuable area, is watered from wells by
means of pumps driven by steam, gasoline or hydro-electric
power. Most of the streams of the arid region have their
source in the snow-capped or forested mountains, from which
they flow with rapid descent, passing usually through a series
of upland valleys or parks and then cut their way through
rocky defiles entering upon the lower valleys. In these the
streams spread out and usually lose a great part of their
water in broad sandy channels. The most effective development
of the stream therefore is that in which the water is diverted
near the upper edge of these lower valleys and carried out in
channels so built as to conserve the supply which would other-
wise be lost in the sandy channels.
Diversion of Water. Water is ordinarily diverted from
the stream, not by lifting or pumping from the stream as some-
times inferred, but by taking advantage of the slopes of the
country. For example, the streams on issuing from the moun-
USE IN FOOD PRODUCTION 198
tains have a rapid fall of from 10 to 50 feet per mile or more.
Water will flow with moderate rapidity in a well-built canal
having a fall of 1 foot per mile or even less. Assuming, then,
that the stream enters the valley on a descending grade of 10
feet per mile and the canal is started out alongside the stream
with a fall of 1 foot per mile, at the end of 10 miles the canal
will be 90 feet above the river and must necessarily have swung
back away from the river to be upon supporting ground. Thus
it results that the canal departs rapidly from the river and,
following the contour of the slopes of the foothills, is in position
to discharge water toward the river over or through the lands
which lie below the canal.
In order to facilitate the taking of water from the river into
the canal, it is usual to provide a low overflow dam or weir which
extends from the head gate of the canal across or diagonally
into the channel of the stream. If the topographical conditions
are favorable, this weir may be omitted or in case of small
irrigation canals, where the owners are unable to provide a
permanent dam, it is customary in summer or on the approach
of the low water season to build a temporary obstruction of
stone and brush, turning the water toward the head gate of the
canal. As the water continues to fall, this dam is made more
nearly impervious by adding straw, earth or sandbags. It is
necessary to provide some form of head gate to control the
amount of water which enters the canal. Otherwise in time of
flood the excess, getting into the canal, might overtop the banks
and wash them away. Head gates are also needed to regulate
the quantity in accordance with the needs of the irrigators.
These usually consist of stout walls and frame built of timber,
masonry or concrete with sliding gates of wood or steel. The
water enters under the raised gates, the quantity being con-
trolled by adjusting their position.
The canal leading from the head gate usually passes through
a rocky or rough country, involving large expense in construc-
tion before the more nearly level open land is reached. In this
upper part of the course it is sometimes necessary to carry the
water in tunnels through projecting cliffs or to provide suitable
timber, metal, or masonry flumes to take it across rough coun-
194 WATER RESOURCES
try. When once the canal is out upon the agricultural land it
is usually excavated with broad, shallow sections, keeping the
water surface as high as possible, consistent with safety, so that
water may be diverted to the adjacent fields on the lower side of
the canal. The fall or slope of the canal, taken in connection
with the cross section, is so proportioned as to give a velocity
in ordinary earth of a little over two feet a second — ^not enough
to erode the sides and bottom nor so stagnant as to deposit silt
usually carried by mountain streams. Considerable skill and
experience are required on the part of the designing engineer to
lay out the canal system and its laterals or distributing branches
so as to avoid erosion and sedimentation.
Quantity Used. The amount of water required for raising
crops varies according to the character of the soil. The plants
themselves need a certain minimum supply, but a far larger
quantity is required to saturate the surrounding soil to such
a degree that the vitalizing processes can continue. Agricul-
tural investigators have found by direct measurements that
from 800 to 500 pounds of water or even more are required for
each pound of dry matter produced. When the ground is first
irrigated a larger quantity of water than in later seasons is
sometimes required to saturate the subsoil. The water turned
upon the surface and absorbed during the first year or two has
frequently been equivalent to an amount sufficient to cover the
ground to a depth of 10 feet or more, and in many localities an
amount equal to a depth of 5 feet or more per annum has been
thus employed for several years. The pioneers of irrigation
usually apply too much water to their fields, often to their
disadvantage.
The quantity of water used in irrigation is usually stated in
one of two ways : ( 1 ) In terms of depth of water on the surface ;
(2) in quantities of flowing water through the irrigating season.
In the humid regions the rainfall is usually from three to four
inches per month during the crop season. In the arid region,
where the sunlight is more continuous, and the evaporation
greater, there should be for ordinary crops at least enough
water during the growing season to cover the ground from
four to six inches in depth each month or from a third to half
USE IN FOOD PRODUCTION 195
of an acre-foot. The second method of stating the quantities
necessary to irrigation is of convenience when considering a
stream upon which there is no storage.
It is estimated, as noted on page 105, that one cubic foot per
second, flowing through an irrigating season of 90 days, will
irrigate 100 acres. One second- foot will cover an acre nearly
two feet deep during 24 hours, and in 90 days it will cover 180
acres one foot deep, or 100 acres to a depth of 1.8 feet, or 21.6
inches. This is equivalent to a depth of water of a little over
seven inches per month during the season of 90 days or about
one and three-quarters acre-feet. Successive years of deficient
water supply, notably in southern California, have served to
prove that, with careful cultivation, crops, orchards, and vine-
yards can be maintained by using very small quantities of water.
In some cases an amount not exceeding six inches in depth was
applied during the year, this being conducted directly to the
plants and the ground kept carefully tilled and free from weeds.
The amount of land which can be irrigated with a given quan-
tity of water, or the relation which these bear to each other, is
commonly expressed by the term duty of water, as discussed on
page 282. The investigation of the duty of water is one of the
most complicated problems of irrigation. There is such a dif-
ference in methods of measurement, soils, crops, climatic condi-
tions, ways of application of water, and frequency of watering
that the statements made by different persons are almost irrec-
oncilable. In general, more water is used, or the duty is less,
on the newer land than on that which has been cultivated by
irrigation for some years.
The rainfall largely affects the quantity used, and as the
precipitation is exceedingly irregular, as noted on page 55, the
amount of water applied each year fluctuates. Seepage like-
wise complicates matters, for a field may often receive consid-
erable water indirectly and require less by direct application.
The duty of water is quoted at from 50 to 500 acres or more
to the second- foot. For convenience the unit of 100 acres to
the second- foot has been considered as indicating careful irri-
gating, although in the more southwestern portion of the arid
196 WATER RESOURCES
region this would be considered low, and in the northern part
high.
Since the value of water per second-foot varies largely with
its duty, it will be recognized that this value is exceedingly diffi-
cult to estimate. However, it is necessary to arrive at certain
averages in order to approximate the possible values of a river,
or of a reservoir, in the future development of the country. It
has been estimated that a perpetual water-right is worth from
$25 to $50 per acre in a grain or grazing country, and as high
as from $100 to $500 per acre for fruit-land, rising in southern
California for the best citrus lands even to $1,000 or more per
acre. Assuming an annual supply of water as being worth $50
per acre irrigated and a duty of 1 second- foot to 100 acres, this
quantity would be worth $5,000 and a stream furnishing a
steady supply of 500 second- feet would have a value to the
community of $2,500,000. Considering stored water as having
a value of $100 per acre of reclaimed land, producing fruit or
other valuable crops, and with a duty of 21^ acre-feet of stored
water to each acre, then a storage reservoir capable of holding
and delivering 250,000 acre- feet might justify an expenditure of
$10,000,000.
Cost of Water. The first cost of water and the annual cost
of maintenance form very considerable items in the budget of
the irrigator. As an equivalent for this expenditure he must
expect to receive a return per acre for his crops greater than
that obtained by the so-called "dry farmer." As a matter of
fact, he can raise few, if any, crops without irrigation, but with
it he should be able to obtain a yield far in excess of the ordi-
nary production because of his ability to control the water sup-
ply and to use it on a land from which the sunshine is not cut
off by frequent rain clouds.
The cost of water is usuallv considered under two heads,
'firsts that of the original investment in obtaining water by reser-
voirs, canals and distributing works and, second^ the annual
cost. The first cost ranges from $10 to $15 per acre, in case of
the older and more easily built ditches, up to $50 or $75 per
acre or even more where it has been necessary to provide expen-
USE IN FOOD PRODUCTION 197
sive storage reservoir or to overcome natural obstacles by build-
ing tunnels or masonry and concrete conduits.
The average first cost of water in the United States is not
far from $50 per acre. The commercial enterprises which have
undertaken to build irrigation works have usually attempted
to control the land reclaimed and to sell land and water together
at a price of $100 per acre or more, including some improve-
ments in the nature of removing the native vegetation, leveling
the soil and planting alfalfa. Without such control of the
land, investments of this kind have rarely been profitable. In
case of works built by the government the right to the use of
water is sold in twenty annual installments without interest.
In a relatively few cases the owners of the farms do not own a
perpetual right attached to the land but rent water annually,
but this condition, unfavorable for permanent development, is
being done away with.
All irrigation works must be operated and maintained at an
annual expenditure, this being a notable item, especially where
it is necessary to clean the canal bed and banks of large quan-
tities of accumulated mud, weeds and so-called moss, and to
make repairs of more or less temporary structures or to meet
extraordinary conditions such as damages from floods or cloud-
bursts. On the simpler individual or community systems, the
cost may be 50 cents per acre per annum, especially where the
owners of the canals do the work themselves and are willing to
submit to many inconveniences and occasional crop losses. On
the larger, better-managed systems where the works are kept
in good condition, the operation and maintenance may be from
$1 per acre up to $1.60 or $2 per acre each year. In appor-
tioning this charge it should be placed as nearly as possible on
a metered basis, the payment for operation and maintenance
being in proportion to the amount of water used in order to
insure economy. As a rule too much water is put on the ground,
and it has been found that the less the amount of water applied,
consistent with fair plant growth, the larger and better the
crop yields and the less the injury by seepage to the lands in the
vicinity.
Economic Consideration. Throughout the arid regions,
198 WATER RESOURCES
which include a great part of the land area of the world, irriga-
tion is essential to agriculture. Its extension should be urged
to the limits of the available water supply as made evident by
careful research. In the more humid regions where occasional
droughts reduce the crop value, irrigation is being practiced as
an insurance. The building of works for this purpose has been
slow, however, because of the fact that during wet years the
tendency is to forget its importance and when drought condi-
tions develop, the time has passed when water can be applied to
the best advantage. The extent to which irrigation may be
developed in the United States is being studied by the United
States Geological Survey through its systematic measurements
of streams and researches with underground waters, also by the
Reclamation Service in accordance with its organic law.
Not all of the apparently favorable localities can be utilized
because of the great expense involved in building reservoirs,
canals and other works as compared with present values, but
with the settlement of the country and with greater skill and
experience acquired in raising and marketing crops there is a
corresponding advance in land values and in the ability to pay
for expensive undertakings. All of the easy or cheap irrigation
schemes have been entered upon; beginning with those which
have cost only a few dollars per acre for the water, other pro-
jects have been undertaken involving expenditures of upwards
of $50 or more per acre. These more expensive undertakings
have not proved financially profitable to the investors because of
the fact that the values created by the investment in canals and
reservoirs have been widely diffused and have not been recover-
able by the men who furnished the money. Thus future develop-
ment in irrigation must rest largely upon obtaining public
funds or upon utilizing the credit of the communities which are
benefited by the works — the direct losses of interest or of profit
on the investment being more than balanced by the indirect
gains.
Plate XIII. A.
Underground storage of water in the Great Plains area. Pumping from
the so-called underflow near Garden Citj-, Kansas.
Plate XIII. B.
Building canal \ty wheeled scraper, Boise Project, Idaho.
• «
*
• it
Plate XIII. C.
Desert land before irrigation, Slioghone Project, Wfomiag.
Plate XIII. D.
Alfalfa and hogs, profitalile products of the arid regior
Project, Montana.
CHAPTER XII
RECLAMATION INVESTIGATIONS
The vast extent of land throughout the United States whose
value is dependent upon the ability to control or secure water,
is almost beyond comprehension. Although surveys have been
carried on by public and private agencies for many years there
yet remain great areas to be examined and the surrounding
conditions studied with reference to obtaining an adequate sup-
ply of water or of regulating the excess. The problems of
rendering these areas useful are by no means easy; their solu-
tion rests upon research, upon obtaining fairly accurate knowl-
edge of the physical conditions such as the water supply avail-
able at different points, the existence of feasible reservoir sites
and the limiting conditions of topography, climate, and soil.
There is also another class of items to be considered, namely,
the financial or economic, embracing the practicability of util-
izing the land after water has been provided or controlled and
of disposing of the crops.
The key to the irrigation situation is usually in the. water
supply and this in turn depends largely upon the questions of
economically saving water which otherwise would run to waste.
The methods of measurement of the streams have already been
described on page 102 and reference also given to the surveys of
reservoir sites on page 123. Having these and other related
facts, a full study is possible and, as stated previously, the im-
portance of the subject demands thorough research accom-
panied by the employment of the best engineering ability and
experience in constructing and financing the works which may
be built.
No two irrigation or drainage enterprises are alike, and each
project generally offers a wide range of alternatives in the way
200 WATER RESOURCES
of difficult locations for reservoir or dam, various sources of
water to be impounded, height of dam, and selection of the lands
to be reclaimed. The economics of future construction, and even
more important those of operation and maintenance, are de-
pendent upon the judgment exercised in the preliminary work.
On the basis of the conclusions reached by the first studies
the whole physical and financial situation may be considered and
adjustment made between the assumed benefits and costs which
are to be incurred. As a rule, in nearly all enterprises of this
kind, the final cost has far exceeded the original estimates by
two or three times the amount at first assumed. This has been
due to several causes, but primarily to the many unknown con-
ditions to be met and the tendency to assume that when these
unknowns are revealed there will be no surprise. As a matter
of fact, the results of investigations are full of surprises — for
example, the foundations for proposed dams are frequently
found to be far more imperfect than there was reason to antici-
pate, or after the estimates are completed the price of mate-
rial and labor has often advanced to a point not previously
known.
Another cause of increase of final cost over estimates is the
fact that as work progresses there is a tendency to add more
details and to depart from the somewhat simple plans at first
adopted. There are always demands for larger or more sub-
stantial works or for more bridges, water gates or other struc-
tures which at first were not considered necessary. Whatever
the cause may be of such increase, the lesson to be drawn is that
in preparing financial estimates there must be a liberal addition
to cover contingencies and an insistence upon adherence to the
original plan.
Financing. The financing of irrigation or of drainage
projects has been a matter largely of private enterprise or
speculation. At first works could be built at relatively small
cost because of the fact that the opportunities were almost
untouched and there was wide range of choice. The easy under-
takings were naturally seized upon by individuals and small
ditches and canals built. As the work became more and more
difficult, associations were formed and cooperative enterprises
RECLAMATION INVESTIGATIONS 201
on the part of neighbors were begun. These in turn gave way
to stock companies and to corporate efforts.
The first undertakings were largely successful financially
because of the fact that most of the work was done by the farmer
or landowners ; if any misfortunes occurred these were accepted
by the community as a matter of course and further efforts
undertaken. With the larger projects, however, especially those
financed by outside capital, there was often less rigid super-
vision accompanied by greatly increased cost. There was also
a marked tendency to frequent changes as the work progressed,
when it became evident that improvements could be made.
The outcome of this evolution was that practically all of the
larger irrigation projects, especially those involving water stor-
age, were found to be unprofitable to the investor; while the
values of near-by town property were increased, and the con-
struction of railroads and of other enterprises was stimulated,
yet the builders of the works did not share in this general pros-
perity but lost the interest and often the principal on their
investment. The only notable exceptions were in cases where
the men who built the irrigation works were also owners of adja-
cent land. In these cases the losses on the works were made
up by increase in value of other holdings.
Because of this condition, the taking up of new and large
enterprises such as were needed by the country, became neg-
lected and it was only from the passage of the Reclamation Act
in 1902 that work on a large scale was again undertaken.
Surveys. Thorough research, scientific and economic, should
precede drainage projects. The first work is to initiate sur-
veys and examinations of the country to be reclaimed. The
results of these afford the firm foundation of fact upon which the
imagination of the engineer may erect in broad outlines the
results to be attained. As a rule too little care and expenditure
have been devoted to this fundamental matter. There is usually
impatience for immediate conclusions and an unwillingness to
expend any considerable amount of time and money in these
preliminary studies. It is safe to say, however, that within
reasonable limits, it is hardly possible to spend too much money
on ascertaining the facts of topography, water supply, soil.
202 WATER RESOURCES
climatic, and market conditions. For every dollar thus wisely
expended, it may be possible to save tenfold in future construc-
tion and operation. If there is any one thing which character-
izes the reclamation work of the past and which has led to
financial failures, it is the fact that too little time and money
have been devoted to research.
There is a wide range of conditions to be studied. Presum-
ably the general location of the lands to be benefited is fixed,
but the precise outlines are usually unknown. The question of
water supply available for these lands is usually undetermined
or the amount of water which must be removed by drainage is
unknown. Both of these matters involve a wide difference in
possible quantities, and without having a fairly accurate knowl-
edge of these quantities money may be wasted either in building
works too large or too small. In case of irrigation works
deriving their water from the high mountains or from rolling
foothills, it may be necessary to have a quite complete topo-
graphical map of the entire catchment basin to ascertain the
extent and character of the slopes and to acquire data as to the
floods or droughts which may be anticipated. In some coun-
tries, as in portions of the United States, good contour topo-
graphical maps have been made of many of the catchment basins.
These are invaluable in the consideration of the entire project
and in the limitations which may be set upon it.
The study of the catchment area and topographical maps
showing the principal features tributary to a reclamation pro-
ject, will usually reveal the opportunities for water storage.
There may be a number of alternatives presented, and the
merits of each of these should be carefully studied, not only by
maps but on the ground itself and with particular reference to
underground conditions such as the probability of securing safe
and tight foundations for dams.
The topographic surveys of the country from which water
may be obtained for irrigation, or of lands to be benefited by
such irrigation or by drainage, must be supplemented by a vari-
ety of examinations of many related conditions. The best prob-
able location of the works having been determined by field and
office study, examinations should be made of the character of
RECLAMATION INVESTIGATIONS 208
the ground covered or traversed by the works to ascertain the
probable cost of excavation of the different materials encoun-
tered, the porosity of the soil, its ability to hold or deliver water,
or to sustain structures of heavy weight. For example, if a
canal should be built along a hillside, especial study should be
made as to the practicability of constructing this in the ground
or in flumes. Its safetv from earth or rock slides, either into
the canal or of the entire structure itself, must be the subject
of consideration.
Throughout the entire area to be irrigated or drained, both
the soil and particularly the subsoil should be examined with
reference not only to the probable fertility of the surface soil,
but also to the density of the subsoil and its behavior with
reference to percolation of water into or out of it. The exami-
nations thus lead into a variety of lines not merely confined to
the apparent agricultural values but to the mechanical or even
chemical features of the underlying rocks.
Many of the items of research in these preliminary examina-
tions as to the feasibility of a project are of a nature such that
the work on them should be continued indefinitely. For exam-
ple, it is desirable in the preliminary operations to ascertain
the rainfall and evaporation at or near the reservoir site. These
observations should be kept up even after the works are built,
as they afford data needed in the proper operation of them.
Also in connection with the behavior of water underground, the
height of the water table, both in the irrigated and drained
areas, should be noted from season to season and arrangement
made for systematically obtaining and recording these facts
which show the changes which are taking place beneath the
surface.
After the financial arrangements have been completed on the
basis of the preliminary examinations and surveys, it usually
becomes necessary to make additional adjustments. These final
surveys, after the funds have been acquired, are often needed
in order to make certain readjustments arising from financial or
legal complications. There is usually great pressure on the
engineer to prepare the plans and specifications and let the con-
tract as soon as possible after the financial arrangements have
204 WATER RESOURCES
been made, because of the fact that as a rule interest charges
begin to run. It is of the highest importance, however, that
these final surveys and preparations of detailed specifications
be given adequate time, as many economies, as above stated,
depend upon the decisions reached regarding alternative meth-
ods. There must therefore be a balancing between the demands
for immediate construction and the necessity' of taking proper
time for the exercise of judgment. As a rule the speed with
which Americans proceed to the work is the subject of astonish-
ment to foreign engineers, who feel that it is necessary to have
a longer time than is usually given in the United States to the
maturing of the final surveys.
The results of surveys and examinations are embodied in
broadly developed plans usually for consideration of various
large alternatives. As a rule, there may be present two or even
three or more ways of achieving results, these differing mainly in
estimated cost. It is probable, for example, that one plan for a
feasible enterprise may involve, for an irrigation work, the
reclamation of, say, 10,000 acres at a cost of $50 per acre. A
modification of this plan or an alternative proposed may enable
the bringing in of 12,000 acres at a cost of perhaps $52 per
acre. The question then arises as to whether a somewhat larger
cost per acre may be justified in view of the increased acreage
which may be utilized. If the enterprise is purely a money-
making proposition in which the promoters are concerned with
getting back their investment at the earliest possible date, they
may prefer the cheaper. On the other hand, if the money is
furnished by the public or by semipublic institutions such as
irrigation districts, the general benefit to the entire country
may justif}- the larger and more expensive undertaking.
Fundamental questions of this kind can be considered on
their merits only when the larger plans have been developed to
a point where it is possible to make direct comparison of costs
and benefits. For this reason, as before stated, the surveys
and examinations must not merely be thorough, but the plans
based upon these must be sufficiently broad to permit a full
grasp of the situation, and to make adjustments to meet the
financial limitations.
RECLAMATION INVESTIGATIONS 205
Detailed Plans. The general plan finally agreed upon as
to location and character of works must be supplemented by
detailed drawings and specifications such as to enable expe-
rienced contractors to bid intelligently upon each of the items
involved. It is characteristic of American enterprises, as dis-
tinguished from European, for the promoters to push construc-
tion even before the plans have been fully matured. There is
an impatience for visible results on the part of the investors,
whether individuals or the public, which will not brook delay.
Wise managers have frequently yielded to these importunities
even though they know the final outcome will be unnecessarily
expensive. This is not wholly confined to America ; in various
times and places has been repeated and attributed to popular
heroes, ancient and modern, the story of the foreman who
"built the bridge before the engineer's picture was ready!"
This is an amusing instance of efficiency in saving time in an
emergency, but for a permanent work it probably means that
future generations must pay several prices for the immediate
saving thus made.
There is probably no one place where greater economj^ can
be secured than in the repeated study and the drawing again
and again of the plans until a high degree of perfection is
reached in all essential details. It is, of course, easy to look
back after a structure is completed and see how certain more
or less important features could have been modified to advan-
tage. In the case of well-considered works, these savings
detected after completion are usually small, but in many in-
stances the responsible men in charge are too well aware that
if they had been allowed proper time to plan out all details,
they would never have located the works at the place nor built
them of the character as finally finished.
Standard Forms. For the execution of any large work of
irrigation or drainage there are required plans of almost innu-
merable smaller structures. For example, in turning water
to the irrigated farms, there are required hundreds of small
flumes or gates, also many measuring devices, bridges and
culverts. Although at the present time the construction of
such works has not advanced to a point where, as in railroad
206 WATER RESOURCES
building, there are certain widely adopted sizes and shapes, yet
it is practicable to adopt certain standards such as experience
is showing to be most efficient.
The Reclamation Service of the United States government
is taking the lead in research and in devising standard plans
based on studies of the most economical sizes and dimensions,
such as of the side slope of canals and drains, bottom widths
and velocity for conduits of different kinds. These matters
have been worked out for various existing projects, noting the
dimensions which have been found most suitable or best
adapted to the prevailing conditions. For example, in the
case of slopes, the field studies having shown that where the
material to be excavated for a canal is relatively hard and not
easily eroded, there it may be possible to introduce and use
slopes higher than the average employed elsewhere, with corre-
sponding economy in size of cross section of the canal.
The most important matter, however, in considering general
dimensions is that having to do with the future operation of
the works. In many localities irrigation systems have been
planned with the idea of dividing and subdividing water into
smaller and smaller streams until each division is accurately
proportioned to the needs of the farms to be served. This has
been done under the assumption that the irrigators should have
a certain steady flow of water from the main system. Later
it was demonstrated that greater economy of time on the part
of the irrigator, and of water, could be had by turning to him
not a small stream but one sufficiently large to irrigate his
entire farm in a relatively few hours. Then it was apparent
that certain structures and conduits must be enlarged to meet
the new conditions. In this case too great care had been
devoted to the exact proportion of details and not sufficient
allowance made for changes which might take place. Thus at
the outset the general dimensions of waterways must be set
from a full consideration of the ultimate operating methods
and costs.
Construction Methods. The methods of construction
must, of course, be adapted not only to the material available.
RECLAMATION INVESTIGATIONS 207
but to the peculiar conditions of labor which may prevail in
the vicinity and evSpecially to the matter of transportation.
As a rule irrigation or drainage works, especially the former,
are built under pioneer conditions far in advance of actual
settlement of the country and of construction of wagon roads
or railroads. This is a condition which is not always appre-
ciated by the man who may be inclined to criticise the works
after they have been finished and in use. The construction
methods which may be necessary at a point fifty miles from a
settlement and at a locality to which access can be had only^
over rough mountain trails, must necessarily be in striking
contrast to those alongside of a through line of a railroad, one
which may be built after the works are completed and as a result
of such works.
The materials to be used under such conditions are limited
to the immediate vicinity. If plenty of rock is to be had,
masonry may be the best. If the rock is poor, it may be pos-
sible to consider concrete, if the cost of bringing in cement is
not prohibitive. Otherwise, earth, if available, must be used.
This illustrates the point that the surveys and examinations
which precede the preparation of any set of plans must be of
such character as to answer these points when they come up
for careful consideration.
