Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1884-02-26
CONCLUSION OF TaB RIVER IMPROVE
MERIT CONSIDERATION.

Reeuming consideration of river i'm.
provement methods, treated yesterday,
before reaching the conclusion of the arti-
Gle under review it win be well to recspit-
ulate briefly the points made by Mr.. Tay.
Tor in his essay upon the Mississippi.
These are, that river improvement is best
accomplished by pursuing the direction of
the natural forces Of the river. The tend.
ency of river in state of nature, is to
scour out and deepen its channel and up
build its banks. This disposition is re-
tarded or defeated more by crevasses and
unnatural emissions than by overflow.
All such unnatural outlets, therefore,
should be closed, and the banks of rivers
that are unchanged with sediment
and liable to overflow must be re-
inforced By levees. As levees are main.
tanned, and the river confined to its nat
ural channel, the tendency to either ex.
cessive high or exceeding low water is di-
minished. For it enables the river to ex.
pend its energy upon channel-scouring
and bank building Whatever the sharp
emission in the banks, by just that much
is the energy-by which is meant volume
and velocity, the latter being natural in
creasing sequence to the former - de-
creased. 1t follows that the true treat
ment of stream is to aid it to do its
work, prohibit the taking out of its wa
tiers, submit to overflow rather than Gre
vase, reinforce the banks by levees, and
stimulate the securing capacity.
Instances illustrative and demonstrative
of these tTuisms were yesterday cited.
Others Will be given herein. A stream
loaded with sediment to its full capacity is
very sensitive to change. The particles
swim by means of their friction. Two
that eau barely swim separately, sink
when in contact, for the aggregate fric.
tional surface is reduced. AS they sink
they carry myriads of other particles with
them. So the least halt, as Mr.. Taylor
puts it, in the great procession of parti-
Giles precipitates part of its constituent
membership to the bottom" LIST us sup
pose, then q canal taken out of the river
opposite to Sacramento, for instance, to
carry given quantity of water at an or.
binary stage. Whatever the diversion thus
accomplished, there will be proportionate
arrest of the "great procession in the
main chsnnel, since that part OF the vol
ume can not be taken out without diminu.
ton of the volume, and it follows that
there viii be a proportional increase of
deposition. But If we close the outlet the
original energy is restored and the proof
made clear that the opening was antago.
nistic to the integrity Of the river. There
fore, as every diversion creates obstruction,
each deposited obstrur ton adds to the
mass and the difficulty Of the river in re-
sisting it, and consequently the obstruc.
ton, being Affirmative, must continue to
increase, and the energy of the river con.
tirue to decrease, until the barrier becomes
SO great as to force the water into q mar.
rover channel and give it spasmodic en-
ergy, hut no permanent renewed vigor.
To keep river within its channel is,
therefore, the first great work, and all at
tempts TO lessen it, power to seek its final
discharge into the ocean, are unnatural,
destructive to the river and menacing to
the adjacent lands AT Cairo. as our es.
sayist illustrates, the rivers aim is to find
rest in the gulf, but if it overfows before it
reaches the delta, il finds earlier rest, and
It's buried channel no longer comrels it to
seek its level in one direction only.
These truisms we submit to the gentle
men along the Sacramento who propose to
secure temporary safety to river lands on
one side by maintaining unnatural and
debiiisative breaks on the banks
on the opposite side, and who dwell so
complscently upon TIE flooding of the