Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-04-21
THE STORM AND THE LEvEEs.

American was comparatively low. This
year there has been unprecedentedly heavy
and continuous rain much further up the
American river canyon than usual, while
the fall of snow in the Sierras has been
much greater than for many years past.
The fact that we have had no high water
as yet may not count for much, moreover,
for we are at time of year when a few
days of warm weather may set in at any
moment, and when consequently melting
snow NAV add to the volume of the al
ready bank-full rivers. The general pros
pect, therefore, is such as to call for
the utmost precaution, and it will not be
safe to leave any point of our defenses in
doubt. The north levee is the most i'm
portant line of protective work, and moth
ing should be left undone to make that
invulnerable. For number of years we
have escaped any serious anxiety on ac-
count of the American river, but we cannot
be sure that the same immunity will be
ours this spring 1t must be remembered
also that because of the constant sitting
up of the river bed in front of the city we
are left in the dark as to the effect of high
water from winter to winter, and it there
fore becomes all the more necessary to
guard against every possible danger. There
has for some time been conflict of opinion
as to the strength of the north levee, and
perhaps that conflict is about to be settled
in the most practical way by actual ex-
pertinent. The city, however, cannot
afford to take any chances on matter
of this moment. Those who hold that
the north levee is high enough
and strong enough to meet every pos
sible emergency may be quite right. But
if they are not quite right it is
evident that their theory exposes the COM
munity to great hazard. This is as good
time as any to recur to the propositions
for making our levees impregnable which
have been advanced so frequently; which
have always been approved at the moment
but which have been suffered to drop out
of notice as soon as the season of high wa
ter had passed. 1t must be apparent now
that Sacramento is under obligations to
herself to put this matter beyond the reach
of doubt, and that steps to that end ought
to be taken at once. 1t is a serious draw
back to the growth and prosperity of the
city that whenever an unusually wet sea-
son occurs it should become necessary to
take the state of the levees into anxious
consideration. With common-sense sys-
TEN of managing them there would be no
ground for apprehension at any time.
What this common-sense system might
be we have heretofore shown. Seeing that
everything depends upon the levees, it
would be the part of prudence to set apart
certain moderate amount every year for
their improvement, and, beginning by Sc
curing a finished plan, add by degrees
to their stability, until the ramparts sur
rounding the city had been so raised and
strengthened that nothing short of uni
versal deluge could overcome them. By
this method there would be an avoidance
of burdensome taxation, and every dollar
expended would aid in the completion of
This is what is wanted, and the sooner
the public make up their minds to
adopt this method the better it will be for
the city. Hitherto it has been found i'm
possible to sustain the resolution which
high water always brings. At this
moment we have no doubt that every tax
payer and property owner in Sacramento
is heartily in favor of improving the levees
in every possible way, and this spirit will
last as long as the high water. But if the
time of apprehension passes without bring
ing any disaster, month of fair weather
will dissipate not only the fears, but the
recollections of the past, and the general
reluctance to expend money will take shape
IN negative resistance to action. This
is seasonable moment to impress upon
the public the old-fashioned truth that
the pitcher which goes often to the well is
sure to be broken at last To be safe in the
winter we must take precautions in the
summer. The repairs which are put upon
levees while storms are raging and in the
very teeth of danger, are apt to be INSULT
cient. 1t is the work quietly and thor
oughly done at leisure that must be relied
on when the storm comes. We trust that
the work already done will prove to be of
this kind, but We must point out that so
long as the river beds are exposed to the
sitting action of mining debris we can
never be certain of the real relation between
the height of our levees and the possible
rise of the water, and that therefore it is
incumbent upon US to allow margin for
the risirg of the river bed, whether it is
absolutely necessary or not. Over precau-
ton never does any harm in cases of this
kind. 1t is from over-confidence that mis-
fortune nearly always arises.
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