Under modem methods of construction, the greater part
of the work is executed under carefully drawn contracts in
which responsible builders agree to execute a certain described
structure for a definite price per cubic yard or per item speci-
fied. In work of a character of which the nature is well known
or where the same operation is performed over and over again,
it is possible for an experienced contractor to ascertain the
cost in advance within narrow limits and to exercise his expe-
rience in handling men or materials to secure greater economy,
and consequent profits, than his competitors. In proportion,
however, as the work is pioneer in character and involves un-
known conditions, the preparation of a bid becomes more and
more of the nature of gambling upon chances. Thus enter
certain disagreeable or even disastrous conditions. There are
always contractors more or less responsible who are willing
208 WATER RESOURCES
to take their chances; usually those men who know least about
the probabilities of the case offer to do the work at a cost less
than that given by the more experienced and safer men. If
conditions turn out better than anticipated, they may make
considerable sums of money. If, however, unusual storms
occur or the rock is found to be of different character than
anticipated, the contractor may fail, with consequent delay to
the work and increased expense, both in litigation and in
securing a new contractor.
It is to the advantage of all concerned to remove as far as
possible the element of chance in construction work; in other
words, to make the preliminary research and examination as
complete as possible. It may be advisable, for example, not
merely to make a number of test pits in the soil and to put
down drill holes, but also to lay out and build well-planned
roads to reach the place of construction, also to open up a
considerable part of the foundations which are to be excavated
so that the experienced contractor will be able to see from actual
operation on the ground what are some of the difficulties to be
met. In the meantime, it is often necessary for the engineer
in responsible charge to firmly reject offers for work which
are made by men of relatively small experience or who propose
to experiment with novel machinery or methods. While they
may succeed, the probabilities against this are so great that
it is not wise to incur the risk of failure and litigation.
In the building of large irrigation works, especially those
involving storage reservoirs, the skill of the engineer is thus
called into play in many fields, not only in ordinary hydraulic
construction but in developing hydro-electric power, in many
other mechanical lines and in laying out or executing the work.
Experience has shown that wherever the work is of a simple
character such that it can be easily described, as, for example,
the building of earthen canals, the contract system is most
economical, but where unknown difficulties are involved, such
as the excavation of foundations in a new or remote country,
where the unexpected is likely to happen, then under present
conditions it is more economical to carry on operations by what
is known as force account. Under this svstem the work is
RECLAMATION INVESTIGATIONS 209
supervised and directed by the engineer and the plans may be
modified day by day to fit the conditions — thus securing under
wise management the highest economy as well as efficiency.
CHAPTER XIII
IRRIGATION STRUCTURE AND METHODS
Divisions of an Irrigation Project. Most irrigation sys-
tems may be considered as divided into several portions or units.
First, the collecting unit, consisting of reservoir or other
devices, such as wells and pumps, for obtaining the water ;
Second, the diversion unit, which includes the dam in the
river at the head of the main canal.
Third, the carrying or trunk line canals.
Fourth, the distribution, taking in the minor canals which
carry water to the fields.
By making such a division of parts and of expenditures
incurred on each, it is possible to make comparisons between
irrigation systems of different size and character. Many do
not have reservoirs, but derive their supply directly from the
streams. In such instances it would not be profitable to make
comparisons with the entire cost of a system which does include
a reservoir.
In other cases the carriage portion is negligible because of
the fact that irrigation of the dry lands begins at a point
immediately below the headworks; in other instances there is
a long main canal, built at large expense on rocky hill slopes,
to carry water to remote tracts.
Comparison of cost of construction, operation and mainte-
nance of small irrigation systems which have no storage nor
main canal is thus made possible with similar costs of the
distribution portions of larger enterprises.
Collecting Unit. A description has already been given
of some of the notable reservoir and other devices for collecting
water for irrigation, notably on pages 153 to 175, together with
brief statements of methods of constructing dams, also details
of some of the larger works already built. A comparison of
IRRIGATION STRUCTURE AND METHODS 211
the cost of these works yields many points of interest, espe-
cially in considering the value of the results and the magnitude
of -the work already undertaken, also by inference the large
investment which must be made in the future in connection with
other projects which may be found to be practicable.
Diversion Unit. Next in importance to these dams built
for the purpose of creating storage reservoirs are the somewhat
similar structures erected for diversion of water from the
stream channels into the main canals. Some of these act as
combined storage and diversion works, but the characteristic
feature of a diversion dam is the fact that it is a necessary
adjunct to the headworks of a canal or to the carrying system
for an irrigation project.
Diversion dams as a rule differ from storage dams in that
they are relatively low and are located in or across the main
drainage lines, being thus subject to overflow. As a rule there
is accumulated against them the debris carried by the river, and
the pond or storage capacity at first created by building the
dam is destroyed in a few years by this accumulation. The
original or simplest type of diversion dam consists merely of
bowlders or rocks placed across a river or diagonally upstream
into the current. In times of low water a relatively tight
barrier is thus built of stones and dirt with brush or boughs
of trees. Following the development of the country and the
necessity for more permanent structures, low solid masonry
dams or sills have been built or walls of concrete — these in turn
being replaced by more carefully designed overflow dams,
raising the water to still greater height and permitting the
construction of higher canals.
The proper uses of the waters conserved by storage in the
reservoir previously described are made possible in many in-
stances by providing these subsidiary or secondary dams, built
across the streams, not for storage, but for raising the water
or controlling it so that it will flow into the head of the main
irrigation canals. One of the best examples of such a structure
is that shown in PI. II. D, which is built across Salt River,
Arizona, and serves to divert the water stored and released from
Roosevelt Reservoir. This dam is 38 feet high and 1,000 feet
212 WATER RESOURCES
long, the river in flood overflowing the entire crest. As will be
seen in the view, canals head at each end of the dam, that on the
north side, in the foreground of the view, being the Arizona
Canal with capacity of 2,000 cubic feet per second and 22
miles in length. In the distance is the South Canal with
capacity of 1,200 second- feet.
Another dam similar in character is the Whalen in eastern
Wyoming on North Platte River. (Sec PI. XIV. A.) This is 29
feet high and 800 feet long, the floods pouring over the entire
length of the crest as shown in the view. In the foreground is
the Interstate Canal with capacity of 1,400 second- feet and
a length of 95 miles. On the opposite side of the river is the
head of the Ft. Laramie Canal, 1,430 second- foot capacity, and
26 miles long.
In the planning of a diversion dam, it is customary to place
the gates at the end of the dam in such a way that the water
will be taken out almost at right angles to the flow of the stream
as in the above-described views. By arranging sluice gates in
the dam, it is thus possible during high water to scour away
any sand or gravel which may accumulate in front of the canal
head gate.
Carrying Unit. Starting out from the diversion dam is
the main canal with its control gates and spillways. It usually
winds along in a general course nearly parallel to that of the
river until with less grade than that of the natural stream it
has succeeded in reaching an altitude where it can swing away
from it along the edge of the valley land. Sometimes two main
canals are thus built, one on each side of the river. These may
continue for many miles before reaching any considerable area
of agricultural land. There they usually divide or branch to
cover the principal body of the farming area. The number of
miles of main and branch canals traversed by the water before
reaching the irrigable lands varies greatly with the difl^erent
systems.
For the purpose of comparison, it has been found desirable,
as before stated, to distinguish this part of the irrigation sys-
tem, beginning at the diversion dam and extending down and
including the main and principal branches, as the carrying
IRRIGATION STRUCTURE AND METHODS 213
system. It is composed of relatively large canals, deep and
narrow when in solid rock or sidehills, and broad and shallow
when out in the open plains and built in ordinary earth. The
cross section thus varies from place to place, dependent upon
the ground in which the canal is built and upon the slope which
may be given. Usually there is need of keeping the altitude
of the canal as high as possible, reducing the fall per mile to
the minimum of a foot or less, thus necessitating a large cross
section. Occasionally, however, especially where the canal first
leaves the river, the condition may be such that greater slope
can be given and the cross section reduced; in some cases it is
lined with concrete to produce the greatest velocity and quan-
tity of discharge in the smallest amount of excavation.
At each diversion dam are gates or controlling works per-
mitting water to enter the head of the main canal. Imme-
diately below these gates are usually devices for permitting the
water to flow back to the river in case of accident and to scour
out any sediment deposited below the gates. An automatic
spillway is shown in PI. XIV. A — in this case it is placed adja-
cent to the dam, but usually such a device is located a mile or
so farther down the canal if the topography of the ground
permits.
In the first few miles below the diversion dam the location of
the main canal is necessarily near the river and often on steep
hillsides. Occasionally it is necessary to pass it through
tunnels or to line it as shown in Pis. XII. C and XIV. B. After
getting clear of the river, however, the construction is usually
in open, somewhat rolling, country, and is in earth where the
operations are relatively simple of execution. This is illus-
trated in PI. XVII. A and PI. XIII. B, the latter showing ex-
cavations by plowing and scraping and building up of a high
bank on the lower side of the canal, in general appearance re-
sembling a railroad grade, the chief diflference being that earth
is carefully compacted as it is deposited.
It frequently happens that the main canal is not built of
full size when first constructed because of the fact that for
many years there will not be demand for enough water to fill
the canal. Under such conditions, enlargements must be made
214 WATER RESOURCES
from time to time. Usually this work is done after the end of
the crop season, when water can be taken out of the canal, but
where the irrigation season is long or continues practically
throughout the year, as in Arizona, it is desirable to enlarge the
canal while water is flowing in it.
Distributing Unit. An irrigation project may be so fortu-
nate as not to need any storage works and the topography of
the country may be such that its carrying system is insignifi-
cant; but in all cases the distribution is a vital point. While
apparently simple, in that it consists of miles of smaller canals
and ditches located according to the slope of the country, yet
in practical operation the distributing system involves more
detailed problems in proportion to the cost than do the works
for the storage or carriage of water. It is usual for the highest
engineering skill to be employed in the planning and building
of a great dam or large canal. Unfortunately the same degree
of skill has rarely been utilized in laying out the distribution
conduits. Hence, it has come about that in the actual opera-
tion an unnecessarily large number of difficulties and sources of
expense have frequently arisen, more than should have occurred
had the system been planned by men thoroughly acquainted
with the problems of handling the water to the farms.
The condition is similar to that in railroad locations where
the early railroads were built mainly with reference to con-
struction cost. Now, with larger experience, the ease and
economy of construction are kept secondary to the require-
ments of operating, since these go on forever while the con-
struction costs are only for a short period.
The distributing system consists of the so-called laterals
or smaller canals taken from the side of the main or branch
canals. The distinction is purely arbitrary and yet is one of
importance. The laterals should be planned and built not only
to command the largest possible area, but to permit the most
economical handling of the water to the farms. If too small, it
is not possible to serve the lands rapidly, and if too large, the
channels become choked with weeds or mud and introduce
unnecessary cost in cleaning.
The main canals soon after reaching the irrigable lands
Plate XIV. A.
Whelen diversion dam of North Platte Project, Nebraska-Wfoming.
Plate XIV. B.
A lined tunnel with approach to canal. Grand VaUey Project, Colorado,
cspacitf 1,*25 second-feet.
Plate XIV. C.
Farm lateral delivering water to furrows, using canvas dam, Shoshone
Project, Wyoming.
Plate XIV. D.
Using water, stored by Roosevelt Reservoir, for irrigation of young orange
grove, applying It by furrows. Salt River Valley, AriEOna.
« t
IRRIGATION STRUCTURE AND METHODS 215
begin to divide and send off branches, these in turn delivering
water to smaller canals or laterals. At each point of division
it is necessary to provide suitable gates or control works so
that the proper amount may be admitted to each lateral, the
quantity being regulated from day to day in accordance with
the demands of the farmer. A view of one of these laterals is
shown in PL V. B and another in PI. XVI. A. Such laterals in
turn divide and finally deliver water to what are known as the
farm laterals, these being of a capacity sufRcient for one or two
separate farms. In PI. XIV. C is shown one of these small
farm laterals taking water for the first time to desert land,
soaking it thoroughly and permitting cultivation. Water is
usually turned from the farm laterals either by small wooden
gates or by temporary dams of wood or canvas as can be seen
in this picture. A hole in the bank is dug with shovels and,
when no longer needed, is quickly filled. The farm laterals in
turn take the water to each field or tree as shown in PI. XIV. D.
Stkuctures. In connection with the carrying and distribut-
ing of the water which has been diverted in the irrigation
canals, almost innumerable structures are needed. The more
important of these are described in the following paragraphs.
Flumes. Care is taken in laying out the laterals to keep the
water flowing on as gentle a grade as possible and thus to reach
the highest spots of the farm lands. Even with the greatest
ingenuity in fitting the topography, there arc occasional condi-
tions where water must be carried across a depression. This
is usually done by some form of open flume, the older and
cheaper of wood, others of metal. Concrete is also used, as in
the long conduit which takes the water of the Tieton River in
Washington, shown in PI. XV. A, the flume winding along the
hillside. This is composed of short concrete sections, cast in
suitable steel forms, the work being done along the valley where
it was possible to obtain sand, gravel, and water for mixing the
concrete. This plan was adopted because of the fact that the
space on the hillside suitable for work was so constricted that
it was not found economical to excavate and build a lined
canal — especially as portions of the work are along almost
vertical cliffs and in places the canal passes through tunnels.
216 . WATER RESOURCES
A view of the separate pieces of the canal is shown in PL
XV. B. The steel forms have been removed from these. As
soon as these had become completely dry, they were hoisted
and carried by overhead conveyors and by short pieces of con-
struction track to the point where they could be swring into
place and the joints cemented together to make the continuous
line shown in PL XV. A. The capacity of this is 300 cubic feet
per second, and the length is 12 miles.
Tunnels. On steep hillsides it is often economical to put
the canal underground through a tunnel. Occasionally also the
line can be shortened by piercing a projecting point of rock.
In consideration of maintenance, the reduced economy may
justify a larger increase in cost in the building of a tunnel as
contrasted w-ith an open canal or flume which is likely to be
disturbed by rock or snowslides from the upper slopes. It is
usually necessary to line the tunnels and for this purpose con-
crete is generally employed. A view looking out of such a tunnel
is given in PL XIV. B, which also shows the concrete lining of
the main canal of the Grand Valley Project and the warped
surface of the gradual transition from the tunnel to the section
of the canal. In the work of the Reclamation Service, a large
number of tunnels have been built for irrigation purposes, the
aggregate length of these being 157,000 feet.
Siphons. In order to cross depressions, it is usual to carry
the canal over on grade, using for this purpose flumes as pre-
viously described. Occasionally, however, it is more advanta-
geous to drop the canal and carry it in some form of pressure
pipe under a depression, especially if the latter is subject to
extraordinary floods. Such condition is shown in PL XV. C,
which illustrates the concrete siphon on the Interstate Canal
from North Platte River, Wyoming-Nebraska. This consists
essentially of a large concrete box, rectangular in outline, de-
pressed below the level of Rawhide Creek, a tributary of North
Platte River. The canal water descends into this inverted
siphon, passes under the bed of the creek and then is conveyed
up nearly to the original level by a continuation of the water-
tight compartments.
Most of these siphons are built during dry weather by exca-
IRRIGATION STRUCTURE AND METHODS 217
vating the ground and then covering them up so that the flood
can pass over undisturbed. Occasionally, however, conditions
are such that it is necessary to tunnel under the stream as, for
example, at Yuma, Ariz., where the main canal from Colorado
River coming south on the California side, crosses under the
river to the Arizona side. The river channel at this point is
quite deep and is filled largely with soft mud which scours out
in time of flood. It was found to be advisable to go to a depth
of eighty feet or more beneath the river level in order to con-
struct the tunnel.
Canai. Lining. Ordinary irrigation canals and laterals are
excavated for the most part in loose surface soil. Often this
consists largely of sand or gravel, and wherever these form the
bottom or sides of the canal, there is great loss of water by
percolation or seepage. Where water is scarce, this loss be-
comes an important item, moreover if the canal is located on a
sidehill the seeping water may tend to cause slides with result-
ing great damage, due to the sudden escape of large volumes
of water. It is, therefore, important to line some of the canals
not only to save valuable water, but also to insure safety.
With improved methods and reduced cost, the placing of lining,
particularly of concrete, is increasing. In the larger canals,
the concrete may be made of six inches or even more in thickness.
It is laid in a manner similar to that used in the construction
of concrete roads or pavements. In smaller canals, the lining
is frequently much thinner ; if the soil is firm it may be less than
one inch in thickness, being plastered directly upon the sides
and bottom. In Pis. XII. A, XII. C, and XIV. B are shown
portions of lined canals.
In many localities where the irrigation water carries a con-
siderable proportion of sediment this muddy water may be
controlled in such a way as to cause deposits to form along the
sides and bottom of the canal eflfectually sealing up the smaller
crevices or filling the interstices between the grains of sand or
bits of gravel. Thus it may result that after one or two seasons
a canal which at first lost a great part of the water becomes
capable of delivering each year a larger and larger proportion
of the amount received at the head. When the water is clear
218 WATER RESOURCES
such action cannot take place and there it is sometimes neces-
sary to bring clay to the spots where the greatest seepage occurs
and make a clay puddle or lining throughout the sandy or gravel
portions. In the canals of the Minidoka Project, for example,
in southern Idaho, there appeared to be at first a loss of 75
per cent, only about 25 per cent of the water carried being
ultimately delivered to the irrigated lands.
The country through which this canal flows is quite sandy
and the water, being taken from Lake Walcott on Snake River,
is clear. There is little clay in the vicinity which can be ob-
tained by ordinary methods and taken to the canal, but an
ingenious scheme was adopted by the engineers in which to meet
this condition, as noted on page 100. Water was conducted to
certain deposits not far away and a portion of the clay washed
out, being conducted by flumes to a point, PI. IV. D, where the
fluid mud could be dropped into the canals. The mud thus
introduced serves to check the seepage loss. It has also another
and somewhat unforeseen result in that the canal itself was
made smoother, permitting greater velocity for a given slope,
or in other words reducing the value of n in Kutter's formula —
in one case from 0.020 to 0.016, the canal having a capacity of
approximately 700 second- feet.
The reduction of seepage loss was shown not only by the
saving of water but by the fact that wells driven near the canal
have gradually lowered or become dry due to the cutting off
of their supply from the canal. The distribution of silt thus
put into the clear canal water has been quite general, from two
to five times as much being deposited on the slopes as on the
bottom. On the curves, the deposit, as might be expected, is
largely on the inner slope ; but even on the outer slope the per-
colating waters have carried fine particles of clay into the
banks and have to this extent clogged the passage of water
through them.
In order to retain the silt in places where exposed to the wind,
or where the velocity is excessive, sagebush covered with wire
netting has been used. In the case of this canal approximately
$25,000 was expended in putting silt into the canal. This
amount, while apparently large, is small in comparison with
IRRIGATION STRUCTURE AND METHODS 219
the advantages gained in reducing the amount to be expended
on drains to take away the excess water. Comparing it with
the cost of obtaining water for the canal, it may be said that
if only ten cubic feet per second of water was saved, the value
of this saving would justify the expenditure above named.
Gates. To control the water there are required an almost
infinite number and variety of devices from the simple plank
or stop log used by the farmer, PL XVI. A, to the elaborate
concrete and steel gates shown in PI. XIV. A. Most of these
slide vertically in grooves, but to meet certain conditions other
devices are employed, particularly the circular gate which can
be used on the end of a pipe of metal, concrete or tile. One of
the latest devices, the cylindrical gate on the Franklin Canal in
El Paso, Texas, is illustrated in PL XV. D. This canal takes
water from the Rio Grande a short distance above the dam
shown in PL VIII. D, near the city of El Paso, and carries it
in a general way parallel with the stream to lands below the
city. It has a capacity of 450 second-feet and a length of
nearly 82 miles.
Automatic Spii.i.way. On every large canal there is likeli-
hood of an extraordinary rain or cloudburst sending water
into the canal so rapidly that the banks may be overtopped.
Great loss of property or possibly of life might result from the
cutting of the canal banks. To prevent this, various devices
have been tried, particularly of gates which can be operated
quickly by one man. It is not safe, however, to depend upon
the man being on hand at times of extraordinary storm or other
catastrophe and eflforts have been made to perfect a simple and
automatic device. One of these is so constructed as to have a
portion of the lower canal bank protected by concrete, the top
of this being placed at the safe water height. If for any cause
an excess of water comes into the canal tending to raise the
surface above the level of the concrete wall, it immediately spills
over into a side channel from which it can flow away to the river
without injury. When the manager desires to raise the water
level and to increase the flow of the canal temporarily, a row
of bags fllled with earth or some similar devices can be placed
220 WATER RESOURCES
on top of the concrete, being so arranged that these are readily
washed out if the water goes above a certain altitude.
Drops. EflForts are made to keep the canals on a very gently
descending grade so that the velocity will not exceed as a rule
two to three feet per second. If the country falls off rapidly,
it is necessary to make some provision for letting the water
down without increasing the canal grade and consequent ve-
locity to an extent to erode the channel. For this purpose
many wooden structures have been built, but for permanence
concrete is now more usually employed.
At the lower end of these drops there is opportunity for the
development of power. The chief objection to making expen-
ditures for water wheels and electric generators at these points
is the fact that the canals are in use only during the crop season
and thus do not furnish power throughout the year. If, how-
ever, a demand for the power can be found which is coincident
with the time of the use of the canals, then this objection is
removed.
Such coincidence occurs if the power can be employed for
pumping water for the irrigation of lands which cannot obtain
a gravity supply from the canals. During the height of the
crop season, when most water is flowing in the canal and most
power can be developed, there is corresponding need of this
power to procure additional water. There is thus offered to
the engineer the opportunity of producing conservation not
only of the water but in the employment of power which would
otherwise be wasted. Examples of this are to be found in the
Yakima Valley in the state of Washington, where water in
various canal drops is employed in creating hydro-electric
power which, transmitted to a distance, enables lands which
otherwise would remain arid to be successfully irrigated. On
the Huntley Project in Montana the drop in the main canal is
t
utilized for lifting water to lands above the level of the canal.
In this case there is no electric transmission of power, but the
pump for raising a portion of the water is placed on the upper
end of the vertical shaft carrying the water wheel which is
driven by the descent of the main body of water.
Pumping. A relatively small percentage of the irrigated
IRRIGATION STRUCTURE AND METHODS 221
lands of the country is furnished with a water supply by
pumping; but this small percentage affords many interesting
and valuable lessons because of the fact that with the high cost
of obtaining water by this method, there is enforced corre-
sponding economy in its use. Hence are presented striking
examples of the excellent results which may be obtained by the
application of a small quantity of water and a demonstration
of the fact that it will be practicable to greatly extend the area
irrigated whenever the irrigator using the gravity supply is as
careful as his neighbor who depends upon the more expensive
pumped water. In other words, if the water to all of the 95
to 97 per cent of the arid lands now furnished with gravity
supply was handled with a skill and economy comparable to
that used in the areas to which water is pumped, far greater
crops could be raised and the areas irrigated might be doubled
or trebled. More than this, if in the future expenditures are
made for water storage on a scale comparable to those incurred
in the pumping, there will be a great increase in the number
as well as the cost of reservoirs yet to be built. In short, a
study of results obtained by pumping reveals to the engineer
economies and possibilities of a vast extension of hydraulic
development.
Pumping has been resorted to in localities where it has not
been practicable to bring water to the farms by gravity; for
example, along the shores of lakes or the banks of rivers whose
fall is too gentle to permit diversion by gravity. The cost of
water per acre supplied by pumping far exceeds that of the
gravity supply and in fact when these costs have been ascer-
tained, with proper allowance for interest and depreciation, the
figures have usually exceeded the anticipations of its most
enthusiastic advocates. Roughly stated, the cost of lifting one
acre-foot of water one foot in height by ordinary small engines
is about 7 cents ; or to lift this amount of water 50 feet would
require $8.50, irrigating an acre to a depth of one foot. This
is at least three times the cost of gravity supply. In the case
of orchards producing high-priced fruits, it is possible to pump
water profitably or even to elevate it for alfalfa lands with a
lift of from 50 to 100 feet and upward. In the case of more
222 WATER RESOURCES
valuable crops, such as cane sugar in the Hawaiian Islands,
water has actually been raised to a height of over 500 feet.
With large economical pumping plants, the cost, including
depreciation and repairs, may be reduced as low as 3 cents
per acre-foot raised one foot or even less ; but the margin of
profit in the ordinary farm crops is so small that the average
irrigator can rarely afford to pay the cost of pumping water
to a height exceeding, say, 50 feet.
In portions of California and other fruit-growing localities,
considerable areas of land are being irrigated by water ob-
tained from wells. The supply of ground water throughout
the arid region is, however, quite limited. (See in this con-
nection pages 81 and 90.) It is necessary in some localities to
go to depths of from 100 to 300 feet or more before reaching
moisture. There is always probability that the supply even
at this depth will be limited and that by constant pumping the
water level will be lowered. Such, for example, has been the
case in the valleys of southern California where with rapid
increase in the number of wells the accumulated supply has
been rapidly drawn down, especially after a series of dry years.
Some of these wells are so situated that the seepage from adja-
cent foothills tends to replenish them.
Where the supply of water from wells is ample, various
devices have been employed, such as windmills, gasoline and
steam engines, and electric power, for bringing it to the surface.
It is very important that the well borings be continued down
into and through the water-bearing sands or gravels, so as to
take advantage of the full thickness of the pervious deposits.
Perforated pipe is often driven into the layers of coarse gravel,
adding greatly to the capacity of the well.
