Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1881-12-15

Der of small reservoirs on the Feather, Y ubs,
Bear and American rivers. whose collected
capacity l estimated at 700, 600 600 cubic
feet, making total of $500. 000, 600 cubic
feet of storage capacity of water. am per-
sonally familiar with all these reservoirs ex-
cept those belonging to the California Water
Company and Ell Dorado Company.
Q-When is the water drawn from these
reservoirs?
A.-The water from these reservoirs is gen.
erally drawn from thelmiddle of July on, for
the next four months, during the dry season.
Q.-What would be the volume of all their
waters at Sacramento?
Aft this water was drawn regularly for
a period of four months it would make flow
of 72O cubic feet per second, which in river
800 feet wide, with current of one and one
half feet per second, would increase its depth
90 of foot. / know from my own knowl-
edge of these reservoirs that the water is ex-
hausted from them during this period OF four
months, and it is generally quite regularly
drawn, The mines depend upon this supply
of storage water for the water which they use
from the middle of July generally until the
middle of November.
Q.-What effec. do these reservoirs have in
restraining floods here
A.-They have, I think, a perceptible eff
feet. AS an illustration / may say that the
an aggregate amount of water equal to the
discharge of the Yuba river at extreme flood
for "a hours 1t would require the Yuba
river to pour out its full food for "A hours to
fill these reservoirs, and / have never seen
that river remain at full food for "a hours.
1t has been very frequently proposed by En-
gineers to restrain floods by the erection of
reservoirs, and has been done in some cases
believe.
OFT has been stated that the water from
Sacramento city has been occasionally
pumped out. Are you familiar with other
cases where such is the case?
Al am. In the city of London the
whole drainage is pumped out. AL the low
lands in Holland are kept free of water by
being pumped out, as well as good many Of
the cities there.
Q-Do you know whether or not there has
been any filling in San Francisco and San
Pablo bays since 1S4S?
Al do know it.
Q.-What was the deepest watsr lin San
Pablo bay eff Point Penola, within ysur
knowledge?
Al have compared the two charts Of the
coast survey-one from the surveys made in
1856 and the other made last year. ! think,
and my knowledge of the filling in San Pablo
bay is derived almost entirely from a COM
parison of those two charts. That is the only
way to ascertain what the filing really is. l
have chart which was published by the
coast survey, and which states that the by
biography was done in 1856. The deepest
water shewn on this chart, off Point Penols,
is six and one.half fathoms, and a general
depth in the channel of about five fathoms in
the deepest Iart of the channel. These
soundings are based upon datum line of
mean low tide.
Q.-Is the depth of the ship channel in San
Pablo bay diminished
A.-From my examination of the two
charts, see that it is not, practically. l
would say that the channel has narrowed
some, but it has not diminished in depth,
practically.
Q-What proportion of the filings in San
Pablo BAY, in your Judgment, has come from
sediment brought down by the Sacramento
and San Josauin rivers, and what from other
sources?
Al should say that those rivers bring
down perhaps half the amount of the filling
which is now being deposited in San Pablo
bag. The other half comes from the small
streams that empty into San Pablo
bay. I have examined the creeks on
both sides of San Pablo bay, and it
is very easy to see from the character
San Pablo bay that these small streams
are contributing very largely to this filling
up. Petaluma creek, Napa creek and Sonoma
creek are the largest creeks on the north
shore, and there are number of small creeks
on the south.
O.-What part of this filling, in your judg-
ment, comes from mining debris or sediment?
Al should say roughly not more than
one-third of it, in my Judgment, comes from
that cause. There may be more but that
would be my estimate.
n IA L H., oAoI hat L.. 1s,N Shar
man Island have been injured by the Sacra-
mento river. Are you familiar with the
islands-such as Sherman, Randall and other
similar islands?
Al am familiar with some of these
islands. l examined Twitchell Island once
in professional way. I was consulted by
its owners as to whether it was worth while
TO continue their efforts at reclamation.
Q.-State whether those islands can be
protected by levees built from the material
found on the islands.
permanently. The reason why it is impossi.
bic to protect those lands from inundation by
levees constructed with the material taken
from the islands. is that this material is moth
ing but peat, or half-formed peat. When the
levees are freshly made they keep the water
out pretty well. After year or two the ma
terial begins to Iot, and it is subject to q half
dozen sorts Ct accidents. 1t is light, and
will float. l have often torn down pieces of
these levee5 and thrown them in the water to
see them float away. They will burn. They
also. when they get a little older, crack.
Large cracks are formed; and from the i'm
perfect soil on which they are placed, they
frequently sink down, making breaks. With
material like that it is impossible, in my
Judgment, to make permanent reclamation.
O.-Can those islands be protected by the
sandy material brought down the Sacra-
mento
A.-The sandy material brought down the
Sacramento river is infinitely better for MAX
ing levees than the peat. and, if they can be
reclaimed, the only way, in my judgment,
win be to construct levees of this sand Sand.
il properly treated, will make an excellent
levee.
O.-Suppose that Suisun bay were filed
nearly completely up, would that filling have
any injurious effect on the harbor Of San
Francisco?
An my judgment it would not. Suisun
bay is at such distance from the bar at the
Golden Gate, that if Suisun bay was en-.
tirely filled. it would have very slight, if
indeed any, effect upon the bar.
Q.-Are you familiar with the general
characteristics of the river Pc?
Al am familiar with the Po I have
read great many works in regard to it. The
Pc is a river whose general characteristics re.
semble the Sacramento river, with the ex-
ception that the Pc discharges directly into
the sea. Both rivers have o large amount
of lowland towards their mouths, and
the resemblance between the two is very
greet. Most extensive measures have been
taken to reclaim and protect the land on the
lower portion of the Pc. and with very con-
siderable success. The Pc brings down a
much larger amount of sediment than the
Sacramento does. The sediment chiefly
comes from the Alpine rivers. 1t has resulted
in building at the mouth of the river at a
very rapid rate. In discussing or studying
the characteristics OF the Sacramento, the Pc
is very interesting example of what we can
do here, and expect to do here, because the
land in the valley of the Pc is very fertile
and densely populated.
OFT hes been stated that Sacramento has
been injured by sipage water. State what
has been the result of that.
what they call sipage, or what has been
termed sipsge, is nothing but water which
comes from the back or high lands, together
with the water used for irrigation, coming
from their water works. have looked into
this question of sipage professionally several
times, and once or twice quite carefully. I
have found in every case where have made
a careful examination that the water was
making always into the river instead of from
the river. l remember on the Ohio river
where made an examination. The people