Artesian conditions (see page 81) occur in limited areas in
nearly every state, but they do not furnish a notable supply
for irrigation, excepting on the Great Plains and in parts of
California. Wherever they occur the water has especial value
on account of the convenience incident to its rising above the
surface. In some places, as the James River Valley of South
Dakota, the pressure is 100 pounds or more to the square inch,
throwing the water to a considerable height and enabling the
IRRIGATION STRUCTURE AND METHODS 223
wells to be used as sources of power. The quantity of water
to be had from deep wells is governed by the diameter of the
well, the structure and thickness of the water-bearing rocks,
and the pressure sustained by the water. With relatively dense
rocks a slight head of water will throw only a feeble stream, but
from thick layers of open gravel or sand rock large volumes are
delivered. It frequently occurs that a four-inch pipe will de-
liver all of the water which can reach this point, and increasing
the diameter of the well will not alter the flow.
An important source of power for pumping water is the wind.
Over the broad valleys and plains of the arid region, the wind
movement is almost continuous for days and weeks. It is a
comparatively simple and inexpensive operation to sink a well
into the water-bearing strata and erect a windmill, as illus-
trated in PI. IV. A, attaching this to a suitable pump. A wind-
mill once erected on the plains is operated day and night by the
wind, bringing to the surface a small but continuous supply of
water. This small stream if turned out on the soil would flow
a short distance, then disappear into the thirsty ground, so
that irrigation directly from a windmill is usually impracti-
cable.
To overcome this difficulty, it has been found necessary to
provide small storage reservoirs or tanks, built of earth (as
shown in PI. IV. A or better in PL XIII. A), wood, or metal,
to hold the water until it has accumulated to a volume sufficient
to permit a stream of considerable size to be taken out for irri-
gation. Such a stream, flowing rapidly over the surface, will
penetrate to a distance and cover an area much greater than
is possible with the small flow delivered by an ordinary pump.
One disadvantage connected with the use of windmills is that
most of them are constructed to operate only in moderate winds.
As the strength of the wind increases, the wheel begins to re-
volve, increasing in efficiency until the velocity of the wind is
about eight or ten miles an hour. At greater speed the mills
are usually so constructed that the efficiency decreases rapidly
as the wind becomes more powerful. When it approaches a
gale, the mill stops completely.
Although there are in use large numbers of windmills in
224 WATER RESOURCES
pumping water for irrigation of small tracts, the aggregate
area is small compared with the extent of lands watered by
more powerful devices, such as those made possible by the
development of hydro-electric power. Within the past decade
much attention has been given to this matter, particularly in
connection with the use of power developed for municipal and
manufacturing purposes and which is available for farm use at
seasons or times of day when not needed for the principal in-
dustry. It is possible at such times to obtain power at low
rates and to utilize it in pumping water for agricultural pur-
poses.
CHAPTER XIV
OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE
The object of providing water by storage in connection with
irrigation is, of course, to have it available whenever needed.
Such need is continuous throughout the irrigation season ; it is
vital for crop success that the canal be operated and maintained
by an adequate force of skilled men employed for the purpose,
and in such a manner as to have the water at hand as needed.
The cost of operation and maintenance is dependent largely
upon local conditions and upon the way in which these have
been met in the original construction, notably with reference to
permanence.
In planning and constructing an^^ works for irrigation and
drainage, the first requisite, as above noted, is that when built
these may be operated and maintained at reasonable cost. While
temporary expedients may be necessary at times, yet full con-
sideration should be given to the future difficulties involved ; the
plans when under consideration should be prepared or passed
upon by men who have had large experience in the operation and
maintenance as distinguished from the more purely engineering
or construction side. All these works are built for indefinite use
and are to be maintained presumably as long as civilization
endures. The development of the resources in the country and
the location of industries are intimately connected with the irri-
gation or drainage works and any error made in these may be
indefinitely perpetuated with subsequent loss to all concerned.
In the case of drainage works, the operation is practically
automatic and the maintenance should be extremelv small, con-
sisting in seeing to it that the drains are not clogged and that
the inlets and outlets are properly protected. In the case of
irrigation, however, where water should be measured and deliv-
226 WATER RESOURCES
ered at short intervals through a great part of the year, it is
necessary to have a carefully organized force of experienced
men giving attention to all of the details of the control and
diversion of water.
The operation details consist largely in making deliveries of
water to each farm as needed. The older canals were so
arranged as to furnish a continuous flow of water, but this had
the ill effect of encouraging large waste and of ruining much of
the agricultural land.
Under modern methods provisions are made by which each
farmer notifies the water master either by telephone or card
as to the time and amount of water needed. From such notices
a schedule is prepared so that the water may be turned into
the laterals and delivered to the farms at a time determined upon
in advance. The keeping of the records of the amount actually
received into the main canal, distributed to the laterals and
turned out to each farm is a matter of first importance.
The maintenance operations consist in keeping the canal in
good condition. The work is usually done by the same men
who are employed in operation details — the maintenance work
being performed after the close of the irrigation season or at
times when the canals are not in use. Among the problems of
maintenance are those of keeping the banks clean and free from
weeds. Some of these, like the so-called "tumble weed," when
dry are blown into the canal and obstruct the flow, occasionally
causing bad breaks unless carefully guarded against. An inter-
esting method of cleaning canal banks has been tried in the Salt
River Valley in Arizona where sheep have been utilized, these
browsing along the banks and eating down the herbage. A
view illustrating the action of the sheep is shown in PI. IX. A,
where a band is grazing in the vicinity of Huntley, Mont.
Measurement of Irrigation Water. In the older and
smaller systems where the manager has grown up with the work,
it is possible for some one man or group of men to carry in
mind all of the details and to apportion the water fairly well to
the relatively few water users, but in the modern large system
built to supply water to hundreds of farms this easy-going way
is no longer applicable. The condition may be compared to
OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE 227
that of the country merchant who, knowing his people, can
apportion among his customers a pile of coal or of wood roughly
by his eye and with reasonable satisfaction. When, however,
he must delegate these details to others, and he can no longer
know of each transaction, to avoid difficulty and bankruptcy,
he must maintain a thorough system of weights and measures
and make record of each transaction.
So it is with the measurement of irrigation water. The older
managers naturally resented the introduction of troublesome
details of measurement and asserted that for all practical pur-
poses their methods are best. A study of these, however, shows
that there has been great inequality in irrigating streams sup-
posed to be of the same volume, and enormous waste of water
resulting in ruin to large areas of land. The only way in which
such injurious conditions can be prevented is to keep a record
of the water available in the storage reservoir, also the quantity
received in the main canal and divided to the principal branches,
and more than this the time and amount of water turned to each
farmer. Having these details, it is possible day by day to
ascertain where the water goes and the quantity of waste, and to
check up against the acreage the beneficial use of the water.
When once a proper system has been installed, the advantages
as compared with the costs are so great that no one seriously
advocates a return to the old haphazard method.
The measurement of the water is one of the most important
functions of the operating force. PL XVI. A illustrates one of
the laterals with the small wooden turnout gates at the head of
each farm lateral. The water master or his assistant visits each
of these gates daily, sets them to receive a certain amount of
water, makes records of the fact, and if necessary locks the
gates to prevent unauthorized changes.^
Heads of Water. The amount of water which any one man
can economically apply to his fields varies according to the skill
of the farmer, the soil, the crops, and especially to the care with
1 Adams, Frank, "Delivery of "Water to Irrigators," United States De-
partment of Agriculture, Office Experiment Stations, Bulletin 299, 1910.
"Some Measuring Devices Used in the Delivery of Irrigation Water,"
University of California Agricultural Experiment Station, Bulletin 247, 1915.
228 WATER RESOURCES
which the surface has been leveled. The tendency has been to
progress from the use of relatively small streams or heads of
one cubic foot per second up to three or four times this amount
or even to ten or more second-feet, an amount which the older
irrigators would regard as absolutely impossible of control.
With larger heads there result quicker irrigation and the appli-
cation of a proportionally less amount of water for the area to
be covered; also^larger crop yields per unit of water applied.
Application of Water. The methods of irrigation prac-
ticed in various parts of the United States differ according to
the climatic conditions and soil, and especially as to the early
habits or training of the irrigators. While the methods of con-
serving and conveying water have improved under the stimulus
of modern invention, there has been little progress in the devel-
opment and use by the farmer of well-considered way^s or eco-
nomics in putting water on the fields. The various methods
employed can be classified in general under one of three waj's —
flooding, furrows, or subirrlgation.
Flooding. The irrigator in flooding his fields turns the
water from a lateral or distributing irrigation ditch over the
nearly^ level land and completely submerges it. Perfectly level
fields are, however, comparatively rare, and the first step in
primitive agriculture by irrigation has been to build a low ridge
around two or three sides of a slightly sloping field, so that the
water is held in ponds. These low banks are commonh'' kno^Ti
as levees or checks. In construction they are frequently laid
out at right angles or more often following the contour of the
ground, dividing the land into a number of compartments.
Water is turned from the irrigation ditch into the highest of
these compartments, as shown in PI. XIV. C; when the ground
is flooded, the bank of the lower side is cut or a small sluiceway
opened, and the water passes into the next field, and so on, until
each in turn is watered. So-called "wild-flooding" is also prac-
ticed in some localities, the water being diverted in such a way
as to flow in a series of small rills or a thin sheet over the gently
sloping area. Considerable skill is required on the part of the
irrigator to avoid swamping one part and leaving dry another
portion.
OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE 229
Furrows. Irrigation in checks has gradually'' decreased in
relative importance, owing to the expense of leveling and levee-
ing the ground. With experience the irrigator has become able
to apply water to crops which are cultivated in furrows with-
out resorting to such expensive means. The furrows are plowed
in such a direction that the water when turned into them from
the lateral ditches will flow freely down them without washing
away the soil. When the water has completely filled the fur-
rows, PL XVIII. A, and has reached the lowest points, the
little streams are cut off and turned into another set. The meth-
ods of doing this differ ; sometimes the irrigator simply cuts the
bank of the distributing ditch with a shovel and then closes the
opening after sufficient water has escaped, as illustrated in PL
XIV. C. A more systematic method is employed in California.
Water is carried to the upper end of the furrows in a small box
flume with openings about one inch square in the side. These
openings are closed by shutters and a number can be opened at
once, permitting a certain quantity of water to escape into each
furrow.
The slope given the furrows determines to a certain extent
the amount of water received by the soil. If the fall is very
gentle, the water moves slowly and a large portion is absorbed
while the furrow is being filled. If steep, the water quickly
passes to a lower end and the ground does not absorb so much.
When the entire field has been watered, the furrows are usuallv
plowed out and a thin layer of the soil stirred to make an open,
porous covering or mulch, as in PL XIV. D, preventing exces-
sive evaporation and allowing the air to enter the ground.
Without such cultivation a hard crust may be formed. The
loosening of this crust breaks the capillar}'' connection with the
moisture beneath and thus lessens the loss of water.
For irrigating small grain, the fields, brought to a uniform
surface, are thoroughly cultivated, and after the grain has
been sown, parallel lines are made similar to furrows, but
smaller and nearer together. These are laid out in the direc-
tion of the desired slope, so that the water can flow down the
marks through a cornfield. The rapidly ' growing grain shades
the surface and prevents the formation of crust, rendering sub-
230 WATER RESOURCES
sequent cultivation unnecessary. In order to cause the water
to spread from the lateral ditches into the furrows through the
ground, use is made of a canvas dam, PL XIV. C, or a tappoon
— a small sheet of metal of such shape as to fit across the ditch.
This can be forced into the soft earth, making a small dam
and causing the water to back up and overflow the field of grain.
Furrow-irrigation is usually employed in watering trees and
vines, as shown in PL XIV. D. In some localities, however,
basin or pool irrigation is practiced. Where water is especially
scanty and correspondingly high priced, the supply is con-
ducted in cement-lined ditches and by wooden flumes, and is
then turned out into the furrows plowed around or as near as
possible to the trees and vines. The water issuing from small
apertures in the side of the wooden box falls into the furrows
and is immediately conducted to the vicinity of the growing
plants. Care is usually taken that the water shall not actually
touch the tree trunks, as in PL XIV. D, and that it reaches the
extremities of the roots to encourage these to spread outward.
After the water has traversed the furrows to the lower end of
the orchard, the supply is cut off, and the ground is tilled as
soon as the surface dries sufficiently.
SuBiRRiGATioN. Attempts have been made to conduct the
water beneath the surface immediately to the roots of the trees,
thus preventing waste by^ evaporation from the surface of the
ground. Few devices have been successful, owing to the fact
that the roots of the trees rapidly seek and enter the openings
from which the water issues, or, surrounding the pipe by a dense
network, cut off the supply. Porous clay tiling has been laid
through orchards, and also iron pipes so perforated as to fur-
nish a supply of water along their length. In some orchards
where subsurface irrigation has been unsuccessful because of
roots stopping up minute openings beneath the surface, the
system has been reconstructed and water has been brought to
the surface at or near each tree by means of small hydrants.
The term subirrigation is occasionally applied to conditions
occurring in nature where water percolates freely beneath the
ground for a considerable distance, sufficiently near the surface
to supply the need of crops. Where the subsoil transmits water
OPERATIOX AND MAINTENANCE 231
freely, irrigation ditches may subirrigate large tracts of coun-
try without rendering them marshy. Thus farms may obtain an
ample supply of water from ditches half a mile or more away
without the necessity of distributing small streams over the
surface. In the San Joaquin Valley, California, vineyards in
certain localities are thus maintained in good condition, al-
though water has not been visibly applied for many years.
RoTATiox OF Flow. In the pioneer days of irrigation in the
United States it was customary for the farmers to receive a
small, steady flow of water — one which could be turned to a
field, the gate set, and the farmer proceed about his business or
at night go to bed and in the morning see what had happened.
If everything had continued as anticipated, the water in time
would reach the end of the field and while the upper portions
were overirrigated, the lower part would have a small supply.
Often, however, especially during the night, the stream became
obstructed or a wind storm diverted it. As a result there would
be a pond in one place and dry spots in another. With the
increasing need of more water for additional lands and the de-
mand for economy, there came about a realization of the fact
that a larger area could be irrigated by using the water more
carefully, especially by giving personal attention to the flow and
utilizing larger streams for shorter times. There thus arose
the custom of two or three neighbors combining in one head or
stream the quantity of water to which each was entitled and
using this in succession, shutting off the flow when not needed
and turning the supply over to another neighbor, and so on,
applying the water at intervals of a few days and doing all
of the watering of one field in a few hours.
One of the disadvantages of this rotation is that the water
must be taken and used irrespective of the time of day or night
and if an irrigator's turn comes in the evening, it may be neces-
sary for him to work most of the night by the light of a lantern^
to get the water over the field. Some, skilled in details, prefer
the night irrigation, as they think that the water goes farther
and better. With everything prepared they can work through
the cool night with greater comfort. Others naturally object
and the introduction of rotation in countries where there has
i
232 WATER RESOURCES
been a steady flow is strenuously opposed until the majority are
convinced of the economy and efficiency of this method.
Duty of Water. The amount of land which can be irrigated
with a given quantity of water, or the relation which these bear
to each other, is commonly expressed by the term duty of water,
as noted on page 195. The investigation of this relation is one
offering peculiar difficulties, as there discussed. Many studies
have been made and the results embodied in various scientific
reports and semi-popular works on the subject.^
These reports show in general that more water is used than is
necessary for the production of the best crops and that when
greater economy can be attained the area of irrigated land can
be increased. This is demonstrated by the results obtained
when dependence is placed upon pumped water, as indicated on
page 221. In Wyoming, and in several other states, the required
rate of delivery fixed by law is 1 second- foot to 70 acres; in
Idaho 50, in Oregon 80, in Nevada 100 acres, but in Colorado
and some other states the determination of area is left to the
courts. For convenience in connection with new projects the
assumption of 1 second- foot to 100 acres is generally made.
The duty of the water is said to be low when only a small area
of land is irrigated by a considerable stream, for example, if
1 cubic foot per second is used on 70 acres. It is high if this
quantity irrigates 160 acres or more. When we consider water
not as flowing in a stream, but as held in a reservoir, we speak
of low duty of water in that 8 acre-feet of water has been
applied during an irrigation season to a single acre, or in other
words an acre has received an aggregate depth of 8 feet. The
duty was high if the acre was satisfactorily irrigated by the
1 Harding, S. T., "Operation and Maintenance of Irrigation Systems,"
McGraw-Hill Co., New York, 1917, 271 pages, illustrated.
Newell, F. H., "Irrigation in the United States," T. Y. Crowell & Co.,
New York, 1906, 433 pages, illustrated.
Newell, F. H., "Irrigation Management," Appleton & Co., New York, 306
pages, illustrated. • «
Teele, R. P., "Irrigation in the United States," D. Appleton & Co., 1915,
353 pages, illustrated.
Wldtsoe, John A., "Principles of Irrigation Practice," Macmillan Co.,
1915, 496 pages, illustrated.
Plate XV. A.
Cement flume, Tieton Canal, Washington
Plate XV. B.
Casting portions of reinforced concrete cement flume, Tieton Canal,
Washington.
Plate XV. C.
waters of Interstate Canal under Rawhide Creek, North
Platte Project, Nebraska.
Plate XV. D.
Cylindrical jtates in Franklin Canal, El Paso, Texas.
c
OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE 233
application of a quantity of water which would have amounted
to 1.5 feet in depth or l^/^ acre- feet.
The theoretical duty of water is far higher than that actually
obtained. There is need for the production of a pound of dry
matter, for forage or other crops, from 300 to 1,000 pounds of
water, as noted on page 76. This would mean a few inches in
depth over the entire surface. To bring these few inches to the
plant, however, requires the use of several times this amount of
water in transporting the necessary quantity, because of the loss
in transit by seepage into the soil, by evaporation and in other
ways. Farmers have applied as high as 5, 6, or even 10 feet in
depth on sandy soils and yet have complained of not having
enough. Others assert that they have raised good crops on an
aggregate of one foot of water in depth during the crop season.
The old rough-and-ready rule was an inch to the acre, mean-
ing a miner's inch, or the fortieth or fiftieth part of a cubic foot
per second. Later an inch to two acres became the more com-
mon expression, meaning that a cubic foot per second or 40 or
50 miner's inches, flowing through the irrigation season of, say,
4 months or 120 days, would irrigate 80 to 100 acres, giving
an aggregate depth of 2.4 to 3 feet.
Pkoducts. The products obtained by the use of stored and
other waters procured for irrigation are dependent largely upon
climatic conditions. In a country of modern temperature and
where there is almost continual daily sunshine, as in the arid
region, the applying of water at the right time enables the
farmer to control crop production to a large degree. In the
warmer regions, as in Arizona and parts of California, crop
follows crop in rapid succession.
The most valuable is the fruit crop, but the area devoted to
fruit is relatively small. Of greater importance is the hay and
forage crop, consisting principally of alfalfa. Pis. II. B, XIII.
D, XVI. B. In the northern part of the arid region this can
be cut two or three times a year and in the southern part five
or six or oftener. It not only is a valuable forage plant, but
enriches the ground through the peculiar action of the nitrify-
ing organism on its roots.
Alfalfa forms nearly half of the irrigated crop acreage and
234 WATER RESOURCES
yields over a third of the crop value. Once established, or a
good "stand" secured, it continues for several years to furnish
annual yields without reseeding. Its roots, penetrating deeply,
open up the hard soil, and if turned under it affords one of the
best fertilizers for the succeeding crops. The alfalfa hay is
preferred for most of the farm animals.^
The matter of most concern to the farmer is not so much his
ability to raise alfalfa, by the use of water provided by storage
or other means, but rather his chief problem lies in successfully
disposing of the alfalfa at a price such as will yield him a proper
return for his labor. When the country was relatively new and
unsettled, and when there was a demand for forage far exceed-
ing the supply, such a question did not arise, but the moment
that development had proceeded to a point where the alfalfa
must seek an outside market, then the price in each locality fell
so low as often to be below the cost of production.
Under the first-named condition, the amount received and
demanded for alfalfa per ton was the purchase price in outside
markets plus the freight or cost of bringing the alfalfa into the
place where needed by the cattle owners or contractors on the
new work. When the settlers reached such a degree of success
that they produced more than enough hay to supply the local
demand, then the cost of freight was subtracted instead of being
added to the price in the outside market. For instance, if
alfalfa could be purchased for $10 per ton at Salt Lake City
and the freight rates to a new project such as that at Minidoka,
Ida., were $4 per ton, then the contractors on the Minidoka
Project were compelled to pay $14 per ton. As soon as the
local alfalfa fields produced a quantity in excess of the amount
needed by the contractors and some of the alfalfa must of neces-
sity be shipped to Salt Lake City for disposal, then the local
price was that prevailing in Salt Lake City, or $10, less the
freight charge of $4 per ton, netting the farmer only $6 per
ton or even less if freight facilities were not available.
This simple fact was not early appreciated and hence arose
great disappointment to the settlers who had founded their
1 Beadle, J. B., "Progress of Reclamation on Arid I.ands in the Western
United States," Smithsonian Report, 1915, pp. 4G7-488.
OPERATION AND MAINTEXAXCE 235
hopes on the continuance of high prices due to pioneer condi-
tions. They at once began to look for a remedy and with the
assistance of employees of the Reclamation Service and of the
Department of Agriculture, studied the practicability of reduc-
ing the shipping charges, notably by condensing the alfalfa into
more easily transportable forms or, as it has been stated, "pack-
ing the hay into the skin of a hog," or of converting it into
butter.
A considerable amount of capital and much time is required
to secure good dairy cows or to get cattle or sheep to feed.
In the hog business, however, a farmer can get well started in
two years and with a small investment. It is stated that horses
and cattle increase annually 60 to 80 per cent, sheep a little
more than 100 per cent, while hogs should increase 600 per cent.
Moreover, it takes less feed to produce a pound of pork than
any other kind of meat produced on the farm. Experiments
have been made on various reclamation projects, showing in one
case, considered fairly typical, that in two years' experience
with alfalfa pasture, an average annual return of over $45 per
acre was secured. With the addition of a little corn, these re-
turns were increased to from $70 to over twice as much per
acre. Other experiments show that in the yield of certain
pastured plats the hay consumed was sold in the form of pork
at a value of over $25 per ton.^ These matters, although appar-
ently outside the field of investigation by the engineer, are of
prime importance in preparing plans and in weighing the eco-
nomics of various projects of water control and development.
The cereals — principally wheat, oats, rye, and barley —
raised under irrigation come far below the forage crops; and
next to these in order are vegetables, orchard fruits (PI. XIV.
D), and small fruit. In California the orchard fruits surpass
the forage crops in value. The large production of hay and
forage under irrigation illustrates the fact that in these states
irrigation is, to a large extent, an adjunct of stock raising. The
production of cereals under irrigation is relatively small.
1 Holden, James A., "Experience in the Disposal of Irrigated Crops
Through the Use of Hogs," United States Department of Agriculture,
BuUetin 488, February 26, 1917.
236 WATER RESOURCES
The total value of all the cereals produced under irrigation
in the United States is less than that of those produced in
almost any one of the humid states of the East. In many
localities the irrigation of cereals and staple crops has been
brought about by local conditions, such as difficulty of trans-
portation and consequent heavy cost of importation. The irri-
gated cereals in such localities are raised almost wholly for local
consumption, and do not enter the markets of the world. Com
is now raised with considerable success under irrigation. The
failures which first occurred on account of carelessness and
the unintelligent use of water and from attempting to grow
varieties not adapted to the locality are being corrected as
knowledge is gained from experience.
For many years it has been the current popular belief that
the crops produced by the irrigators far exceed in value per
acre those produced by the dry farmer. Theoretically this
should be a fact because with proper water conservation by
storage it is possible to regulate the supply of moisture and
with ample sunlight to bring about ideal conditions. Many indi-
vidual examples can be cited of wonderful results. Taking such
instances there seems to be no question but that irrigation must
win in any comparison. There have been, until recently, no
reliable figures sustaining the assumptions made, and it was not
until the Reclamation Service began to obtain crop statistics
that it was realized that the average crop production under
irrigation was far less than usually believed.
The annual estimates prepared by the Reclamation Service
show a steady decline during several years in succession of the
average value per acre cropped. This is presumably due to
the fact that each year more complete figures were obtained.
In 1916, however, for the first time the average showed a gain
over the preceding years, and while from about 1909 until 1916
the returns per acre seemed to decrease, the later figures have
showed a gain. This may be explained in part by the fact that
the early figures related largely to lands including old developed
areas in the Salt River, Arizona, Uncompahgre Valley, Colo-
rado, and similar projects. Each year a larger and larger
acreage of raw land was added, tending to step down the returns.
OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE 237
These raw lands, after a few years in cultivation, have now
become highly productive.
Alkali and Drainage. Where water is scarce and must be
handled carefully, efforts are made to secure economy, but when
a large supply has been made available by storage, the farmer
is inclined to use it lavishly. Upwards of 15 per cent, or even
more, of the irrigated lands formerly cultivated, have been
injured by an excess of water. This has not only converted
these lands into swamps but has brought to the surface a crust
of earthly salts of various compositions included under the term
of alkali, as shown in PL XVI. C.
The most effective way of removing alkali is to hold the
ground water well below the surface by means of deep drains
and thus permit excess soil waters to move downward. The
water in descending in the soil dissolves the salt on and near the
surface and a portion of it is carried off in solution in the drain-
age water. Deep drains, especially where they cut porous
strata, are effective in lowering the ground water and removing
alkali at long distances from them. On many of the United
States Reclamation Service projects deep drains at average
intervals of from one- fourth to one-half mile apart have been
found effective. Investigations indicate that troubles caused
by alkali yield to careful treatment, and even badly alkaline
land, when properly drained and then irrigated, can be made
suitable for cultivation. Large areas of alkali land in the West
may be reclaimed at a cost below the actual increase in the value
of the land. It is believed that the time will soon come when
drainage will be as common in the irrigated districts as are the
tile-drained fields of the Middle West.
All irrigation works must be accompanied by the building of
adequate wasteways and drains. Throughout a great part of
the United States, outside of as well as within the arid region,
are thousands of acres of land which are either partly sub-
merged, especially during the flood season, or contain an amount
of water so large as to render their cultivation impracticable.
Drainage must be provided for these lands, not only to remove
the surface water, but to decrease the percentage of water in
the soil itself. There are thus necessary two distinct but closely
238 WATER RESOURCES
related kinds of construction. First, the surface drains or
wasteways, and second, subsurface or deep covered drains.
Surface ditches form by far the greater part of all drainage
works. They are usually broad, shallow depressions designed
to carry away as quickly as possible the excess of rain or flood
water and to discharge this into the natural streams. By re-
lieving the surface of this burden, it is often possible for the soil
to quickly dry out and reach a tillable condition. In the case
of some soils, it is necessary to provide deeper outlets which will
actually draw down the water in the ground and permit the air
to enter the interstices. In other words, the drains must be
put down sufficiently deep to permit the escape of water from
the upper 6 or 8 feet. What is desired is to reduce the per-
centage of saturation down to, say, 12 or 15 per cent.
The building of irrigation works should be accompanied by
the construction of drains in the same way that the building of
a city waterworks is accompanied by a sewage system. It is
not always practicable to anticipate just where the drains will
be needed. Some of the soils, apparently tight, will be found to
transmit water freely, and others, which on examination appear
to be porous, may be found to retain the water. It thus results
that after irrigation works are built the seepage waters appear
in unexpected places; the drainage system must be laid out in
accordance with observations made as to the behavior of the
underground water.
The main drainage, open ditches, located usually in the nat-
ural depressions, are built with gently sloping sides. The farm
drains leading to these may consist of tile buried in the ground
to a depth sufficient to keep the water table well beneath the
surface. The construction of these drains through the wet
lands necessitates the use of machinery so arranged that it can
be operated in water-soaked soils. The most successful is some
form of drag-line excavator, such as that shown in PI. I. C, which
operates a bucket on the end of a line in such a way as to take
out the material whether wet or dry.
In many places drainage works are employed as an adjunct
to the irrigation canal. On benchlands or gently sloping hill-
OPERATION AND MAINTEXAXCE 239
sides the water which escapes from one man's farm is caught by
the lower laterals and used by his neighbors below, and there is
none left to stagnate, the surplus from the upper cultivated
lands being of value in watering the lower meadows. There are
cases, however, where the question of disposing of the water is
as important as that of obtaining it. These are on the nearly
level lands, where the subsoil has been filled to saturation bv the
water which has no opportunity to escape, and where expensive
works are required in order to redeem the lower lands for
agricultural purposes.
There is probably no one engineering operation that seems
more simple than that of location of drains. Looking at the
surface of the ground, the ordinary observer will infer that the
drains should follow certain depressions. Acting under such
impulses, thousands of dollars have been wasted in building
drains which when constructed were found not to remove the
excess water as anticipated. The reason is that the under-
ground conditions are not usually revealed by the contour of
the surface and that the movement of the water through the soil
is controlled by conditions which are not at once apparent.
These may be determined by a carefully planned series of test
pits or bore holes, so located as to ascertain the character of the
subsoil and slope of the water table.
As an example may be noted the Shoshone Project in Wyo-
ming, in which the soil, of 4 to 6 feet in thickness, is underlaid by
gravel. The general surface has a fall of about 20 feet to the
mile. Apparently there could be no danger of swamping such an
area as water would flow down the surface or into the gravels.
It was assumed that the gravel could deliver any excess water
to the deeply cut natural drainage lines. As a matter of fact,
however, swamps did develop on these relatively steep slopes and
drains built according to surface indications did not relieve the
situation. Carefully conducted investigations showed that there
were certain bands of gravel less pervious than others and that
only when the drains were so located that these bands were cut
could the accumulated water be discharged through the barrier
and the swampy conditions relieved. It was by thorough re-
search that these unexpected conditions were found to exist in
240 WATER RESOURCES
material which ordinarily is supposed to be readily traversed
by water.
Before undertaking any considerable drainage enterprise, a
map should be prepared showing not only the surface condi-
tions, but also the depth to hardpan or to the water table and
other facts such as may be ascertained by field examinations of
the area. On the basis of this information, it is possible to pre-
pare plans which may enable large economies, as against the
frequently haphazard system of simply digging the drains and
then trying out their efficiency. The distance between drains,
their size, slope, and other conditions, must be worked out in
accordance with the full information obtained by field exami-
nations and by the analogies presented by successful work else-
where.
The development of drainage is proceeding rapidly as larger
experience has been obtained and more complete information is
had concerning the essential details. Well-planned investiga-
tions are needed, however, into many of the details of the move-
ment of water underground through the influence of gravity,
capillarity, and other forces, as modified by soil texture and
composition.
Plate XVI. A.
Measuring water to farm laterals. Uncompahgre Project, Colorado.
Plate XVI. B.
Stacking alfalfa hay. Garden City Project, Kansas.
\
Plate XVI. C.
Alfalfa field injured by slksli due to excessive frrigstlor
Wyoming.
Plate XVI. D.
App)e orchard, North Yskima, Washington.
CHAPTER XV
TRANSPORTATION OF WASTE THE
THIRD USE OF WATER
The assertion that the use of water, in the disposal of
sewage, and of industrial wastes in general, is next in impor-
tance to food production, comes as a shock to most persons who
have not carefully thought about these matters. The employ-
ment of watercourses in this connection is more often regarded
as an abuse than as a use, and the natural impulse is to de-
nounce the pollution of streams as an outrage on the public.
In a rapidly developing country where population is increasing
and industries are multiplying, there human and industrial
wastes quickly accumulate to a point where health and life itself
are threatened. Even in primitive times or among Indian tribes,
village sites or even small towns were abandoned because of the
nuisance or infection bred from such accumulations. Under
such conditions either the rivers must be used to wash away the
polluting substances or drastic action taken to limit industry
and settlement.
In most industrial operations and in nearly all sanitary appli-
ances, water in large quantities is used. It is taken out of the
general circulatory system, employed for a short period, and
then returned, carrying with it the substances for which we
have no further need and concerning which our chief anxiety is
to get them out of sight and smell as quickly as possible, even
though they may contain fertilizing material or substance from
which valuable by-products may be derived.
Thus, in the present stage of development of civilization and
of population, water has become the principal agency for carry-
ing away the things we no longer require. Whether we like it
or not, we must recognize this condition and the fact that in
242 WATER RESOURCES
innumerable processes water is and will be employed in larger
and larger volumes for washing away the things we do not want
and which if not disposed of become nuisances.
Our immediate concern is not so much that of preventing
the use of water as of determining the extent to which, when
once thus used, it can or should be returned to the natural
stream channels. It is whether we should permit the foul water
as it escapes from sewers or manufacturing establishments to
go directly into the brooks and creeks or whether, before being
thus turned loose, it can or should be deprived of its load of
deleterious matter. In short, because of the long-continued and
tacit recognition of an existing custom sanctioned by law and
habit, the present questions are not those of prohibition of use
but of regulation of an abuse. The right of use must be clearly
defined and the limits of abuse equally well set.
These limits to which human and industrial wastes may be
discharged into a stream are by no means uniform nor suscep-
tible of accurate definition. It is necessary in each case to con-
sider the surrounding conditions, to make careful investigations,
conduct researches and balance the benefits as far as possible
against the injuries caused; the persons or communities suffer-
ing injury to be recompensed by those who are benefited.
It is easy to imagine localities where unrestricted dumping of
waste is of no consequence, simply because the amount thus
deposited is infinitesimal compared to the vast volume and nat-
urally foul condition of river water. For example, one or two
small factories or settlements along the muddy Missouri can-
not produce any injury possible of detection. On the other
extreme, the small creeks formerly filled with clear, mountain
water may be quickly defiled by the waste from a crowded manu-
facturing town and become a menace to the people living below.
The question then is as to whether the benefits to the com-
munity or to the public in general of the former pure water —
perhaps unutilized — were greater than those now conferred by
the manufacturing village. Do the net profits of the industry
justify the destruction of natural values.'* If so, should these
profits be used in part in repairing or in preventing injury .^^ It
is easily conceivable that in most, if not all, instances, the abuse
TRANSPORTATION OF WASTE 243
of water may be prevented at a cost which is less than the advan-
tage which results from neglect. The answer to these questions
can be had only after impartial study of the facts and careful
weighing of the evidence.
The balancing of benefits and injury is often complicated by
conditions which cannot be readily taken into account. These
are the intangible vested rights or traditional attitude of the
people or communities where use and abuses have grown up
slowly side by side and the public has become accustomed to
these. When people in general cannot imagine any other con-
ditions than those which exist, there is little possibility of arous-
ing sufficient interest to check an abuse. For instance, a small
mill which develops gradually into a large manufacturing estab-
lishment begins at first to discharge its refuse into the stream,
and without any perceptible injury. As it grows, the houses of
workmen are crowded in the vicinity, the processes of manu-
facture are gradually changed, and more and more noxious sub-
stances are thrown into or along the stream, already partly
polluted. At no time is there a conspicuous change from con-
ditions which have existed a few months before. Nor is there
an inciting cause for anyone to make effective complaint until
the conditions become intolerable, forcing the public to appre-
ciate that new and unbearable conditions have developed.
In the meantime, certain vested rights have attached, sustain-
ing the contention that stream pollution is in the natural order
of events: the persons injured have slept on their rights or by
acquiescence have allowed them to diminish to a point where it
is easy for the manufacturer to demonstrate that his profits and
the gain to the community far exceed the dubious loss to others.
There is no doubt but that there are localities and conditions
where the transporting of waste products has attained sufficient
importance to justify large expenditures by the public along
the line of water conservation, especially when undertaken in
connection with other uses of the water. For example, in pre-
paring estimates of the cost of production of power or of water
storage for municipal and other purposes, there may be recog-
nized among the benefits to be derived from such expenditure
the disposal of sewage. Because of such gain, additional outlay
244 WATER RESOURCES
may be justified or a plan approved which otherwise might seem
inexpedient.
This is notably the case where, with rapidly increasing density
of population, the question of domestic and city water is becom-
ing a more and more intricate problem. Each settlement along
a river from the time of the building of its first house, usually
has derived its necessary water supply from the stream and, as
the number of houses increased, sewers have been built emptying
below town. The diluted sewage has continued to flow down to
the next settlement below and there been used until after a lapse
of some years the water has become obnoxious or the death rate
increased.
Little thought is usually given to these conditions until they
result in an epidemic — with large loss of life. Customary incon-
veniences or slowly increasing death rate do not arouse people
to action. The first impulse which follows the recognition of the
bad condition is to go to the other extreme, to demand that all
sewage be excluded from the streams. This is practically impos-
sible, as the water which is used by municipalities or employed in
manufacturing establishments must sooner or later return to the
natural drainage channels. Before being returned, however, it
is possible to bring the water back to a fair degree of purity.
The cost of so doing is the governing factor.
The improvement of the condition of the water which has
once been used is largely a matter of dilution.^ After the visible
impurities have been disposed of and the bacteriological con-
tents reduced as far as practicable, the next question is to secure
as great a degree of dilution as possible. To do this there must
be available during the dry seasons an adequate amount of
water and while under ordinary conditions it would not pay to
store water simply for dilution of waste, yet in connection with
power development or other purpose this may be brought about
and enable the solution of a difficult problem.
Water is the universal carrier and solvent, and of necessity
must be largely employed in removing many noxious materials.
1 But not in Miles and activated sludge processes; aeration is necessary
in the Miles process; activated sludge sewage will support fish at end of
treatment. These treatments usually require concentration.
TRANSPORTATION OF WASTE 245
During the process of transportation of organic matter in open
stream channels there is usually set up more or less chemical
and biological action which tends to eliminate the harmful
organisms. If the foul water is well diluted and is exposed to
sunlight and to air in its course downstream, there is a gradual
return to normal conditions.
While it may be impracticable to preserve the streams of the
country in their original purity, yet research indicates that it
is possible to so act that they may continue to perform varied
and useful functions, bringing needed water to many communi-
ties and taking aw^ay the waste material, provided that in so
doing they are not overloaded. The proper adjustment is a
matter which must be considered in each case. It demands the
skill of the engineer in planning and devising works of conserva-
tion to furnish a regular supply and the experience of the sani-
tary and biological experts to see to it that the highest practi-
cable degree of purity is attained in anything discharged into
the watercourses. Filtration of waters before use and again
after use and before release into the natural channels, together
with a steady flow in the latter — sufficient to secure full dilu-
tion — is to be sought.^
Relative Values.^ The gain to individuals or to corpora-
tions through the relatively easy way of disposing of sewage
and waste by discharging it into rivers has been accompanied by
losses to communities or injury to the public welfare. The
effects of the structures, such as dams across the rivers, the
1 Hansen, Paul, "Control of Stream Poffution," Illinois Academy of
Science, 1913.
Hoad, W. C, *The Michigan Water and Sewage Law and the Grand
Rapids Stream Pollution Decision," Engineering Bulletin No. 4, Michigan
State Board of Health.
Leighton, Marshall O., "Pollution of Illinois and Mississippi River by
Chicago Sewage," U. S. G. S. Water Supply Paper No. 194, 1907.
Legg, F. G., **The Work of the International Joint Commission on the
Pollution of Boundary Waters," Michigan Engineering Society Proceedings,
1915, p. 79.
2 The remainder of the chapter is a slight modification of a manuscript
by Victor E. Shelford, biologist in charge of Research Laboratories, Illi-
nois Natural History Survey, and assistant professor of Zoology, University
of Illinois.
246 WATER RESOURCES
drainage of extensive marshes and the sewage discharged into
the streams liave disturbed the delicate adjustment of life con-
ditions of plants or animals. The actions and reactions are
usually complex and the ultimate net balance of benefit or injury
may not be apparent until after careful research. j
People in general are apt to see only those things which are
brought prominently to their attention, disregarding other mat-
ters as of little or no significance; thus the natural resources
which have been lost or diminished in value to secure an imme- i
diate gain are usually not given great weight. To illustrate the
contrasting attitude of those who view the same question from
different standpoints, the following instances may be given. A
manufacturer, when confronted by law which will ultimately
compel his factory to stop polluting a stream, exclaims :
"What ! Would you destroy our great industries because of
a few fish, for the sake of the cattle of a few farmers or the
health of a few people.'' If people want fish, let them go to sea
or somewhere else and get them. If they don't like the foul
water, let them move to a greater distance from the factory
where the water is better. If they and their cattle can't drink
the water, let them drill wells for themselves."^
On the other hand is the attitude of the extreme conserva-
tionist who denounces public indifference in the disposal of
sewage, and says : "There is little blacker or more nearly crimi-
nal in the history of the country or an exhibition of greater
disregard for the rights and health of the people than the pollu-
tion of the streams by manufacturing and other industrial inter-
ests. It is harder to repair the damage they have done, than
all the acts of careless fishermen. To those who know the facts,
have seen the dire results, and have the work of rehabilitation in
hand, the faults of Judas Iscariot and of Benedict Arnold are
more to be condoned and of less harm to the people than the
ruin of the fisheries and the water supply for domestic pur-
poses."^
1 Meehan, W. E., "The Battle for the Fishes," Canadian Fisherman, 191T,
4:275-279.
TRAXSPORTATIOX OF WASTE 247
In the words of an aquatic culture advocate : "A fish cultural
experiment station is what is now urgently needed; an institu-
tion equipped for water culture, and charged with the duty of
carrying out a well-planned line of experiments, bearing on its
economic problems. This is needed to supplement the hatch-
eries and to bring their work to fruition."^ On the contrary, we
have from a cannery operator: "This nonsense about fish cul-
ture makes me tired. What I want to know is how to make every
dollar invested in fisheries pay a dollar and ten cents. When
we have canned the last salmon we will can something else."
The conservationist says of Niagara, "The falls in their full
glory belong solely to the nation and to posterity." While the
engineers respond, "It's a shame to let all that power go to
waste."
Who is right.'* To a certain extent each is — but in each case
the special interest fails to recognize the rights and interests
of the other side in making his own calculations. The present
unsatisfactory condition of our aquatic resources is largely due
to the intolerant advocacy of this or that, of "pork," profits,
industrial expansion, sport, or economy carried to penurious-
ness. Modern legislation for the protection of fishes has often
been less effective than that of 300 years ago. Proposals for
its complete reorganization have scarcely gotten a hearing.
In 1606 an act passed by James VI of Scotland forbade the
pollution of lochs and running streams because it was "hurtful
to all fishes bred therein."^ The punishments for violations
were severe. Later by 312 years we are just confronted with
a problem of substituting fish for beef, pork, and mutton and
find our laws no better. With the development of modern indus-
tries and sewerage systems the bathing and recreation grounds
liave been destroyed and fisheries greatly injured or destroyed.
Some fisheries had been depleted already as a result of the use
of "improved" catching devices and the absence of protective
measures such as existed in some places eight hundred years
ago.
iNeedham, J. G., and Lloyd, J. T., "Life of Inland Waters," Ithaca,
1916.
2 Day, F., "British and Irish Salmonids," London, 1887.
248 WATER RESOURCES
In Scotland, about the year 1220, it was ordained that from
Saturday night to Monday morning it should be obligatory to
leave a free passage for salmon in all the various rivers.^ Al-
most seven hundred years later a similar law was enacted in
certain of our Pacific states, but the time is shorter, being from
Saturday night to Sunday night. The absence of such laws in
New England a century ago has caused infinite damage to the
salmon and shad industries.
Fisheries. The destruction of fisheries by using the streams
to transport waste is the first and most obvious injury, but they
make up only a small part of the losses. There are other more
important aquatic, biological values as noted on page 274.
It has been argued that the fisheries of one of the most pro-
ductive rivers are not worth as much as the products of the
smallest industry which is throwing wastes into the upper
course of this river. This argument carries much weight; it
is, however, faulty. First of all, economists have been predict-
ing a shortage of food; furthermore the values used are the
values to the fishermen, not to the public. The Alaska salmon
canning industry, taking only the salmon canned, shows^ that
about one-third of the employees and one-third of the capital
are devoted to fishing, while the value of the fish to the fisher-
men is about one-third of the value of the canned product to
the canneries. Salmon fishing is more expensive than many
other types. Fish should be compared with raw materials and
not with the products of factories on which much labor has
been expended. Our food supply should be increased, not de-
creased to bring profit to a few owners of manufacturing
industries.
Recreational Values. Besides the biological values, there
are the recreation and aesthetic values. They must be con-
sidered in any attempt to balance the gains and losses. There
are two types of recreation which have to be taken into account.
One is the camping, shooting, and fishing, another the wading,
rowing, and afternoon and Sunday outings for children and
1 Day, F., "British and Irish Salmonids," London, 1887.
2 Evermann, B. W., "Alaska Fisheries and Fur Industry in 1913," 1913
Report of the Commissioner of Fisheries, app. II : 1-139.
TRANSPORTATION OF WASTE 249
those who must take advantage of things near at hand. These
two uses of waters and water margins overlap only to a small
degree. The value of a stream and its margins for its sports-
men can be ascertained through suitable investigation. For
example, the Fox River^ in Illinois is about 100 miles long and
its valley contains a population of 284i,000. The banks are
dotted with cottages and there are some clubhouses. It was
estimated that there are over 6,000 boats of all kinds on the
river. The capital invested in these cottages, clubhouses, and
boats is the capitalization; the interest on this, the salaries of
caretakers and the value to local merchants is the annual recre-
ation value, but what it is has never been determined. Such
activities tend to disappear from badly polluted streams.
For the general welfare of its citizens every large city pro-
vides parks with lagoons for rowing, bathing beaches, swimming
pools, and in some cases forest preserves on the outskirts.
Chicago^ is a good city from which to make estimates, for it
has all these things within its limits or under its immediate
influence, further the Fox River is valuable for comparison
with the upper Illinois and Des Plaines rivers because of the
nearness of both to the city^. Chicago's park properties cost
over $56,000,000. The interest on this sum and cost of mainte-
nance amounts to nearly $2.60 per capita annually exclusive
of lighting. The forest preserves^ will probably cost nearly
twenty million when completed and this will add another dollar
to the annual per capita outlay. This city also spends seven
cents per capita for outdoor bathing facilities. The parks
contain lagoons which provide rowing and a limited amount of
angling. They correspond quite closely to the conditions
afforded by a river and its immediate margins for people living
close at hand.
Chicago Sewage. Chicago "treats" its sewage by dilution
with water drawn from Lake Michigan and adjacent waterways
1 McCiirdy, G. E., "Report of Survey and Proposed Improvement of the
Fox River," State of Illinois Rivers and Lakes Commission, 195.
2 United States Bureau of Census, General statistics of cities, 1915.
3 Reinberp, P., and others, "The Forest Preserves of Cook County,"
Chicago, 1918.
250 WATER RESOURCES
through the South branch of the Chicago River and a canal
which receives other streams and finally ends in the Des Plaines
River, which is one of the upper courses of the Illinois. There
are strong e\'idences of pollution more than a hundred miles
below Chicago. Fishes have been wiped out, and sportsmen's
activities reduced to a minimum. About 250,000 people living
in this part of the valley and area immediately adjacent are
affected by the conditions which the sewage produces in the
river. It is not possible to put a value on the loss they sustain.
**For over a hundred miles from Chicago, the inhabitants of
the valley seem to have relinquished the most valuable rights of
riparian owners. The water is not fit to drink, nor wash in,
nor to water stock in, nor for any other domestic and industrial
uses of a normal river. Fish die in it ; the thought of swimming
in it is repugnant to the senses ; boating far from being a pleas-
ant and healthful diversion can be enjoyed only bj' the hardy.
The stream flows with the majestic sweep of all great rivers and
the banks are overhung with rich luxuriant foliage; but the
water is discolored, malodorous, poisonous. Fine black organic
sewage mud covers the bottom and deposits on the shores when
the river overflows its banks. "^ From the loss of nearly all use
of the river for recreation, angling, swimming, camping, taking
merely the $2.60 Chicago spends annually at the present time,
exclusive of the forest preserves as a basis, we find that the
250,000 people of the valley may lose $650,000 per year on this
score alone. It may, of course, be argued that they would not
use the river if it were clean, that tributaries supply necessary
recreation grounds, that half of the people live in towns which
supply these things in parks, that they would pollute the river
themselves. Further, one might find that they are quite resigned
to conditions because they "cannot be remedied" — a sophistry of
those who wish to continue the present system. Only careful
investigation can determine what their loss is. However, there
are aesthetic and moral values to be considered. Furthermore,
the annual loss to the inhabitants due to the lack of visiting
1 Soper, G. A., Watson, J. D., and Martin, A. J., "A Report on the
Disposal of Sewage and Protection of Water Supply of Chicago, Illinois,*'
The Chicago Real Estate Board, 1915.
TRANSPORTATION OF WASTE 251
sportsmen, noted above for the Fox River, and the loss due to
hindrance of the general development of the valley because of all
the disadvantages and the nuisances which the sewage causes, the
destruction of cattle water, dangers to public health, all have to
be taken into account. The loss of fish lies chiefly in angling
losses at present, but the sewage is rapidly encroaching on com-
mercial fisheries further down. In addition there is a loss of an
almost annual crop of ice, or ice which is dangerous to public
health is harvested.
This situation can be relieved by treatment of Chicago sew-
age. A recovery and treatment plant has been estimated^ to
cost Chicago $8,800,000 for 50 million gallons of sewage or
$88,000,000 to care for the city's entire discharge counted at
500,000,000 gallons per day at a cost of over $8,000,000 for
annual running expenses with recovered products worth upwards
of $8,000,000, leaving more than $5,000,000 annual expenses.
These figures based on packing-town sewage are perhaps larger
than for an average.
According to figures by Winslow and Mohlman," who worked
on New Haven sewage, the cost for Chicago on the basis of the
average of their two stations when treated by the Miles process,
would be $8,800,000 for a year without recovery products or
about $1,500,000 with sale of recovery products deducted.
The figures of Weston show an actual profit for his samples of
Boston sewage. In other words, if Chicago spent as much on
cleaning up its back yard as it does on beautifying its front
yard, it would not be making a sewer out of a once beautiful
valley. The estimated economies in government under a plan
proposed by the Cities' Efficiency and Economy Commission
would almost build a fifty-million-gallon plant every year, and
the operating expenses would increase taxation about 6 per cent.
1 Wisner, G. M., "Report on Sewapje Disposal," The Chicago Sanitary
District, Chicago, 1911.
Hill, C. D., "The Sewage Disposal Prohlem in Chicago," Am. Jour. Pub.
Health, 8:833-837, 1918.
Pearse, L., "Activated Sludge and Treatment of Packing-Town Wastes,"
Am. Jour. Pub. Health, 8:47-55, 1918.
2 Winslow, C.-E. A., and Mohlman, F. W., "Acid Treatment of Sewage,"
Municipal Journal, 45:280-282; 297-299; 321-322, 1918.
252 WATER RESOURCES
Counting all losses, the per capita loss to the people of the
valley would greatly exceed the per capita expense to Chicago.
The total annual losses to the valley may readily equal Chicago's
total expense for treatment.
Does It Pay? The figures of cost of sewage treatment show
great variation and it is probable that any estimate of cost or
recovery are wide of the mark in one direction or the other.
However, if one brought all the values together after careful
investigation, he could probably prove, with the moral, educa-
tional, and recreational values taken into account, that it does
not pay to pollute streams or other bodies of water with un-
treated sewage and industrial wastes or to modify streams and
swamps without careful consideration of values other than the
industrial and commercial. Such investigation and proof are
not necessary. The nation has provided immense national parks
and forest reserves for the use of everybody, but far away from
the bulk of the population. Each state should provide its
citizens with some of the same kind of recreation grounds,
should protect each and every small community from the de-
struction of its recreation grounds. Each child has a right to
wade in the creek near his home and pick up stones; his own
community must protect him from disease and filth.
Under pressure for economy some engineers have been slow
to recognize the rights of the smaller community to the fish-
eries, sporting, and aesthetics of its watercourses against the
interests and selfish encroachment of the larger. Certain
American engineers^ said of the Royal Commission on River
Pollution: "The main interest lies however in the complete
failure to recognize dilution of sewage as method of treatment.
Its dilution in water was regarded exclusively as a method of
disposal. A city which has a neighboring body of water, where
it can be practiced safely, possesses an important natural re-
source." The men failed to see the beauties of such a theorv
as exemplified by most of our streams where such treatment is
practiced, as a notable example the Chicago drainage canal.
The capacity of streams to carry away human and industrial
1 Metcalf, L., and Eddy, P. E., "American Sewerage Practice," Vol. Ill,
"Disposal of Sewage," New York, 1916.
TRANSPORTATION OF WASTE 258
wastes IS a natural resource : the removal of these is necessary ;
but this capacity like other natural resources, if it be admitted
to be such, being largely of a biological nature ( self-purification
being a biological process), is quickly destroyed by overtaxa-
tion. Such treatment can be successfully practiced only under
close supervision, as is necessary in scientific forestry, for
example. The principle set down by the Massachusetts state
board of health in 1875 still holds, "that each community should
dispose of its own filth without allowing it to become a source
of offence to others.
"While realizing that in certain cases the discharge of crude
sewage into boundary waters may be without danger it is our
judgment that effective sanitary administration requires that
no untreated sewage from cities or towns shall be discharged
into boundary waters." (Report of engineers to the Inter-
national Joint Commission.)
Apparently the boundary waters are not a natural resource
for the treatment of sewage by dilution, and why not? Because
every country protects its humblest citizen from the acts of
foreign nations by going to war, if necessary, for the lives of
only a few. Most often engineers regard waters only as a
source of supply for communities which have waterworks, but
Phelps recently said:*
"The only proper basis for a policy of stream protection is
the principle of conservation of stream resources, or the maxi-
mum beneficial use of the stream. The application of this policy
involves the study of all the various uses of the stream and of
the value of each. From a purely economic standpoint, if for
no more potent reason, the protection of life and health demands
first consideration, and that protective policy is best which
best protects the public health and permits the maximum
utilization of the other valuable properties of the stream.'*
The sanitary engineers for a state board of health recently
said : "The principal evil growing out of the extensive installa-
tion of modern sewerage systems is the pollution of streams.
Many streams in the United States have been grossly polluted
1 Phelps, E. B., **The Control of Stream Pollution—A Problem in Eco-
nomics," Mun. and Co, Engineering y 55:22-24, 1918.
254 WATER RESOURCES
as to be fit for no other purpose than as a receptacle and an
open drain for putrefying wastes. This situation is due entirely
to the fact that the benefit from the installation of adequate
treatment works accrues to the downstream neighbors of a
community using the stream as a wastewaj' rather than to the
community itself." The discussion coming from some of the
worst offenders is not encouraging, as it usually contemplates
the continuation of present conditions with some increased load
added to the streams. Ten or twenty years hence they antici-
pate that it will be necessary to treat the sewage from enough
of their population to keep conditions not too much worse than
they are now.
The existence of such large and noxious wastes and the
seriousness of their effects have perhaps been sufficiently en-
larged upon in the preceding pages. The natural argument
in condoning the fact "is that it constitutes an unfortunate but
necessary and inevitable accompaniment of the development of
manufacturing." But such a general argument as that is met
when we consider for a moment the conditions that prevail in
other countries. When the manufacturer makes such a state-
ment, and he is asked if manufacturing is as general, if popu-
lation is as dense, in this country as it is in England, or Bel-
gium, or France, or Germany, taking conditions before the war,
he will hardly venture to say that it is.
In none of our states have we reached the development of
manufacturing, nor the density of population which exists in
those countries ; yet fishing in the streams of the Old World is
better than it is in these streams in the manufacturing parts
of the New World; and pollution at the present time is much
greater here than it is there. Much improvement, as a matter
of fact, has been made in the older parts of the world in the
course of the last half century in cleaning up the streams, they
have paid attention to that, whereas we have neglected the
problem.^
In this country one goes to college and takes a course in the
chemistry of paper making and seldom hears a word about how
iWard, H. B., "The Elimination of Stream Pollution in New York
State," Trans. Am. Fish Soc., XLVIII, 3-25, 1919.
TRANSPORTATION OF WASTE 255
to dispose of the wastes, not even in the university of a state in
which paper mills have destroyed many salmon and their breed-
ing grounds. The stream of our information in these matters
is dried up at the source. The legal situation relative to
streams pollution is peculiar. In most cases there are adequate
laws to prevent the contamination of streams, but when the
state goes into court with a complaint, the offender usually
says, "Tell us how to dispose of our refuse without polluting
the streams and we will be glad to do so.'' He usually is sus-
tained by the court in continuing the nuisance until the com-
plainant has shown how it can be done. In case of most mis-
demeanors the offender has to invent his own means of stopping
the offence, but in these cases the state must discover it for
him. Perhaps the state should do it in the future. The con-
dition of our laws should be remedied after careful investigation.
Water Fertilization and Self-Purification. It is a fact
that a certain amount of purely household sewage added to
water increases nitrogen and hence acts as a fertilizer increas-
ing food for fish and other aquatic animals. Certain European
towns run their sewage into ponds where the yield of carp is
increased through the increase of fish food. It is easy to argue
that the addition of sewage to streams will do good ! Of course
that would settle it if there were not more facts to consider.
First, in practice there is no such thing as pure sewage ; even
in the smallest town, the garage runs oil and gasoline into the
sewers and the creamery adds milk wastes or the gas plant adds
quantities of deadly poison until there is really no certainty
that the process of breaking down the organic matter of the
household sewage present into nitrogen available for fish food
will go on. In many cases it certainly does not.
Secondly, how much sewage can be used advantageously as
fertilizer.'* The amount that can be used for carp may be
known, but carp is not prized by Americans and amounts suit-
able for carp may be detrimental to most aquatic resources.
It is difficult for one to conceive of the physiological diversity
in the animals of a river.
Studies of fishes in the Illinois River at points where self-
purification has proceeded far enough to permit fishes to live,
256 WATER RESOURCES
appear to show that fishes have increased. This case, however,
is complicated by the fact that water diverted from Lake
Michigan has increased the flow and added greatly to the over-
flowed areas and hence to the shallow water for feeding and
breeding. This increased space is believed to be in part
responsible for the increase in fish.
The number of fishes which come from the lakes and bayous
which are little affected by the pollution is unknown, as well as
the number of fishermen before and after the introduction of
Chicago sewage and accordingly this case cannot be used to
show anything about this. Further, the loss of the Buffalo fish,
the big pickerel and wall-eyed pike noted on page 276
indicates that the increase has not been general, but that while
it is not certain that some fishes are favored, it is more than
probable that what favors one species is detrimental to another.
There is no investigation showing how much sewage is advan-
tageous.
When is a stream self-purified.'^ The sanitary chemist and
bacteriologist have criteria, but so far as their tests are con-
cerned, the stream may be so thoroughly purified, by acid
waste for example, that nothing belonging to our aquatic
biological resources remains.
The most delicate test for the suitability of water for impor-
tant aquatic organisms is perhaps the microscopic organisms
which serve indirectly as food for fishes. When these are gone,
especially from the bottom, there can hardly be any fish. The
biologist with careful study, based on new research, can estab-
lish the point at which self-purification has taken place, for
example, from the standpoint of fish. One finds in the litera-
ture assumptions about dissolved oxygen, but little that
is established from the standpoint of the physiology and inter-
dependence of important aquatic animals. The ecological
requirements^ of important aquatic species are the final court
1 Shelford, V. E., "Ecological Succession. I. Stream Fishes and the
Method of Physiographic Analysis," Biol. Bull., 21: 9-35, "II. Pond Fishes,"
Biol. Bull., 21:127-151. "III. A Reconnaissance of its Causes in Ponds,
with Particular Reference to Fish," Biol. Bull., 22:1-38. "Suggestions as
to Indices of the Suitability of Bodies of Water for Fishes," Trans. Am.
Fisheries Soc, 44:27-32.
TRANSPORTATION OF WASTE 257
of appeal, but the law on which decisions are to be based is yet
to be constructed from existing scattered knowledge and espe-
cially from future research.
Needed Research. If it is possible to determine what in-
jury has taken place, some one may ask what is the use of con-
ducting elaborate experimental studies. This is because we
must know what constituents of waste effluents are capable of
doing damage.
The relations of fishes to the various effluents are too little
known to warrant many conclusions. A large number of ques-
tions demand investigation. Tests of the toxicity of sewage
and industrial wastes and other poisons introduced into the
water must be made. In doing this it is not sufficient that we
take any fish or other animal we pick up. An animal that is
representatively sensitive must be chosen and after this has
been done, it is necessary to consider that every life history
may be represented as an endless chain made up of links of
different strength, as noted on page 278.
Conditions in streams and other bodies of water vary; the
concentration of the polluting substance should be known.^ The
minimum flow of a stream usually gives the greatest concen-
tration. The summer low-water conditions are dangerous
because of little flow and high temperature, which increases
toxicity; the winter low water because of slow flow and ice,
which prevents aeration. Perhaps something might be done,
such as forcing air through the effluent near the point where
the pollution is introduced, to reduce this danger during critical
periods by increasing oxygen and removing carbon dioxide.
The removal of constituents and the results of treatment of
various polluting substances must be fully analyzed. It is
necessary to know the results of treatment of sewage, indus-
trial wastes, etc., in terms of their effects on useful aquatic
animals. If coal tar^ wastes are partially recovered, it is neces-
1 Shelford, V. E., "Ways and Means of Measuring the Dangers of Pollu-
tion to Fisheries,'* Bull. 111. N. H. Surv., 13: (2) 25-41, 1918.
"Fortunes in Wastes and Fortunes in Fish," Set. Mo., August, 1919.
2 Shelford, V. E., "An Experimental Study of the Effects of Gas Waste
upon Fishes, with Especial Reference to Stream Pollution," Bull. 111. State
I.ab. Nat. Hist., 11:381-412, 191T.
258 WATER RESOURCES
sary to know whether the residue is still toxic. Experiments
have shown that nearly all constituents are, and hence any
residue will be almost certain to be poisonous. The substances
which are introduced into the water not only affect fishes di-
rectly but also act through effects on the bottoms on which eggs
and valuable moUusks rest.
The covering of bottoms with a large amount of sawdust and
other rubbish makes the spawning grounds useless. The re-
action of the animals demands attention.
The time it takes a body of water to recover if it has once
been depleted must be considered. It has been shown that a
whole association of plants and animals must redevelop in
places of this sort. If a pine forest is destroyed by fire, fire-
weeds grow up, followed by cottonwoods or birches and after
a long time pines again. A similar slow process must take place
in depleted waters.
There is danger in decisions made without investigation of
a particular case. One important reason for this is that poisons
are in some cases rendered much less toxic by salts in solution
in the water polluted and in other cases they are rendered much
more toxic by the salts present. The effect of greatly diluted
effluents should be studied under culture conditions for one or
more seasons. When the engineer and chemists have an effluent
to test, there is no one to test it adequately and no one to tell
them what its effects will be. Provisions for such investigation
should be made at once, and on a larger scale than ever before.
Plate XVII. .
Blackfeet Indians on their reservation i
servation works. In the foreground old Iroi
Ingmen of the locality.
Plate XVII. B.
Apache Indian laborers at Roosevelt Reservoir in Arizona. The employ'
ment of these Indians was made possible by the construction of works for
water conservation.
Plate XVII. C.
Mountain forests and lake made possible by the run-off from the forested
area. It is necessary to protect the wooded area around sueh natural lakes
in order to maintain good eonditions of water supply and to prevent
excessive erosion of the hill slopes such as follow the 'destruction of the
natural growth.
Plate XVII. D.
Underground storage made available by deep huring; an artesian well
near Roswell, New Mexico.
CHAPTER XVI
INDUSTRY AND TRANSPORTATION,
FOURTH AND FIFTH USES OF WATER
Manufacturing. In the manufacturing industries, includ-
ing the production of power for electrical transmission or for
direct application, water conservation by storage has found
and is finding a wide application. While large works have been
built for municipal supply and for irrigation development, yet
the number and diversity of structures built by commercial
interests far exceed those provided for other purposes.
Before the question of city supply began to be seriously
considered in the United States, there were built innumerable
small dams for gristmills, sawmills or for ponding logs. Each
year there was an increase in the number of these up to the
time when steam power began to assert its place and crowd out
the small water power mills. With the subsequent revival
brought about by electrical transmission of power, attention
was again drawn to the question of regulating the stream flow
and of providing by storage adequate water to furnish power
for the peak loads.
Water may be needed in manufacturing not only for power
production but for direct consumption in one or another of the
various processes or for use in steam boilers or simply for wash-
ing or cooling. Many industries require an ample supply of
clean, clear water such as can be had only by holding it in
ponds to permit the sediment to settle. Occasionally the normal
flow of the stream is charged with a considerable amount of
mineral matter in solution, while the flood waters are relatively
free from dissolved mineral matter. In such cases water storage
may be resorted to in order that the softer water may be had.
A combination of the interests of municipal and domestic
260 WATER RESOURCES
supply, of fish and of water fowl culture, of irrigation, of
sewage disposal, and of the creation of power, may render prac-
ticable the building of storage works which for any single pur-
pose would not be financially feasible. It is peculiarly the duty
of the engineer to study such possibilities and while planning
to conserve the water, at the same time consider how this water
may be put to the largest practicable number of uses with con-
sequent greatest gain to all concerned. For example, in the
case of the Reclamation Service, while primarily its duty was
to store water for irrigation of lands, yet the engineers in
charge felt that they were obligated not merely to consider the
uses of water for production of crops, but at the same time to
obtain the maximum development of power compatible with this
use and to assist in the creation of municipal supplies and the
encouragement of manufacturing. Many projects are thus
studied which from the purely agricultural standpoint might
be questionable but which were of undoubted value when con-
sidered in connection with the other purposes to which the water
could be put.
Water Power. In the employment of water in the produc-
tion of power are required large volumes with steady flow and
an adequate fall. This use is ordinarily compatible with its
later employment for irrigation or in manufacturing, so that
development of water power goes hand in hand with the up-
building of other industries.
Since 1900 there has been a notable revival of interest in
water power development. Engineers are being called upon to
a greater extent than in the past to utilize the larger and more
inaccessible streams of the country, particularly through the
building of storage works. Similar conditions prevail through-
out the world, and in localities such as in Norway and Sweden
the waterfalls are now being developed and utilized by electrical
transmission, the cheap power making possible the manufacture
of certain chemicals, particularly the fixation of nitrogen from
the air to form the basis of agricultural fertilizers.
The fact that operations of the kind above noted need not
necessarily be continuous, as in the case of supplying power for
lights or street railways, renders practicable many schemes.
INDUSTRY AND TRANSPORTATION 261
For example, the proposed use of power which may be devel-
oped in connection with an irrigation project brings up the
objection that the power is intermittent in character and
cannot be employed to advantage in the usual manner. In the
undeveloped arid region, irrigation must precede settlement,
cultivation, and the building of railroad lines; thus there is
presented the fact that there is no immediate demand for the
power which is available at reasonable cost. The engineer is
confronted with the problem as to what to do with any excess
beyond that needed for immediate construction purposes or
for summer pumping for irrigation or drainage. One of the
large outlets suggested for the use of such excess power is the
fixing of nitrogen from the air and the manufacture of ferti-
lizers so greatly needed in the new country.
A power plant such as that built at Minidoka on Snake River
in Idaho is put to its largest use in connection with irrigation
only during three or four months of hot weather. The plant to
be kept in the best condition for this time of maximum demand
should be operated continuously. It is obviously impracticable
to shut down, disband the operating force and, in the summer,
get back the skilled men and run the machinery at high speed.
How, then, can the skilled force be kept busy throughout the
year? The solution, above indicated, of chemical industry which
can be carried on throughout the year or at intervals between
the irrigation seasons is one peculiarly attractive.
In the instance just mentioned, it has been found practicable
to develop a winter load by selling the power at low rates to
the small communities, not merely for lighting, which would
require only a small fraction of the power, but for heating the
houses, schools, and other buildings, and for domestic uses, in-
cluding cooking. The comfort of the community has thus been
greatly increased and it has been practicable to create a market
in a pioneer agricultural area. There is moreover the demand
for fertilizers and it is probable that in similar localities, with
the development of experience along these lines, it will be prac-
ticable to bring about the manufacture of chemicals needed by
the farmers or by local industries.
Thus it happens that in connection with the works built for
262 WATER RESOURCES
other purposes, it is occasionally found by the engineer that
power may be developed, particularly below storage dams.
There are also points near the head or along the line of the
principal canals where water of necessity must descend to lower
levels and where power may be had. As a rule, however, the
best and largest use of the water for power, as above stated,
is not consistent with its economical employment in irrigation.
For most purposes, such as in manufacturing or in electrical
lighting, and in transportation, power must be practically con-
tinuous or at least available at regular intervals throughout
the year. Irrigation water, on the other hand, should be ap-
plied only during a limited portion of the year and at other
times the surplus water should be accumulated in reservoirs or
the canals should be allowed to become dry. There are occa-
sionally conditions where power during the irrigation season
has particular value and may be used to advantage, either in
supplementing the water supply obtained in other ways or used
in pumping or draining lower lands.
There are also instances where storage reservoirs are built
on streams, the total flow of which is not available for storage.
For example, it may be necessary to pass through a reservoir
a certain minimum flow for the satisfaction of vested rights
farther down the stream. The building of the dam and the
permanent maintenance of high-water level in the reservoir
enables the creation of a steady power because of the fact,
above stated, that a certain quantity of water must continually
flow through or around the dam. Such is the case above noted
on the Snake River in southern Idaho, where at Minidoka Dam
a certain low- water supply must be permitted to continue down-
stream to supply prior claimants. Here water power has been
developed and is being supplied throughout the year, irrespective
of the demands for irrigation.
The financial success of any project of water conservation
by storage may thus be dependent to a large degree upon the
complete development of all of these possibilities of power and
related commercial enterprises. Hence it is incumbent upon
the engineer in planning a system of water storage to consider
whether by any modifications it will not be possible to provide
INDUSTRY AND TRANSPORTATION 263
for power development and use. In connection with construc-
tion also there are always questions of cheap power, and cases
have arisen where the cost of construction has been greatly
reduced by arranging the original plans in such a way as to
build the power plants first and thus utilize these in connection
with the later construction work. For example, in building the
Roosevelt Dam in Arizona, the fuel cost was a large item. Many
of the difficulties were solved by first building a power canal
and temporary power plant, the canal being located around the
upper edge of the proposed reservoir and the power plant
immediately below the dam which was to be erected.
The development of the natural resources of the United
States in water power has been greatly delayed by lack of suit-
able laws drawn to encourage or permit investment of private
or public fund and to protect the interests of all concerned. '^
Congress after Congress has failed to agree upon a measure
acceptable to the investors and to the conservationists who are
trying to hold the "birth right of the people" for use and enjoy-
ment by all, rather than permit the creation of monopolies in
hydro-electric power, a factor which now enters into the life of
each citizen through light, heat, transportation, and other uses.
Transportation ok the Fifth Use of Water. In consid-
ering the water resources of the nation and their utilization, the
kind of use to which they may be put, which has recently
been considered as least essential to human welfare, is that
pertaining to navigation, — to the carriage of persons and
goods. This use was not always thus regarded as fifth in order;
on the contrary, from a legal standpoint commerce and navi-
gation originally had first claims, superior in many instances
to those of irrigation or disposal of waste. This arises from
the fact that in former times when population was less dense,
there was little need of conservation or of safeguarding the
waters of the country. At that time, before railways or high-
ways were fully developed, the growth of the nation was largely
dependent upon waterways. In the constitution of the United
States and in national and state laws provisions were made for
1 International Engineering Congress, 1915. Volume on Electrical Engi-
neering and Hydro-Electric Development.
264 WATER RESOURCES
guarding the navigation rights, for then waterworks or sewer-
age systems were practically unknown and the need did not
exist for recognizing them in legal enactments.
There has been a revival of interest in transportation matters
and in the period of reconstruction or reorganization following
the world war it is more generally appreciated than ever before,
that inland transportation is vital to modern industry and that
every economically possible means of carrying goods and
persons should be employed. Among the various methods are
the three designated by the National Rivers and Harbors Con-
gress as the "Transportation Trinity," viz., "Road, Rail,
River." As stated by them, "The greatest possible prosperity
can be assured to our country only through the equal develop-
ment and the harmonious co-operation of highways, railways
and waterways." Such development is dependent upon engi-
neering enterprise and skill. In this connection attention is
given to only one of these, namely, inland waterways.
As an aid to these inland waterways, to render them more
effective in the transportation of persons and goods, water
conservation by storage has been employed, particularly in
connection with canals. In a few instances reservoir construc-
tion has been urged because of its assumed benefits to the rivers
in their use in navigation.
Under the terms of the constitution of the United States,
Congress has sole authority over interstate transportation.
Because of this condition efforts are made annually to obtain
from Congress large appropriations for improvement of rivers
and harbors. Each Congressional district under the operation
of the so-called "pork barrel" system is supposed to obtain its
share of these appropriations. Thus there are many projects
proposed, which, in themselves, have little merit other than that
they serve to distribute the funds geographically. The effect
upon commerce of the proposed expenditure may be slight, as
the immediate object is to secure the money and thus momen-
tarily increase the activity of some particular section. This
condition has greatly complicated conditions as regards the
investigation and ascertaining of the true merits of any project
of inland navigation improvements.
INDUSTRY AND TRANSPORTATION 265
Under this system of Congressional appropriations, storage
reservoirs have been built, for example, on the headwater of
the Mississippi River, presumably for improving navigation
farther downstream. The benefit derived from the use of these
reservoirs is not notable and the water when turned into the
river has raised the level of the 'navigable portion hardly more
than an inch or two. Much larger benefits, however, are de-
rived by the water power mills situated at or near St. Anthony
Falls and it is fairly safe to assume that the persons who urged
an appropriation for storage reservoirs have been more con-
cerned with the benefit to be derived by the water power than
by the transportation interests. The latter, in fact, are prac-
tically negligible, as boats have almost ceased to run on the
Mississippi River at points where the height of water would
be affected by the discharge from the reservoirs.
Artificial channels for navigation, such as the canals which
were built and operated so successfully half a century ago,
depend largely upon stored water for the upper levels. Where
the canals passed over the relatively high ground or divides
between the lower valleys, it was necessary to provide water
to supply the loss in lockage, especially during the dry summer
time. Many large reservoirs were built in New York, Ohio,
and other states. When the canals were abandoned in whole
or in part, these reservoirs continued to be utilized in various
ways, particularly for water power.
New York Canals. The largest and most important of
these canals and the one which has continued in use for the
longest time is the Erie Canal, the main portion of which extends
from Buffalo at the east end of Lake Erie easterly to the vicinity
of Albany, N. Y., on the Hudson River, making a through
route for water transportation from the Great Lakes to tide-
water. In the construction of this canal a number of reservoirs
were built and the subject of water conservation by storage was
given early consideration. While the reservoirs were designed
with reference to supplying the canal with water for navigation
purposes, yet in the course of time there grew up almost un-
noticed a large number of water power developments and some
266 WATER RESOURCES
of the reservoirs have proved of considerable value in this
connection.
Much of the early prosperity of the state of New York and
its present growth has been due to the Erie Canal, thus when
the time came that the abandonment of this waterway was
seriously considered, the people of the state urged perhaps
more by sentiment based on past success than on business judg-
ment, were induced to undertake the reconstruction and
enlargement into what is known as the Barge Canal, involving
an expenditure of over $150,000,000, paid wholly from state
funds and without aid from the federal government.
The Erie Canal was started in 1817, the route of waterway
having been gone over previously and approved by President
Washington. As originally built, it had a depth of four feet
and could float a thirty-ton boat. It was opened October 25,
1825, and soon proved to be one of the world's greatest canals.
Settlers flocked from the eastern states westward bv way of
the canal and prosperous towns were established on the Great
Lakes and connecting water. The shipping that once went to
Philadelphia and other cities was diverted to New York and
the latter soon became the commercial center of the American
union, due largely to the facilities provided by the Erie Canal.
Bv 1882 it was found that the Erie Canal had earned over and
above all its original cost and the expenses of enlargement and
maintenance, a total of $42,000,000. At that time it had a
depth of seven feet and could float a boat of 240 tons. Its
relative usefulness declined rapidly, however, with the building
of through railroad lines, so that to maintain its position the
friends of the canal urged that it be enlarged into what is
termed the Barge Canal.
The Barge Canal consists of four branches, the Erie running
lengthwise across the state, the Champlain extending north-
ward along the eastern boundary, the Oswego branching near
Syracuse to Lake Ontario, and the Seneca Canal running south-
ward to the large lakes from one of which it takes its name. It
follows in part the old canal, but utilizes wherever practicable
the rivers and lakes near its route so that at least 30 per cent is
on what is known as the land line. The total length is 446 miles,
INDUSTRY AND TRANSPORTATION 267
of which the Erie proper is 889 miles. The minimum depth is 12
feet, width 94 feet in rock cuts, and 125 feet in earth sections.
All of the locks have been reconstructed and built of concrete.
They have a length of 828 feet and a width of 45 feet. The
lift varies from 6 to 40.5 feet. The most notable are the
five at Waterford at the east end, with a combined lift of 169
feet. In order to utilize the Mohawk River in part, movable
dams have been built in the form of truss bridges, from which
heavy steel gates are raised or lowered to govern the depth of
water in the canalized river bed. The boats or barges will be
propelled by mechanical means, the towpath formerly used
when the boats were hauled by animal power being omitted.
("The New York Barge Canal" by Frank M. Williams, in
Clarkson Bulletin, Vol. 8, July, 1916.)
Water Storage for Canal. The greater part of the water
supply for the Barge Canal, as for the old Erie Canal, is de-
rived from the Niagara River on the west and from the smaller
rivers near the center of the state. For what is known as the
Rome summit level, the water has been obtained from reservoirs
on the head of Black River and other streams. From the south
of the canal supplies have been received from various creeks,
some being diverted from the headwater of the adjacent
Susquehanna drainage basin. The most notable work for water
conservation is the new reservoir about five miles north of Rome,
impounding the water of the upper Mohawk River in what is
known as the Delta Reservoir. This is formed by a dam 1,100
feet long with a maximum height of 100 feet. The reservoir
has an area of 4.5 square miles and a capacity of 63,000 acre-
feet.
Another new reservoir is that formed near Hinckley by a
dam mainly of earth, 3,700 feet in length, the maximum height
of the masonry portion being 82 feet. The area of the reservoir
is 4.46 square miles and the capacity 79,000 acre-feet.
These reservoirs serve not only to supply the Barge Canal,
but during the unprecedented flood of March, 1913, the Delta
Reservoir stored water of the upper Mohawk so that Rome,
Utica, and near-by villages experienced no inconvenience from
268 WATER RESOURCES
the flood conditions. (Barge Canal Bulletin, Vol. 6, page 228,
and Vol. 7, page 111.)
With the exception of the reconstructed Erie Canal, there
has been nearly complete abandonment of artificial waterways
of this character, so that it may be said that at the present
time water conservation for purposes of navigation is largely
negligible.* Nevertheless there are a number of projects which
are being discussed from time to time and the effect of con-
struction of reservoirs upon navigation is still a live issue. For
example, in the case of the Sacramento River in California.
This stream is in theory at least navigable and at favorable
seasons of the year a few small boats ply on its water, thus
giving an argument for federal control of the stream. The
waters, however, have far more value to the state if used for
irrigation. It has been proposed to store the floods in reser-
voirs which may be constructed along the upper reaches of the
stream or near the headwater. By the building of these reser-
voirs the regimen of the river will be greatly altered and it may
be found desirable to hold back the entire flow of the river
during certain parts of the year. On the other hand, it is
urged that the reservoir, if constructed, should be so utilized
as to keep a steady flow in the stream. The latter proposition
is of doubtful practicability, but it is obvious that from senti-
mental, if not from more substantial reasons, the question of
navigation must be carefully considered when the storage of
water on this or other rivers similarly situated is being discussed.
1 For more complete discussion see:
Harts, Col. W. W., "Rivers and Railways in U. S.," Proc, Amer, 8oc.
C, E., January, 1915, Trans., VoL 79, p. 919.
Moulton, H. G., "Waterways vs. Railways," Cambridge, Mass., 1914, 468
pages. (Discusses I^akes to Gulf Ship Canal, "Fourteen Feet through the
Valley,*' and "Eiglit Feet from Lake to Gulf.")
Plate XVIir. A.
Farrow irrigation, Yakima Project, Washington
Plate XVIII. B.
Farm lands destroyed i>y floods; hanks of New Riv*
Plate XVIII. C.
Increased length of splUwaj produced by rectan^lar bays, Klamath
Project, Oregon.
Plate XVIII. D.
River gates in Minidoka Dam, Idaho.
CHAPTER XVII
RIVER REGULATION
Comprehensive Projects. All the varied uses of water in-
cluded under the heading previously given, are affected more
or less directly by the behavior of the natural streams. In
nearly every instance the benefits to mankind are dependent to
a certain extent upon a systematic regulation, quantity and
quality, of the flowing water, a smoothing out of the inequali-
ties between the extremes of flood and drought. It would, there-
fore, seem to be the natural course, and the one which will pro-
duce the largest benefits to the greatest number, if every river
should be studied and treated as a whole, beginning with its
headwaters and taking up each natural condition and its rela-
tion to the immediate and future needs of the people of the
country. This idea, while by no means novel, was most definitely
urged by the late Francis G. Newlands of Nevada, whose name
is connected with the Reclamation Act, under the terms of which
the principal reservoirs of the arid west have been constructed.
Senator Newlands introduced various bills in Congress and
persistently brought to public attention the necessity of treat-
ing each river system as a unit, studying the forests and cul-
tural conditions from the mountain sources down to the mouth
of the stream, ascertaining the most advantageous reservoir
sites, providing for the maintenance of purity of water, pre-
venting soil erosion, clearing the channel, utilizing water for
irrigation where needed, draining the wet lands, providing for
domestic and municipal supply and adjusting the claims for
water power, all such work being undertaken with reference to
natural conditions rather than being limited by political or
other artificial boundaries.
In opposition to this broad conception are the views of indi-
viduals and communities who arc concerned more directly with
270 WATER RESOURCES
the conditions immediately confronting them. They sincerely
believe that while a broad plan may ultimately be desirable, yet
for results to be obtained in the near future, thev should con-
centrate their energies upon the immediate local interests and
proceed to the building of the levees or to the construction of
other works which are obviously needed without delaying to
ascertain or discuss the larger matters involved. The advo-
cates of either alternative have many strong arguments to
present, these being, on the one hand, for broad research and
a constructive policy based on the largest good to the greatest
number; on the other, they urge the immediate practical
benefits to be derived from concentrated efforts on the things
immediately needed. To the student of the whole subject,
however, and to the statesman who looks to the future as well
as to the present, the conception presented by Senator New-
lands is peculiarly attractive and must ultimately be followed
if the people of the country as a whole are to enjoy the full
use of the natural resources.
The legislation urged by Senator Newlands and finally em-
bodied in a law a short time before his death, forms Sec. 18 of
the Act of August 8, 1917 (Public. No. 87— 65th Congress).
It provides for a Waterways Commission of seven members to
bring into coordination and cooperation the engineering, scien-
tific, and constructive services, bureaus, boards, and commis-
sions of the governmental departments of the United States
that relate to study, development, or control of waterways and
water resources or to the development and regulation of inter-
state and foreign commerce, with a view to uniting such services
in investigating, with respect to all watersheds, questions
relating to the development, improvement, regulation, and con-
trol of navigation as a part of interstate and foreign commerce,
including the related questions of irrigation, drainage, forestry,
arid and swamp land reclamation, clarification of streams,
regulation of flow, control of floods, utilization of water power,
prevention of soil erosion and waste, storage, and conservation
of water for agricultural, industrial, municipal, and domestic
uses, cooperation of railways and waterways and promotion
of terminal and transfer facilities.
RIVER REGULATION 271
The commission is to report to Congress a comprehensive
plan for the development of the water resources of the United
States for the purposes of navigation and for every useful
purpose and to formulate recommendations for cooperation
between the United States and the several states, municipalities,
communities, corporations and individuals within the powers
of each, with a view to assigning to the United States such
portion of the proposed development, regulation and control
as may be undertaken by the United States, and to the states,
municipalities, corporations or individuals such portions as
belong to their respective interests.
This commission was not appointed owing to conditions grow-
ing out of the war, but it is only a question of time when all
these matters must be fully considered. Because of the long
delay which may be involved in fully ascertaining the facts and
diffusing this information, it is incumbent upon those in a
position to do so, to urge the early and comprehensive study of
each and every river in the country and the preparation of
plans of water conservation such that development may proceed
in detail without one scheme interfering with another which may
ultimately prove to be more important.
The most apparent need for a broad study of this kind is
brought about by the demands for flood prevention and pro-
tection and for the correlative demand for more water during
times of drought.
Each decade is seeing larger and larger destruction wrought
by floods and greater indirect losses through drought. The
intensity of floods and duration of droughts are being increased
by various human agencies, and more than this, the opportu-
nities for damage are becoming greater. The preventable
losses amount not merely to millions, but to tens of millions
of dollars. The time is approaching when there will be an
appreciation of the fact that by wise foresight and by the
expenditure of a portion of this amount, many of the more
serious of these losses may be prevented.
While all will admit that a broad study of the subject such
as is authorized by the Act of August 8, 1917, should and must
ultimately be made and that large expenditures are needed for
272 WATER RESOURCES
conservation, yet action is delayed principally by the question,
"Who will pay the bills?" The losses from the lack of pre-
vision fall directly on a relatively small part of the population,
although indirectly they are widely distributed. The easy way
is to urge that the federal government initiate action and pay
for the works, but experience has shown that while this may
be accomplished, yet a fairer way and one which in the end will
probably produce the largest results is to apportion the ulti-
mate cost in such a way that the nation, the state, the com-
munity, and the particular interest involved, will each pay its
share. Any scheme of this kind properly worked out has the
advantage that it eliminates many of the worst features of
"pork barrel" bills in that the incentive of obtaining something
for nothing is largely removed. If every local interest, munici-
pality or state, is willing to pay its fair share of the cost, it will
be far less insistent upon urging schemes of little merit.
Flood Prevention or Protection. In considering what
may be done in a large way with reference to relief from floods,
it is necessary to have clearly in mind the difference between
flood prevention and flood protection. Each of these must be
employed under certain conditions. To appreciate these it is
necessary to consider the larger questions. Each stream in a
state of nature fluctuates in accordance with the rapid changes
of weather. It has a more or less regular periodic fluctuation
between high and low water, having usually a spring flood due
to increased temperature, the melting of snow, and usual rains.
The factors which combine to produce floods vary in intensity
from year to year; occasionally the combination of extraordi-
nary rains on frozen ground or with rapidly melting snow pro-
duces floods of exceptional violence.
Throughout their geological history the streams during such
high-water periods have built up flood planes by deposits from
the muddv waters. Such lands are of exceptional fertilitv and
their level character has invited settlement. The tendency has
been not merely to cultivate these lands but to build manufac-
turing establisliments and towns upon the level surface. In
periods of low water or even of ordinary flood there is no diffi-
culty, but at times of high flood, the bridges, factories, and
RIVER REGULATION 273
. other buildings along the bank interfere with the free flow. The
river of necessity spreads out and endeavors to take possession
of its ancient flood ground, with consequent destruction to prop-
erty or even life. The immediate answer to questions which are
presented to the hydraulic engineer by these flood conditions, is
to remove from the river channel and the flood plain the obstruc-
tions placed there by man and to erect permanent buildings only
on higher ground, saving the lowland for such agricultural
purposes as will not be seriously injured by the occasional
floods and the lowest land for the scientific growth of timber
which encourages important aquatic and riparian faunas. This,
however, has often become impracticable, and it is necessary
to consider other solutions for the many flood problems. In
attacking these there are two lines of effort — first, flood pre-
vention ; second, flood protection.
In flood prevention, the remedy is to be sought by careful
surveys and examinations on the drainage basin to discover
possible reservoir sites and by storing the flood water in suitable
basins, enlarging the natural ponds or lakes or making arti-
ficial reservoirs where the floods may be restrained for a period
of days or weeks, the excess being let out slowly in accordance
with the capacity of the channels to receive it. There are not
many localities where adequate reservoir capacity has been pro-
vided by nature or where dams can be erected creating a reser-
voir at a cost commensurate with the immediate benefits. In-
vestigations have been made, however, on the headwaters of
many flood streams and it is evident that in the future many
reservoirs will be constructed to reduce the flood crest. The
further drainage of upland marshes, which serve as natural
storage sponges, should be discouraged and the rapid develop-
ment of water culture of important food plants should be
favored.
In flood protection, the object sought is to build near the
points of danger large dykes (PI. IV. C), or walls, shutting off
the river from its ancient flood plain, and confining it in a rela-
tively narrow channel. This is the most immediate and direct
method of solving the difficulties for any particular locality, but
of course does not assist other threatened points as in the case
274 WATER RESOURCES
of reservoirs or similar works built for flood prevention. In
fact, the protection of one area may jeopardize another by
increasing the flood heights. The combination of flood pro-
tection by reservoirs and of flood prevention by dykes offers
many interesting problems and is one of the subjects which
should be given protracted study as proposed and as already
undertaken in a more or less piecemeal way.
Misuse of Streams. It is not alone in quantity of flow, in
guarding against flood and drought, that the services of the
student and engineer are needed. Even more important in many
ways is protection against misuse as pointed out in preceding
pages 245 to 256, against thoughtless or careless destruction of
many interrelated natural resources, valuable in themselves and
for which public funds must be spent, to recover or replace,
replenish or maintain. As pointed out by Victor E. Shelf ord,^
these resources include :
(a) Animal resources: fish, turtles, frogs, mussels, shell-
fish, and aquatic birds and mammals.
(b) Plant resources: aquatic vegetation, stream-skirting
shrubs and trees, serving as feeding and nesting place of impor-
tant animals.
(c) Museum resources: preserves for aquatic and riparian
faunas for future scientific investigation and possible practical
uses.
(d) Recreational resources: bathing, rowing, camping,
angling, shooting.
(e) ^Esthetic resources.
The preservation of these often conflict with more generally
recognized resources, such as water power, water supply, and
waste effluent dilution.
The use of streams to bear away sewage and industrial wastes
causes pollution and this in turn destroys animal resources,
such as fishes and mussels; what was their value and condi-
tion before destruction occurred? Pollutions endanger public
1 The remainder of the chapter is a slight modification of a manuscript
by Victor E. Shelf ord, biologist in charge of Research laboratories, Illi-
nois Natural History Survey, and assistant professor of Zoology, University
of Illinois.
RIVER REGULATION 275
health ; to what extent is this true, and what is the cost of sick-
ness, incapacitation, or death resulting therefrom? They de-
stroy recreation grounds ; what is the value of these to the com-
munity and the nation? They may destroy various species of
our fresh water fauna; what is the value of these? Thev mav
destroy the drinking water of cattle ; what is the damage caused
by this ? Foul odors result ; what is the damage of these to the
public and property owners near at hand?
Dams may destroy fish and mussels; which is more valuable,
these, or the power generated? The draining of marshes drives
away game birds; what is their value? What is the museum
value of marshes? Is drainage the best way to utilize them?
What is their .value for aquiculture or for water storage ? The
task of determining and comparing with each other the benefits
and the losses arising from certain customary human interfer-
ences with the wild nature of our woods and waters is not by
any means a simple one. Even those who have devoted much
time and study to such questions have difficulty in comprehend-
ing all the complex natural factors and human interests in-
volved even in such an apparently simple matter as the pollu-
tion of a stream or the overfishing of a lake or river.
Fishes and Their Value. In the settlement and early
development of our republic, fishes were very important. There
were shad, salmon, trout, bass, alewives, eels, and many others
which "furnished the people a plentiful and healthful supply of
food, easily attainable, until the forests could be hewn down,
clearings made, crops raised, and cattle could increase and
multiply.'" Shad was the most important. One early waiter
said of their spring runs in the Delaware and Susquehanna
rivers, "They came in such vast multitudes that the still waters
seemed filled with eddies, while the shallows were beaten into
foam by them in their struggles to reach the spawning grounds."
They swarmed every spring from mouth to headwaters of every
river from Maine to Florida.^ They were eaten fresh, and
1 Wright, Harrison, "The Early Shad Fisheries of the North Branch of
the Susquehanna River," Report of United States Commission of Fish and
Fisheries, 1881, 619-642.
2 Meehan, W. E., "The Battle for the Fishes," Canadian Fisherman, 1917,
4:275-279.
276 WATER RESOURCES
smoked and salted for winter use. "The testimony shows that
the country folk came from fifty miles away to get their winter
supply, camping along the river bank, and bringing in payment
whatever they had of a marketable nature."^
Early in the last century, $200,000 worth of shad were taken
annually from the Delaware River alone. They ceased to be
abundant about 1850 and by 1880 their value in this river had
shrunk to $80,000 per year. This was due to overcatch, to the
building of dams, and to pollution. The Atlantic salmon at
one time entered all the rivers of N€w England. Striking
apprentices in the early days of our republic demanded less
salmon, that it should not be served more than three times per
week. Some of our Pacific Coast salmon resources are being
reduced in numbers.
Along the Illinois River years ago,^ the buffalo fish afforded
the chief marketable species. These were caught bj^ farmers,
fishermen, and others, and shipped by boat, principally to St.
Louis, where large quantities of fish were frequently thrown
away because the market was overloaded. In 1882, about
250,000 pounds of fish, nearly all buffalo, were taken at one
haul of the seine, in Moscow Lake, just below Havana, 111. In
recent years less than 8 per cent of the total fish catch in a
year at Havana has consisted of buffalo — the total catch of
buffalo in 1912, amounting to only about 94,000 pounds. Re-
cent hatchery experience on the Illinois and Mississippi rivers
has indicated that buffalo eggs are unusually sensitive to various
unfavorable influences. It is believed by some observers that in
its present condition in the spring of the year, the central and
lower Illinois (as well as the upper) may not offer the best
hatching conditions for this species. The wall-eyed pike and the
big pickerel are two other sensitive species that have practically
disappeared from the Illinois River in the last 25 years, in spite
of repeated planting of millions of fry. This is probably due
to pollution.
1 Wright, Harrison, *'The Early Shad Fisheries of the North Branch of
the Susquehanna River," Report of United States Commission of Fish und
Fisheries, 1881. 619-642.
2 Information in this paragraph supplied by Mr. R. E. Richardson.
RIVER REGULATION 277
The whitefish of the Great Lakes, which served as bread,
meat, and vegetable to early explorers and settlers, was once
abundant, but now the number is exceptionally small in com-
parison. Every stream formerly yielded fish to small boys and
to old men anglers. If any of these sources now yielded half
their original quantity it would be considered remarkable. Our
fish resources have been depleted through neglect, carelessness,
and the pollution of waters. Such as are still left are endan-
gered by new projects and new pollutions.
The wastes of manufacturing plants and city sewage have
greatly aggravated the depletion,^ or have completed the de-
struction previously started, in some cases by heedless or greedy
fishermen; but the pollutions are far more serious than the
initial injury because they preclude the possibility of easy
recovery. The destruction of fishes by industrial wastes has
been common throughout the country, especially within the last
fifty years. The fishes destroyed include those which occurred
in commercial numbers, such as shad, salmon, and whitefish and
numerous game fishes, such as perch, black bass, and sunfishes.
The destruction of breeding grounds in the Great Lakes is
credited with the depletion of the whitefish supply. In 1871,
Milner dredged eggs of the lake trout, together with decaying
sawdust. The eggs were attacked by fungus.* In 1908, Clark
expressed the opinion that through the accumulation of slow
decaying woody material, water-logged lumber, and sewage, the
chief breeding grounds of the Great Lakes had been destroyed
and could not be recovered for a long time. If the warning of
Milner thirty-five years earlier had been heeded, they would have
been in much better condition than at present.
The destruction still goes on,'* as is shown by such cases as
1 Marsh, M. C, *The Effect of Some Industrial Wastes on Fishes,"
U. S. G. S., Water Supply Paper No. 192, 1907, 337-348.
2 Clinton, G. P., "Observations and Experiments on Saprolegnia Infest-
ing Fish," Bulletin of United States Fish Commission, 1893, 13: 163-172.
Dean, Bashford, "Recent Experiments in Sturgeon Hatching on the
Delaware River," Bulletin of United States Fish Commission, 1893, 13:
335-339.
3 Ward, H. B., "Report on a Preliminary Study of Streams," 1919,
New York State Conservation Commission. (In press.)
278 WATER RESOURCES
the following. In January, 1916, in a small river below Spring-
field, 111., a town of 50,000 inhabitants, large numbers of dead
fish appeared at breaks in the ice, others in a half intoxicated
state were caught through holes in the ice. Three thousand
pounds of fish were caught in three days, but could not be eaten
because of a bad taste. The case was investigated by the Illinois
Water Survey. The death of the fish, according to the report,
was due to lack of oxygen and poisoning by stream pollutions,
brought about by sluggish flow and heavy ice cover preventing
aeration.
Industrial wastes are more serious in their destructive effect
than household sewage. Lead and zinc works, tanneries, paper
mills, and gas plants turn valuable and extremely toxic or
poisonous substances into water. Most of the effluents from the
gas works are valuable, and all are toxic* Nearly all industrial
wastes in Europe have been made into something useful.^ Why
are they not recovered in America ? It will not pay ! This is not
the full answer. More often manufacturers do not care to spend
time and energy in dealing with the matter. Their object is to
do the primary thing at hand, collect the profits and get rid of
the by-products as easily as possible.
The character of wastes varies with the processes from which
they result, and the after treatment. Little is accurately known
as to the effects of wastes on fishes and other useful animals
such as form food for fish; research is needed. The resistance
of animals differs with the season, the age of the individual and
other factors. Every life history may be represented as an
endless chain made up of links of different strength. The life
of the species is determined by the resistance of the weakest
link. This probably falls in the young stages, — the egg or
the young at hatching; it is not known for the life cycle of a
single species of fish. The United States Bureau of Fisheries
has distributed, for planting, from one to three billion eggs and
1 Shelford, V. E., "An Experimental Study of the Effects of Gas Wastes
upon Fishes, with Special Reference to Stream Pollution," Bulletin 111, St.
Lab. of N. H., 1917, 11:381-412.
2 Roller, Theodor, "The Utilization of Waste Products" (translated from
Second Revised German Edition), 1915, Scott, Greenwood & Sons, London;
D. Van Nostrand Co., New York.
RIVER REGULATION 279
young each year for many years past, but no work tending to
show the most sensitive period has been done. Accordingly
when asked whether this or that will injure fishes, no one can
tell. This has tended to make engineers ignore fishes. Why
should they consider them when the fish expert cannot tell what
consideration is required?
Mussels. Fresh water mussels for making pearl buttons con-
stitute an important resource, but one which is decreasing, due
to overcatch and pollution which destroy the fish upon which
the mussels depend. Coker^ said : "In one decade pearl buttons
were high in price, used only upon the better clothing and
commonly saved when clothing was discarded, while in the most
general use were buttons of metal or agate or wood which rusted,
broke or warped. In the next decade good pearl buttons, neat
and durable, were available to everybody and used upon the
widest variety of clothing. A former luxury had become a
common necessity." In 1908^ the value of the mussels taken
from the Mississippi and its tributaries was estimated at
$686,000.
An indication of the importance of the maintenance of
our stream and river faunas is the fact that because of the
reduction of the supply of native mussels certain manufac-
turers in order to operate ordered large quantities of shells
from China. Japan seized the shells and had them delivered to
.Japanese factories on the ground that the products of China
belonged to Japan. Because of the depletion of the American
supply of fresh water mussels, the federal government a few
years ago built an extensive laboratory and ponds for research
into the life history of the mussels, with a view to increasing
their number. It has been found that the young spend part
of their lives as parasites on the bodies of fishes, notably on
the more sensitive edible game fishes. Thus where there are
no fishes there will be no mussels to make the buttons.
Need of Fish ways. In the north branch of the Susquehanna
1 Coker, R. K., "The Protection of Fresh Water Mussels," Report of the
Commissioner of the Fisheries, 1912.
2 United States Bureau of Census, 1911, "The Fisheries of ITnited States
in 1908."
280 WATER RESOURCES
in the state of Pennsylvania *'The shad industry was wholly
abolished by the erection of dams (early in the last century)
and thousands of dollars of capital invested in the business was
instantly swept out of existence."^ "There is no question but
that the building of dams to feed the canals put a stop at once
to shad fishing." The question has been raised as to whether
the loss was not "greater than the benefits derived from the
great internal improvements." Such canals have been quite
generally abandoned in recent years.
Atkins has described a number of fishways" but refers to one
in the Susquehanna at Columbia, Penn., as the only successful
one for shad. It is constructed on a plan deserving considera-
tion, as it is a mere open sluiceway with its lower end an opening
in the dam itself and its sides a little higher than the top of
the dam.^ From the opening in the dam the fishway projected
as a great sloping bottom. The length is determined by the
height of the dam and the slope of the bottom. If the slope is
one foot in thirty-five feet the fishway would extend upstream
about thirty-five times the height of the dam. The current
down the fishway should not be too swift. Most fishways are
too small ; the best type of fishway is the stream itself and the
aim should be to duplicate stream conditions so far as current
is concerned. A cost equaling half the cost of the dam is not
too much to spend to accomplish it. Fishways have usually
been added to completed dams as a sort of cheap adjunct,
usually at the expense of a few hundred dollars. This is often
done after the fishes have already been depleted from several
years of failure to migrate. The importance of fishways is
well illustrated by a quotation from Coker* relative to the
Mississippi dam at Keokuk, Iowa.
1 Wright, Harrison, "The Early Shad Fisheries of the North Branch of
the Susquehanna River," Report of United States Commission of Fish and
Fisheries, 1881, 619-642.
2 Atkins, C. B., "On Fishways," United States Commission of FLsh and
Fisheries, Report of Commission for 1872-73, Part II, 591-616, 1873.
8 Bayer, H. Von, "Fishways," Bulletin of Bureau of Fisheries, 1908, 28:
1043-1057.
*Coker, R. E., "Water Power Development in Relation to Fishes and
Mussels of the Mississippi," Report of the Commissioner of Fisheries, 1913,
appendix, viii, pp. 1-8.
RIVER REGULATION 281
"Investigations carried on by the Bureau during recent years
have shown that mussels do not necessarily attach to fish indis-
criminately, but that a given species of mussel may make use
of only certain species of fish, as the pimple-back mussel seems
to be generally restricted in parasitism to certain species of
catfishes, and, a more striking instance, the niggerhead mussel
restricts itself so far as is known to the river herring, or blue
herring. Conditions, therefore, which affect the movements of
the river herring and catfish may vitally affect the welfare of
these important mussels."
It is not here simply a question as to whether mussels will
be transported from below the dam to the waters above. If the
river herring is a truly migratory fish, going down the river
in the fall and ascending again in the spring and if its course
is so checked by the interposition of a dam that comparatively
few find the way into the upper river, two results will follow :
(a) The fish will become a rare species in the upper river,
and
(b) The future generations of niggerhead mussels will so
generally fail of finding attachment to the only suitable fish
that successive broods will perish. With the ultimate death or
capture of the old mussels, the species will become extinct in
that portion of the Mississippi River lying above Keokuk, —
that is to say, in practically the entire Mississippi, for the
mussel resources of the Mississippi proper (tributaries ex-
cluded) are exceedingly limited south of Keokuk.
The usual "custom" in such matters will probably be fol-
lowed here. There will be no fishway until by waiting we dis-
cover that damage has been done and then the fisheries will not
be worth the making of one. In 1908^ the fisheries of the
Mississippi and its tributaries in Iowa, Minnesota, northern
Illinois, and Wisconsin had a total value of more than $500,000.
The value of mussels and pearls alone was almost $100,000.
If an annual $600,000 fisheries project is endangered, why
could not such a sum reasonably be expended for a suitable
fishway.'*
1 United States Bureau of Census, 1911, **The Fisheries of United States
In 1908."
282 WATER RESOURCES
It is doubtful if any salmon stream should ever be dammed
without a fishway costing the full annual value of the fish if
necessary. Salmon were extinguished in Connecticut River by
a dam built in 1798. This also shut out shad and alewives.
The value of the shad fisheries of the Delaware about this time
was $200,000 per year. With salmon and alewives included,
the Connecticut fisheries should have more than doubled this ;
an expense of 10 per cent of the annual value of the fisheries
could have constructed a fishway quite adequate for all the
fishes. The very large one in the Susquehanna built in 1873
cost only $11,058.^ It probably paid to build this dam in 1798,
but whom did it pay? Certainly not starving Europe in 1918.
In general fisheries men have not approached the question
of fish ways with bold adequate projects and river engineers
have taken little or no notice of either fishes or fishways. In
1872 Professor Baird^ said of the cod fisheries : "Formerly the
waters abounded in this fish especially in the vicinity of the
large rivers. The tidal streams were choked up with the ale-
wives, shad and salmon. The erection of impassable dams
across the streams, by preventing the ascent to their spawning
grounds, produced almost the extermination of their numbers.
The reduction in the cod and other fishes so as to become prac-
tically a failure is due to the decrease off our coast, in the quan-
tity of alewives ; and secondarily of shad and salmon, more than
any other cause. Attention of the legislatures of the New
England States has been called to this fact. However, the
lumbering interests in New Hampshire and Massachusetts are
so powerful as to render it extremely difficult to carry out any
measures which in any way interfere with their convenience or
profits, and notwithstanding the construction of fishways
through dams, these have either been neglected altogether or
are of such a character as not to answer their purpose."
Frogs and Turtles. Oneida Lake (N. Y.), which covers
1 Atkins, C. G., "On Fishways," United States Commission of Fisli and
Fisheries, Report of Commission for 1872-73, Part II, 591-616, 1873.
2 Baird, S. F., "Conclusions as to the Decrease of Cod Fisheries on the
New England Coast," United States Commission of Fisli and Fisheries,
Report of Commission for 1872-73, Part II, xi-xiv, 1873.
RIVER REGULATION 283
only 80 square miles, produces $15,000 worth of frogs per year
from a narrow margin around the outside/ The swamps and
marshes near all the large cities produce quantities of these
animals but the numbers and values are unknown. The legs
are used for food, which constitutes the chief demand, but many
are in use in scientific laboratories.
Turtles to the value of $40,000 were taken in the United
States in 1908.^ These figures appear to be quite incomplete
or there has been a marked increase as the Louisiana Conser-
vation Commission^ reports from $100,000 to $110,000 per year
for Louisiana alone. Alligator skins valued at $61,000 were
taken in the United States in 1908.
Birds. North America possesses about two hundred species
of game birds which are associated with watercourses, lakes,
swamps, and the seashore.* This number includes seventy-four
species of edible web-footed fowl. Sixteen of these have been
shown to feed upon wild rice, wild celery, and pond weeds.°
These three plants supply an average of 25 per cent of their
food, more than half of which is pond weeds. They are in part
dependent upon conditions of water suitable for these plants
which grow well in waters not too badly polluted. They are
all closely dependent upon water for breeding.
Ducks eat quantities of grasshoppers, locusts, cutworms, and
marsh caterpillars. The rails and coot have similar habits and
relations. All are useful to the farmer. There are some sixty
species of long-legged, slender-billed birds, the so-called shore
birds." These devour (quantities of mosquitoes, horseflies, etc.,
1 Adams, C. C, and Hankinson, T. I^., "Notes on Oneida Lake Fish and
Fisheries" (transactions of American Fisheries Society, XLV, 154, 169),
1916.
2 United States Bureau of Census, 1909, "The Fisheries of United States
in 1908."
3 Alexander, M. L., "Biennial Report of the Department of Conservation,
State of Louisiana, 1916-18."
* Forbush, E. H., "Game Birds, Wild Fowl, and Shore Birds," Massachu-
setts Board of Agriculture, 1912.
5 McAttee, W. L., "Five Important Duck Foods," Bulletin United States
Department of Agriculture Xo. 58, 1914.
"Eleven Important Duck Foods," I.e. No. 205, 1915.
6 McAttee, W. L., "Our Vanishing Shorebirds," United States Depart-
ment of Agriculture, Bureau of Biologj', Arv. Circular No. 79.
284 WATER RESOURCES
both adult and larval. Nearly all these birds are very fond of
grasshoppers and many feed on weevils, wireworms, leaf beetles,
and other pests of the field. Many birds associated with water
are useful to agriculture and their destruction ultimately
results in heavy losses to the farmer through the increase of
insects and other pests. There are also the birds hunted for
food and sport.
Mammals. The small fur-bearing mammals, closely asso-
ciated with watercourses — ^beaver, muskrats, skunks, and
mink — are valuable for their furs. Under certain conditions
some of them are not desirable; as, for example, muskrats^
where there are dykes, which they sometimes damage. The
skunk^ is counted as a useful animal and is fond of stream
margin thickets. Its bad reputation for taking poultry is un-
founded, based largely on rare instances and on the fact that
the European polecat from which it gets its name in some locali-
ties, is a serious poultry pest. The value of the furs of these
animals, except the skunk for which statistics appear to be
wanting, in 1908 in the United States exclusive of Alaska was as
follows :
Beaver .... $ 89,000
Muskrat .... 186,000
Mink .... 89,000
Water Margins. The statistics collected in Illinois show
that two-thirds' of all the birds valuable for eating insects and
which for the most part are not included with the shore and
aquatic birds, are in some way dependent upon shrubbery, such
as that which grows on the margins of watercourses. The bob-
white, for example, breeds about thickets and is of especial
value to the farmer. It has been predicted that in the Middle
West where farmers are inclined to "clean up" the bushes and
1 Lantz, D. E., "The Muskrat," United States Department of Agriculture,
Farmers' Bulletin, I.e. 396, 1910.
2 Lantz, D. E., "Economic Value of North American Skunks," United
States Department of Agriculture, Farmers' Bulletin, I.e. 587, 1914.
3 Smith, F., "The Relation of Our Shrubs and Trees to Our Wild Birds,"
1915, Illinois Arbor and Bird Days, Circular No. 83 (issued by the Superin-
tendent of Public Instruction, Springfield, 111.), pp. 8-17.
1
RIVER REGULATION 286
fence corners many of the species dependent upon shrubbery
will disappear. The tendency to destroy the thickets, especially
on the stream margins, causes an obvious decrease of birds. A
good skirting of trees along streams is also of advantage as it
is conducive to the presence of fish, because of the fact that
many food fishes prefer shade. Moreover, it tends to lower
water temperature in summer, a condition also favorable to
fishes. The shade greatly increases recreation value. As a
rule, the lowest land along streams is not useful for anything
but for growing trees and shrubs.
Swamps. Each plan of reconstruction, involving an increase
in the amount of land cultivated and designed to provide land
for returning soldiers and others, calls for the draining of
swamps. The people who advocate this appear to consider the
drainage of swamps as an unqualified good. On the other hand,
some of the scientists who appreciate the great values in our
birds and aquatic resources and who desire to see conditions for
scientific study preserved, regard the drainage of certain
swamps as an unmitigated evil. One man has proposed the
preservation of the entire Everglade swamp region. This may
seem absurd, but it is not so preposterous as it appears, if we
give full consideration to the value of our North American birds.
As destroyers of crop pests, they save millions of dollars in
crops every year.
Our southern swamps lie in the direct migration route of
many species of birds which are used as food, or which destroy
crop pests farther north.^ This is so important that through
gifts and state acquisition, Louisiana has set aside areas of
swampy land along the southern coast to serve as way stations
for migrating birds and as a breeding place for the native
species. Thus swamps have a real value from the standpoint
of birds alone ; they are not the only animals found in and about
marshes, which provide us with necessities, including food, furs,
buttons, and other articles. The marshes and watercourses
of Louisiana yield upward of $700,000 per year in products
from turtles, furbearing animals, and frogs.
1 Alexander, M. I.., "Biennial Report of the Department of Conservation,
State of Louisiana, 1916-18."
286 WATER RESOURCES
It is, therefore, reasonable to argue that no swamp in the
Gulf States or Georgia should be drained without full consid-
eration of these losses. Experiment stations should be estab-
lished and at these studies conducted of the means of increasing
the productivity of the marshes and of controlling all the
present resources.
Upland marshes also have values similar to those of the
coastal swamps and an additional and important function.
With the clearing oflF of timber and the draining of such swamps
the streams appear to be subject to greater floods and to more
extreme low water. The latter conditions ill particular are
important in connection with the effects of pollution. It is at
extreme low stages that the streams are overloaded and that
a small amount of pollution overtaxes the self-purification
mechanisms, with results almost as disastrous to fishes and
similar animals as if the low water occurred throughout the
year.
There has been much discussion of the necessity of building
dams from which water could be slowly released in dry seasons
to maintain flow. It may well be asked. Why then destroy the
upland marshes which serve as reservoirs or as great sponges
holding water and letting it out gradually? Xeedham and
Lloyd^ advocate lowering parts of these below permanent water
level and putting the soil thus removed on equal areas. The
dry land could be used for agriculture and the ponds for water
culture. Though the science of aquiculture is as yet in its in-
fancy, yet it appears that water may be made as productive
as land.
A part of any large swamp such as the Okefinokee Swamp or
any other natural area may be as valuable as the most expen-
sive American museum, one which requires, say, $10,000,000
endowment and $600,000 annual expense. Such swamps are
really museums of living things, the value of which at any time
may become inflnitely great in the solution of important scien-
tiflc problems which involve living animals. Each year animals
and plants find new uses and new values; no one would have
1 Needham, J. G., and Lloyd, J. T., "Life of the Inland Waters," Ithaca,
1916.
RIVER REGULATION 287
thought white rats, guinea pigs, and common mice worth saving
a century ago. If the question of sacrificing all these for a
little additional land to cultivate had been raised it would have
received but one answer, there would be none of these animals
now. Yet by far the greater part of our laws of immunity
from disease, heredity of cancer, as well as of heredity in general
have been or are still being worked out on them. The invest-
ment in equipment and salaries for such investigation amounts
to millions of dollars every year. Preserves of our native flora
and fauna are more important than museums of dead animals.
To quote a recent writer on water culture : "We urge that water
areas, adequate to our future needs for study and experiment
be set apart and forever kept free from the depredations of the
exploiter and of the engineer."^
Aquatic Plants. These are not without value ; in aboriginal
times a number of rushes of different sorts were used for making
coarse mats and other suitable articles. In recent years the
leaves of the narrow leaved cat-tail have been employed in paper
making and in cooperage. In the latter industry the leaves
are placed between the staves of the barrels, where they swell
when wet and render the joints water tight.
Water plants, notably wild rice, supplied food to the Ameri-
can Indians. This is obtainable at the present time in our own
markets in limited quantity and at fancy prices. Hedrick,'
who has advocated the increase of food supply by multiplying
the variety of crops, has stated the uses of several aquatic
plants : "In China and Japan the cormbs or tubers of a species
of Sagittaria (arrow head) are commonly sold for food. There
are several American species, one of which at least was used
wherever found by the Indians, and under the name arrow
head, swan potato and swamp potato has given welcome suste-
nance to pioneers. Our native lotus, a species of Nelumbo^ was
much prized by the aborigines, seeds, roots, and stalks being
eaten. Sagittaria and Nelumbo furnish starting points for
1 Needham, J. G., and Lloyd, J. T., "Life of the Inland Waters," Ithaca,
1916.
2 Hedrick, U. P., "Multiplying? Crops as a Means of Increasing the Future
Food Supply," Science, 40:611-620.
288 WATER RESOURCES
valuable food plants for countless numbers of acres of water-
covered marshes when the need to utilize these now waste places
becomes pressing." Research on the cultivation of these should
have been started long ago.
Brackish Waters. The fringing scacoast marshes have
their uses and before any large areas of brackish or salt marsh
are reclaimed by dyking, careful investigation of water cultural
possibilities should be conducted. The marshes are suitable
for the rapidly declining culture of the terrapin, the catch of
which for the entire United States in 1908 was valued at
$80,000. Methods of culture must be developed by careful
study and research, which must begin almost at the foundation.
The low wet areas along the New Jersey coast have been
notorious for the mosquito pests. The increase of these in
recent years has been attributed to the decrease of shore birds
and water fowl which frequent the marshes, as many of these
birds feed on the insects. To compensate in part for this loss
of bird life and to perfect the control of the mosquitoes, systems
of ditches have been provided by which small fishes, the killi-
fishes, are enabled to get at and devour the larvae and pupae.
During the war of 1917-18, the munition works discharged
a mixture of sulphuric and nitric acids into these waters, which
repelled the killifishes and largely destroyed, locally at least,
the effects of the ditching work.
Salt Water Problems. The sea and its shallows are highly
productive of human food ;* the cultivated mussel beds of Con-
way produce 8,600 pounds of flesh per acre, while the produc-
tivity of land in beef is about one-ninth of this. The dry mussel
flesh is about six-tenths of the dry organic matter produced in
grain from the same area of land. Investigation of the possi-
bilities of food culture of the sea should be greatly extended.
There are many marine animals not ordinarily eaten which are
excellent food, and efforts to extend the number and varietv of
these on our bills of fare should continue.
The pollution of the sea is quite extensive near our populous
areas. The most widely known of these destructive effects is
1 Johnstone, J., "Conditions of lAie in the Sea," Cambridge, 1908.
RIVER REGULATION 289
the contamination of shellfish beds and bathing beaches with
typhoid. To prevent this, Winslow and Mohlman^ have pro-
posed the sterilization of the New Haven sewage. In comment-
ing on the adverse report on the adoption of the plan for treat-
ment of Boston sewage, they say that such calculations fail to
put a value on sterile media for bathing beaches and oyster beds.
Such a sterilizing process should render possible the recovery
of the valuable substances contained in sewage, and at the same
time increase the probabilities of the return of marine fishes
and shellfish to the vicinity of large cities and towns where now
the raw sewage prevents. It is to be hoped that those who see
only the profits to be gained from the sale of recovered products
may be persuaded to advocate the introduction of proper
processes wherever practicable on the ground not only of the
abatement of nuisance and benefits to public health, but also
of the probable benefits to fisheries.
There are notable gains to the public to be had in the removal
of typhoid danger in sea products, the increase of area usable
for shellfish and the lessening of the liability of reducing the
breeding grounds of fishes and of hindering their onshore runs.
The history of the herring industry is interesting in this con-
nection. Numerous breeding grounds, some of them near pros-
perous cities, have been deserted and as a result the population
of these has diminished. Experiments have shown that herring
avoid slight increases in acidity and also water slightly deficient
in oxygen as may result from sewage. It is not known whether
or not these pollutions caused herring to avoid their usual
spawning places, but it is true that such conditions are not
favorable to runs of herring. One fact stands out clearly,
namely, that many species of marine animals are much more
sensitive than fresh water ones. This is in opposition to the
fallacy that the sea is so large that sewage and other pollutions
can have little effect.
Cooperative Research. From lack of knowledge or through
carelessness there has resulted continually recurring destruc-
tion of various natural agencies, each working in part toward
1 Winslow, C.-E. A., and Mohlman, F. W., "Add Treatment of Sewage,"
Municipal Journal, 1918, 45:280-282, 297-299, 321-322.
290 WATER RESOURCES
the good of mankind. There has been study of some of these
agencies and resources, but the results obtained by private
organizations or by individual eflFort are scattered. The work
of our governmental bureaus has often fallen into ruts which
have cramped the individual initiative of the investigators. In
our present system, as pointed out by Senator Newlands, page
270, the bureaus are usually separate and are often ignorant
of the work of each other or are competing usually in ways not
based on the logical requirements of the problems to be solved.
The complete organization as proposed by the Act of August
8, 1917, should be such that a complete force of investigators
can be put to work on a given problem. What should be done
with this or that stream, lake or swamp .'^ It is not a problem
for engineers alone. There should be a careful study not only
of the quantity and quality of the water, but also of the possible
related values in fish, game, furs, birds, wood, lumber, and all
other products.
Engineers, physicists, chemists, and ecologists (who deal with
the fine adjustments of organisms to each other and to condi-
tions) should constitute a cooperative organization which, like
an army, undertakes to advance by working together for the
general good of humanity. Our laws relative to riparian rights,
like those of England, which caused the destruction of the
salmon of the Mersey, do not make possible the application to
streams and their margins of the best measures for the general
good. The laws should be improved and campaigns of educa-
tion inaugurated. There is need of putting our aquatic re-
sources on a permanent basis. As in the case of other natural
resources, there has been too much fish "mining," mussel
"mining," i.e., too much of the tendency to take all and go to
the next place or the next product, and not enough "farming"
of these resources. Why with all our immense rivers should we
import mussels from China? Is it not better to work out a
basis for a permanent supply from our own waters .^^ Here
research is necessary; we know little or nothing about what
portion of the individuals of any species can be removed each
year and leave the supply permanent and under the best con-
ditions. Opportunities to develop water culture projects in
RIVER REGULATION 291
connection with the building of reservoirs or of undertakings
for the reclamation of swamps and the protection of agricul-
tural land from overflow should be given more consideration than
in the past.
The ultimate eflFects of building levees along the rivers in
order to confine the floods within restricted channels should also
be given thorough research. There has been too great reliance
placed on tradition or on text-book assertions as to the be-
havior of the rivers which have thus been artificially controlled.
In particular, attention has been called by Colonel C. McD.
Townsend, president of the Mississippi River Commission, to
the current fallacies regarding the raising of the beds of certain
rivers as a result of levees built along them, shutting ofl^ access
of flood waters to the ancient flood plains or marsh lands.
He states that those who advocate the theory that levee con-
struction raises the river bed, usually give as an illustration
the river Po, and quote a statement which appears to have
originated in Prony's "Recherches sur le system hydraulic de
I'ltalia," adopted by Cuvier in his "Discours sur les revolution
de la surface du globe," who added that the floods of the Po
exceeded in height the roofs of the houses of Ferrera ; and that
only by the opening of new river channels in the lowlying lands
which were formed by their ancient deposits, could disasters be
averted. These statements have been repeated in recent works
on geology and geography.
The Italian engineer, Lombardini, refutes these statements;
the investigations by French, German and Austrian engineers
have resulted in the conclusion that the eflFect of levees in raising
the river bed in no case is more than a few inches in a hundred
years, and may be termed a geological eflFect resulting from the
lengthening of the river as it deposits its silt at its mouth.
Two reports on the river Po exhaustively discuss the same
subject; viz., that in 1905, of a board appointed by the Italian
Government, and a paper by G. Fantoli in the Proceedings of
the Italian Society for the Progress of Science (Geneva, Octo-
ber, 1912) entitled "II Po nelle eflPcmeridi di un Secolo."
CHAPTER XVIII
LEGAL AND LEGISLATIVE PROBLEMS
Vested Rights. In any discussion of the conservation and
use of natural resources and especially of water storage, it is
necessary to consider not only the physical conditions, but
more than this, to have clearly in mind the economic limitations
and also the artificial relations established by law. If the
entire country was in the state of nature and the engineer
could freely pick out the localities where water might best be
used or stored and could sweep away all obstacles erected by
man, the problem would be relatively simple. He finds, how-
ever, that even in a relatively new country innumerable so-
called "vested rights'* have already attached to the water, and
that property lines, as well as state and county boundaries, —
drawn without reference to natural conditions, — block his way
at every turn. These invisible walls, because of their intangible
form, are often more difficult to penetrate than the solid rocks
of the mountains, where tunnels may be driven through in the
course of a few months. It may require years or may be prac-
tically impossible to put through a meritorious project which
is obstructed by the vaguely defined rights or limitations set by
laws and court decisions. It is the duty of the engineer and
of the promoter to know all that he can of these laws so that
he may not become entangled in them.
Each of the forty-eight states of the Federal Union has its
own system of laws. In some of these a water code has been
carefully considered; in others, chaos apparently exists and
development of the water resources is effectively blocked because
of the existing uncertainty. Taking the states as a whole, how-
ever, it may be said that there are two radically diflFerent sys-
tems in legislation and in court decisions. The first is that of
the older states, which for the most part took their legal codes
LEGAL AND LEGISLATIVE PROBLEMS 293
from England, and which recognize the so-called riparian rights
which require that the natural streams be permitted to flow
undisturbed in quantity and unchanged in quality. In the
other group of states are those of the arid west where the neces-
sity of the people demands that the water be taken from the
streams and used more or less completely in the production of
crops. Here the so-called doctrine of appropriation has met
the common needs of the people better than the riparian rights
of the older states based on the common law of England.
Throughout the arid region, as a rule, there is more land
than water. In other words, the extent to which the dry but
otherwise productive land can be put to use is governed by the
care and skill employed in conserving and utilizing the limited
amount of water available. The question may thus be asked
as to the duties of citizenship with respect to the control of
water. Is it a substance whose full ownership may be acquired
by an individual and used or wasted according to the desires
of that person?
In the case of waters which are abstracted from flowing
streams and held in a tank or artificial reservoir, it is usually
conceded that the man who thus obtains possession of this defi-
nite quantity is the owner and may dispose of the water as he
would of other merchandise, but in the case of flowing streams
the conditions are diflFerent. The stream itself mav remain in
a definite position throughout all times, but the component
parts, the individual particles of water coming from the rain-
fall on the highlands, are continually being renewed — flowing
down the slopes they disappear into the lakes or ocean or go
back into the atmosphere. Under these conditions there have
arisen at least two theories concerning ownership of the flowing
waters. These owe their difference to the contrasting conditions
in the country in which the legal theories arose.
Riparian Rights. In humid England and in the nearly
equally humid parts of eastern United States, water is usually
in excess and its intrinsic value is thus little appreciated. It
may be regarded more as a nuisance than an essential element
of life. The man who acquired title to a piece of land bordering
upon a stream or through which a stream flowed came to be
294 WATER RESOURCES
recognized as having a certain right to the use of the waters
of the stream. His land ownership was usually bounded by the
center of the stream or by its deepest flowing channel. By the
purchase of the land, he acquired the right to use the water
and to enjoy certain privileges, these being limited by equiva-
lent rights of the landowners above and below him on the
stream. Thus in countries where water was plenty there grew
up the conception that the riparian owner could utilize the
water so long as he did not interfere with the quantity and
with the quality of the water which passed beyond his land to
that of other riparian proprietors.
In the case of larger rivers or lakes, the ownership of land
covered by water was considered as being in the state and the
riparian ownership extended to high-water or low-water mark,
but with certain privileges adherent in the fact that the land
was bounded by the water surface. The principal causes of
controversy under these conditions would be those arising from
attempts to develop water power and to build dams, flooding
back upon the lands further upstream. In these cases the
matter was usually left to private arrangements although in
some states flowage rights might be acquired by legal pro-
cesses.
Appropriation. In the Mediterranean countries of Europe
and in the arid western parts of the United States, where, with
scarcity of water, most lands and industries, as well as life
itself, are intimately connected with the water supply, it is ob-
vious that a difl^erent rule must be enforced. The verv exist-
ence of agriculture depends upon taking away from the streams
an ample supply for the production of crops. In the aggre-
gate this removal of water means the complete drying up of
the streams and deprivation of lower riparian owners of its use.
Obviously it is impossible for each riparian owner to enjoy the
use of the water by taking out a portion onto his land and at
the same time permit it to flow undiminished in quantity and
unchanged in quality. Hence has grown up the doctrine of
appropriation. Riparian rights as far as the arid states are
concerned have usually been declared to be nonexistent. The
men who first took water from a flowing stream and applied it
LEGAL AND LEGISLATIVE PROBLEMS 295
to beneficial use are thereafter protected in such use in the order
of their dates of appropriation and use, or of so-called priority,
and to the amount actually utilized.
The ownership of the water in the arid region has usually
been declared to be in the people or in some instances in the
state. The right to use, as distinguished from ownership, is
vested in the various claimants in the sequence in which they
first applied this water to beneficial use. Each of the western
states has adopted various modifications of these fundamental
ideas. In the case of California, there is still some doubt as to
the theory which will ultimately be upheld.
It is sufficient to call attention to these two apparently
antagonistic views and to the uncertainties which necessarily
prevail in many parts of the country because of lack of agree-
ment on fundamentals. It is claimed that more money is being
and has been expended in some of the western states in litigation
over the right to the use of water than in the building of the
necessary works. There is no one matter more essential in the
complete development of the resources of an arid region through
water conservation by storage than the firm establishment of
principles regarding the use of waters and recognition of the
fact that this use must be safeguarded in the interest of all the
people.
Political Relations. A right social and mental attitude
on the part of the public is necessary for success in water con-
servation and use. While in the past the engineers have con-
centrated eflForts largely on the physical conditions, there is
a rapidly growing appreciation of the fact that these leaders
must take into account wider forces and must adapt their plans
not merely to public needs but to the probabilities of these
needs being understood and appreciated. The public directly
or indirectly pays for work of this kind and is supposed to get
the benefit. Failure to obtain such benefit or to carry out the
plans of the engineer to their full completion usually results
from ignorance on the part of the public, such ignorance as
may be removed, if at all, by the proper use of the larger knowl-
edge possessed by the engineer and his associates. This fact
that the political, as well as the physical conditions, must be
296 WATER RESOURCES
given full study by the engineer, too often has been overlooked.
In fact, many a good engineer has rather prided himself upon
the fact that he has given no thought to the political or social
relations of the work. As a consequence many a practicable
and desirable scheme of conservation has been wrecked soon
after its conception.
It is generally understood that it is the duty of the engineer
to utilize the forces of nature for the benefit of mankind. With
the growing complication of modern life the successful engineer
must include among these forces those which arise from the
human relationship. The storms of sentiment or of prejudice
with corresponding decrease in confidence may be as destructive
to a well-planned work as is the wind or flood. The engineer
in making his plans should take these into account, otherwise
he may be swept oflF his feet at the critical time.
In the United States or in any other form of popular govern-
ment, all consideration of water conservation by storage must
necessarily arise from some public or political organization.
From the nature of the case, there can be few, if any, strictly
private enterprises; even these may require the exercise of some
form of public control of the improvement or of the right of
condemnation for public uses. Thus nearly every enterprise
involving storage necessitates approval by some public official
or commission. In the exercise of its functions also there is
probability of coming within the range of state or federal laws
governing public utilities.
Interstate Activities. The boundaries of each of the
forty-eight states were originally drawn with little or no refer-
ence to topography or to the watershed of the principal rivers
of the country. Some of the states arc limited in part by the
center of navigable channels or by the low-water mark of a
river; but for the most part the boundaries are supposed to be
straight lines drawn from a given point and extending west or
north to intersect with some other line. It thus results that
there are few rivers of importance which lie wholly within any
one state. The principal exception is in the case of Texas, the
largest state in the Union, involving nearly one-tenth of the
total area of the United States. This has whollv within its
V
i.
LEGAL AND LEGISLATIVE PROBLEMS 297
area the Colorado River (of Texas, not the Colorado River of
the West) and some smaller streams. In California, also, the
Sacramento and San Joaquin lie within the state lines. It
would be practicable to create a conservancy district wholly
within a state on rivers such as these ; but even in such instances,
there would be involved some consideration of federal laws in
working out a scheme of conservation because of the eflFect
which would be produced on the navigable portion of the
stream.
The majority of river conservancy problems thus involve
the jurisdiction of two or more states as well as that of the
federal government in matters of navigation. Here has been
a great obstacle to full hydro-economic development. Usually
the heads of a stream where water can best be held are located
in mountainous areas and in a different state from the lands
or property benefited by the proposed storage. To make any
enterprise feasible, there must be laws passed in the two or
more states sufficiently uniform in character to permit opera-
tion. The difficulty of securing such laws can only be appre-
ciated by persons who have attempted to get two or more state
legislatures to act in unison. Whatever one legislature agrees
upon the other frequently rejects!
Federal Funds. The largest opportunities for development
of water conservation and use, exclusive of operations under
the Reclamation Act, are those which flow out of federal legis-
lation for the improvement and maintenance of commerce on
the rivers of the United States. Under present conditions, a
bill is annually reported to Congress involving an expenditure
of $40,000,000 more or less for continuation of the work already
authorized, for maintaining the works which have been built,
and for making surveys of new projects. The custom has arisen,
as previously noted, of preparing the items of the bill in
geographic order and thus mentioning practically every con-
gressional district. The bill thus includes not only items for the
deepening of harbors and of connecting waters in the Great
Lakes where results are essential to commerce, but also brings
in innumerable items for expenditures on creeks or little rivers
where navigation is generally recognized as being impracticable.
298 WATER RESOURCES
The assumption Is made in preparing the bill that every part
of the United States should have its share of the expenditure —
irrespective of the real needs — ^under the idea that the members
of Congress will not vote funds for the larger works of public
importance, but which lie outside of their districts, unless each
man receives his share.
This low order of public morals is shown not only in the river
and harbor bills, but in public building bills and various appro-
priations for federal works. The precedent has been so gener-
ally established that the average member of Congress regards
this as a matter of fact. He does not dare to brave the indig-
nation or ridicule of his colleagues by objecting. His con-
stituents also demand that he get his share and secure an amount
in excess of that obtained by his predecessors. It is encour-
aging, however, to see that the public sentiment, long dormant
regarding such matters, is awakening to the need of a true
budget system and is responding although slowly to the pro-
tests of men who have the courage to denounce the **pork
barrel'* methods and to expose these to the public gaze. One
of the men whose name stands foremost for patriotic devotion
to higher ideals is that of former Senator Theodore E. Burton
of Ohio, one of the best-informed men concerning water trans-
portation, as he gave a lifetime to the study of this both in the
United States and abroad. His courageous attacks have
awakened others and he has succeeded at least in calling public
attention to the reprehensible conditions.
Senator Burton began his fight against the corrupt methods
of river and harbor legislation while he was in the House of
Representatives. He continued this in the Senate during his
term. In the House of Representatives the work was taken up
by James A. Frear of Wisconsin.
"The cohesive power of public plunder" has been frequently
commented upon (see the Engineering News, Vol. 75, June 8,
1916, page 1098). It is shown that the River and Harbor
Bill, which carried appropriations of about $40,000,000, al-
though passed by the Senate was favored by a small majority.
The number of senators opposing is indicative of the steady
growth of public opinion. Emphasis was placed upon the fact
LEGAL AND LEGISLATIVE PROBLEMS 299
that the senators who led the fight against the bill are in hearty
favor of works where expenditure is justified by actual benefits.
Waterways Commission. While a vigorous fight has been
waged in the House of Representatives and Senate against the
corrupting features of the river and harbor bills, there have
been various attempts made to secure constructive action and
to outline a patriotic policy to replace the rule of plunder.
President Roosevelt, appreciating the situation and finding that
Congress as a whole was unsympathetic in such reforms,
appointed on March 14, 1907, a commission to prepare and
report a comprehensive plan for the improvement and control
of river systems of the United States. He stated that in
creating this Commission he was influenced by broad considera-
tion and national policy. "The control of our navigable water-
ways lies with the federal government and carries with it corre-
sponding responsibilities and obligations."^ This Commission
held many conferences and visited some of the more important
navigable rivers. It prepared a preliminary report which was
transmitted to Congress by President Roosevelt on February
26, 1908. The President sums up the general findings in the
following abstract taken from his letter:
"The report (of the Inland Waterways Commission) rests
throughout on the fundamental conception that every waterway
should be made to serve the people as largely and in as many differ-
ent ways as possible. It is poor business to develop a river for
navigation in such a way as to prevent its use for power, when by a
little foresight it could be made to serve both purposes. We cannot
afford needlessly to sacrifice power to irrigation, or irrigation to
domestic water supply, when by taking thought we may have all
three. Everv stream should be used to the utmost. No stream can
be so used unless such use is planned for in advance. When such
plans are made we shall find that, instead of interfering, one use
can often be made to assist another. Each river svstem, from its
headwaters in the forest to its mouth on the coast, is a single unit
and should be treated as such. Navigation of the lower reaches of
1 For chairman of this Commission he designated Senator Burton, and
as members, Senators Newlands and Warner, Senator (then Representa-
tive) Bankhead, Gen. Alexander Mackenzie, Chief of the Corps of Engineers,
United States Army, and Messrs. W J McGee, F. H. Newell, Gifford
Pinchot, and Herbert Knox Smith.
800 WATER RESOURCES
a stream cannot be fully developed without the control of floods
and low waters by storage and drainage. Navigable channels are
directly concerned with the protection of source waters and with
soil erosion^ which takes the materials for bars and shoals from
the richest portions of our farms. The uses of a stream for domestic
and municipal water supply, for power, and in many cases for
irrigation, must also be taken into full account. . . .
"The various uses of waterwavs are now dealt with bv Bureaus
scattered through four Federal Departments. At present, there-
fore, it is not possible to deal with a river system as a single prob-
lem. But the Commission here recommends a policy under which
all the commercial and industrial uses of the waterways may be
developed at the same time.
"The report justly calls attention to the fact that hitherto our
national policy has been one of almost unrestricted disposition and
waste of natural resources, and emphasizes the fundamental neces-
sity for conserving these resources upon which our present and
future success as a nation primarily rests. Running water is a
most valuable natural asset of the people, and there is urgent need
for conserving it for navigation, for power, for irrigation, and for
domestic and municipal supply.
"Hitherto our national policy of inland waterway development has
been largely negative. No single agency has been responsible under
the Congress for making the best use of our rivers, or for exercising
foresight in their development. In the absence of a comprehensive
plan, the only safe policy was one of repression and procrastination.
Frequent changes of plan and piecemeal execution of projects have
still further hampered improvement. A channel is no deeper than
its shallowest reach, and to improve a river short of the point of
effective navigability is a sheer waste of all its cost. In spite of
large appropriations for their improvement, our rivers are less
serviceable for interstate commerce today than they were half a
century ago and in spite of the vast increase in our population and
commerce thev are on the whole less used.
"The first condition of successful development of our waterways
is a definite and progressive policy. The second is a concrete gen-
eral plan, prepared by the best experts available, covering every
use to which our streams can be put. We shall not succeed until
the responsibility of administering the policy and executing and
extending the plan is definitely laid on one man or group of men
who can be held accountable. Every portion of the general plan
should consider and so far as practicable secure to the people the
LEGAL AND LEGISLATIVE PROBLEMS 301
use of water for power^ irrigation, and domestic supply as well as
for navigation. No project should be begun until the funds neces-
sary to complete it promptly are provided, . and no plan once under
way should be changed except for grave reasons. Work once begun
should be prosecuted steadily and vigorously to completion. We
must make sure that projects are not undertaken except for sound
business reasons^ and that the best modern business methods are
applied in executing them. The decision to undertake any project
should rest on actual need ascertained by investigation and judg-
ment of experts and on its relation to great river systems or to the
general plan, and never on mere clamor.
"The improvement of our inland waterways can and should be
made to pay for itself so far as practicable from the incidental
proceeds from water power and other uses. Navigation should of
course be free. But the greatest return will come from the in-
creased commerce, growth, and prosperity of our people. For this
we have already waited too long. Adequate funds should be pro-
vided, by bond issue, if necessary, and the work should be delayed
no longer. The development of our waterways and the conservation
of our forests are the two most pressing physical needs of the
country. They are interdependent, and they should be met vigor-
ously, together, and at once. The questions of organization, powers,
and appropriations are now before the Congress. There is urgent
need for prompt and decisive action."
Theodore Roosevelt.
(From Message of President printed in Preliminary Report of
the Inland Waterways Commission, Senate Doc. No. 825, 60th Con-
gress, 1st Session.)
Conclusions. From what has been stated in the previous
pages, it should be obvious that the development and full use
of our water resources is not a local or restricted matter, but
concerns more or less directly or indirectly the health and pros-
perity of nearly every person. It is closely tied up with the
existence of life itself in that it furnishes water without which
no person can keep alive more than two or three days. It bears
upon the raising of cattle used for food and upon the produc-
tion of crops needed for these animals, and for immediate use
by man. It enters into the disposal of sewage and waste and
the consequent preservation of health. It concerns food and
302 WATER RESOURCES
raw material from aquatic sources, the preservation of birds
as crop protectors. It vitally affects manufacturing and pro-
duction of power used in lighting, heating, transportation, and
innumerable ways. It enters into the broad conceptions of the
largest future use of the natural resources of the country,
increasing the comfort and prosperity of the nation, reducing
loss of life and property in floods and in the discomforts pro-
duced by droughts.
Viewed in this large way, we can well conceive why a fund
has been established for the purpose of keeping before the people
of the country the larger aspects of the case. To the young
engineer, enthusiastic, not only to enter upon his profession,
but to do something really worth while, the great questions of
water conservation offer a strong appeal. There is a breadth
and bigness which cannot be overlooked; while the way is long
and hard and many discouragements must be met and over-
come, yet as shown by the pictures already presented, enough
has been done to stimulate and encourage future work. This
is especially true when it is borne in mind that the structures
already built and the results already obtained are merely
samples of the larger and more comprehensive projects which
should be outlined and entered upon.
It is impossible in a book of moderate size to more than touch
upon some of the important points. A whole library is required,
embracing not merely books on hydraulics, on construction and
management, but also upon economics and legal relations. This
is because, as already stated, the problems are far-reaching and
involve not only the application of natural laws but also the
modification of man-made laws and court findings. While the
obstacles to be overcome are great and all may not be success-
fully met in this generation, yet there is the constant stimulus
in the thought that they are not insurmountable and that the
reward is sure to him who has vision, perseverance, and ability.
There is no evading the great question of water conservation.
Each year it is presented more strongly to our attention. The
hundred million and more people who live in the United States
already have need for a larger and better regulated water
supply and for protection from floods. At the present rate
LEGAL AND LEGISLATIVE PROBLEMS 308
of increase, other millions will soon be more urgently demand-
ing larger opportunities for life and comfort. New complica-
tions are arising and the sooner the problems are attacked, the
easier will be the solution. There is every incentive, therefore,
for the young man of the present day to seriously and per-
sistently study these matters and to identify himself with the
great forward movement which must necessarily take place
along these lines.
END
INDEX
Absorption of water, 76, 80, 91
Acre-feet, 105, 195
Acre-feet storage cost, 151
Activated sludge, 944
Adams, Frank, 2-27
Alfalfa, 189, 223
Alice, Lake, Nebraska, 158
Alkali and drainage, 237
Alkaline lakes, 176
Alkaline lands, 181
Allegheny River, 97
Alta Pass, North Carolina, 55
Alternative sites for dams, 124
Alvord, John B., 97
Amarinds, 35
American Indians, 3.5
Annual operation cost, 197
Apache Indians, 35
Appalachian forests, 61, 63
Application of water, 228
Appropriation of water, 294
Aquatic plants, 287
Arid regions, 187
Arizona underflow, 79
Arizona Water Co., 156
Arrowrock Dam, Idaho, 140, 142, 159
Artesian wells, 77, 85, 222
Artillery fire, 51
Ashlar masonry, 137
Atkins, C. B., 280
Atlas of American Agriculture, 62
Atmometer, ^9
Austin Dam, Texas, 145
Automatic spillway, 213, 219
Average flow, 112
Baguio, 55
Baird, S. F., 282
Baltimore, Maryland, 54
Barge canal. New York, 266
Bass, F. H., 182
Bates, C. G., 69
Battles causing rain, 50
Beadle. J. B., 233
Bear Lake, Utah, 171
! Bedrock, 132
' Belle Fourche Project, South Dakota,
I 134, 167
Bigelow, F. H., 70
Biological science, 8.5
Birds, value of, 283
. Black Hills, 82, 87
. Boise Project, Idaho, 122, 159
Borings at dam site, 127
Brackish waters, 288
British engineers, 35, 189
British rainfall organization, 50
Brooks, Charles E., 9, 49
Bruckner, Edward, 58
Burdick, Chas. B., 97
Burton, Theodore E., 298
Calile for stream measurement, 106
Calaveras Dam, California, 135
California underflow, 79
California wells, 89
Canadian waters, 172
Canal banks and protection, 218
Canal lining, 217
Carrying unit, 210, 212
Carson River, Nevada, 162, 163, 175
Casper, Wyoming, 158
Catchment area, 202
Cereals, 235
Chestnut Hill Reservoir, Massachu-
setts, 72
Chezy formula, 109
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy R. R.,
87
Chicago parks, 249
Chicago River, 250
Chicago sewage, 251
China, 34
Chittenden, Hiram N., 64
Clealum, Lake, Washington, 166
Climatic fluctuations, 188
306
INDEX
Cloudbursts, 55
Clouds, 41, 60
Cody, Wyoming, 159
Cold Springs Reservoir, Oregon, 122,
168
Collecting unit, 210
Colorado River, 94, 99, 118
Columbia River, 168
Columbus, Ohio, 97
Concrete dams, 138
Congress, U. S., 62
Congressional appropriations, 265
Conservation, 28
Conservation of underground waters,
88
Conservation of water, 262
Constitution of United States, 38, 39
Constitutional provisions, 264
Construction methods, 206
Corbett Tunnel, Wyoming, 159
Core walls, 133
Cost of irrigation, 188
Cost of pumping, 221
Cost of water, 196
Cost per acre-foot, 151, 159
Croton Dam, New York, 138
Current meter, 107
Cusecs, 104
Cylindrical gates, 219
Dam failures, 144
Dam sites, 123
Dams, 130
Darton, N. H., 9, 80, 86
Davis, Arthur P., 9, 150
Dayton, Ohio, 96
Debris problem, 100
Debris transportation, 98
Deer Flat Reservoir, Idaho, 122, 132,
160, 166
Dehydration, 72
Deliveries to reservoir, 174
Delta Reservoir, New York, 267
Deming, New Mexico, 82, 84
Denver, Colorado, 75, 89
Depth of run-off, 112
Dew, 59
Dilution of sewage, 244
Discharge measurements, 107
Distributing unit, 210, 214
Diurnal changes. 111
Diurnal flow, 103
Diversion from river, 192
Diversion unit, 210, 211
Divisions of irrigation project, 210
Domestic use of water, 181
Drainage, 187, 237
Drinking water, 181
Drops in canal, 220
Drought, 95
Dry farmer, 196
Drying, 72
Duchesne River, Utah, 165
Dutch windmill, 178
Duty of water, 194, 232
Dykes, 273
Earth dams, 127, 130
Earth reservoir, 223
East Park Reservoir, California, 143
Economics, 31
Edgemont, South Dakota, 84, 86
Egypt, 34, 118
Electricity for heating, 170
Electric transmission, 259
Elephant Butte Dam, New Mexico,
160
Ellis, Arthur J., 77
El Paso, Texas, 145, 219
Engineering relations, 34
Enlargement of canal, 213
Ensign valves, 142
Epidemics, 244
Erie Canal, New York, 265
Erosion, 97
Euphrates River, 99
Evaporation, 65, 121, 152
Everglades, 285
Excessive rainfall, 55
Expansion of agriculture, 190
Failures of dams, 144
Fairchild, H. L., 40
Fassig, O. L., 54
Federal funds, 297
Fifth use of water, 263
Financing irrigation works, 200
First use of water, 37, 180
Fisheries, 247, 256, 275, 279
Flood conservation, 188
Flood plains, 96
INDEX
307
Flood prevention or protection, 96,
272
Flooding, in irrigation, 228
Floods and drought, 95
Florida, 81
Fluctuating river flow, 101, 110
Fluctuations of rain, 56
Flumes, 215
Fog, 41
Food production, 185
Forests, 60, 63
Fort Laramie Canal, Wyoming, 212
Foundations, 125, 127
Fox River, Illinois, 249
Franklin Canal, El Paso, Texas, 219
Frear, James A., 298
Freight charges, 234
Frogs and turtles, 282
Frost, 59
Fulke, W., 49
Furrow irrigation, 229
Gage for rain, 53
Gage for stream flow, 106
Gallon, 105
Garden City, Kansas, 78, 79
Gates for dams, 141
Gates of canals, 219
Gates, turnout, 227
Gatun Lake, Panama, 129, 135
Geography, 45
Geological survey, 188
Geology, 45, 86
George, Lloyd, 7
Gilbert, G. K., 98, 101
Glacier National Park, Montana,
114, 171
Granite Reef Dam, Arizona, 154
Gravels, impervious, 239
Gravels, storage of water in, 175
Graves, H. S., 73
Great basins, 92
Great plains, 82, 177, 222
Great Salt Lake, Utah, 165
Green River, Utah, 165
Grover, Nathan C, 94, 114
Gypsum in earth, 167
Hamilton, Ohio, 96
Hansen, Paul, 245
Harding, S. T., 232
Harts, W. W., 268
Hawaiian Islands, pumping, 222
Hazen, Allen, 182
Heads of water, 227
Health, 35
Height of rain gage, 56
Henry, A. J., 62
Herschel, Clemens, 109
Hoad, W. C, 245
Holden, James A., 235
Horton, A. H., 71
Horton, Robert E., 113
Hoyt, John C, 9, 94, 103, 106
Hudson Bay, 172
Human life, value of, 183
Human needs, 45
Huntington, Ellsworth, 58
Huntley Project, Montana, 220
Hutton, James, 49
Hydraulic dams, 134
Hydraulic giant, 100
Hydraulic grade, 81, 88
Hydraulic mining, 105
Hydro-economics, 30
Hydro-electric power, 224
Hydrography, 41, 43
Hydrology, 41, 43
Illinois River, Illinois, 249, 276
Imperial Valley, California, 118
Inhibition of water, 80
Inch, miner's, 105, 233
Increase of cost, 200
India, 34
Indians, American, 35
Inland waterways, 297
Insurance against flood, 95
Interest losses, 198
Internal expansion, 190
International Joint Commission, 253
International waters, 171
Interstate activities, 296
Interstate Canal, Wyoming-Ne-
braska, 157, 216
Irrigated area, 192
Irrigation, 187
Irrigation by pumping, 221
Irrigation costs, 188, 192
Isoatmic map, 68
Jackson Lake, Wyoming, 122
308
INDEX
James, George Wharton, 150
James River Valley, South Dakota,
Kachess, Lake, Washington, 166
Kansas, windmills, 178
Keechelus, Lake, Washington, 64, 166
Kiln-drying, 74
King, F. H., 79
Kutter formula, 109, 218
Lahontan, Lake, Nevada, 162
Lateral canal, 215, 227
Lee, Cliarles, 176
Legal and legislative prohlems, 292
Leighton, Marshall O., 182, 245
Limestone, 80
Lining of canal, 217
Lippincott, J. B., 176
Livingston, B. E., 68
I^og of well, 85
Loose rock dams, 136
Los Angeles, California, water sup-
ply, 184
Lyman Lectures, 5
Maintenance, 225
Mammals, value of, 284
Manufacturing, 259
Masonry dams, 138
Massachusetts State Board of
Health, 253
Materials for dams, 125
Maximum flow, 110
Maxwell, Geo. H., 9
McAdie, Alexander, 59
McGee, W J, 9, 90, 299
Mead, Daniel W\, 44
Measurement of evaporation, 69
Measurement of rainfall, 52
Measurement of water, 226
Merriam, John C, 9
Merriman, Mansfield, 109
Mesopotamia, 34
Metcalf and Eddy, 252
Meteorology, 41, 48
Mexican Dam, El Paso, Texas, 145
Mexico, 161
Meyer, Adolph F., 44
Miami^ Ohio, floods, 96, 144
Milk River, Montana, 115, 172
Mill, H. R., 50
Mimbres River, New Mexico, 82
Mineral water, 184
Miner's inch, 105, 233
Minidoka Project, Idaho, 100, 135,
169, 218, 261
Minitare, Lake, Nebraska, 158
Mississippi River, 68, 265, 280
Misuse of streams, 274
Mixture of air, 50
Morgan, Arthur E., 97
Moulton, H. G., 268
Mountain storage, 121
Mountains and forests, 60
Movement of water, 40
Mussels, 279
National Research Council, 59
Natural flow, 113
Nebraska, windmill, 178
Necaxa Dam, Mexico, 135
Necessity of water storage, 117
Newell curve, 92
Newell, F. H., 58, 79, 93, 149, 232, 299
New England run-off, 66, 91
Newlands Act, 149, 192
Newlands, Francis G., 9, 149, 269
New York canals, 265
New York forests, 62
Nile, river, 99, 118
North Platte River, 127, 156
Okanogan Project, Washington, 135
Okeflnokee Swamp, 286
Oldest inliabitants, 52
Olmstead, Frank H., 176
Operation and maintenance, 225
Operation cost, 197
Orchard fruits, 235
Ordinary flow, 112
Orland Project, California, 143
Owens Valley, Nevada, 184
Owl Creek, South Dakota, 134, 167
Palestine, 58
Pathfinder Dam, Wyoming, 127, 156
Paving for dams, 132, 134
Pecos Valley, New Mexico, 83, 89
Pennsylvania forests, 62
Periodic fluctuations of rain, 56
Phelps, E. B., 253
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