Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1885-10-06
PLEASANT PROPOSITION.

The editor of the CoIusa San saws that
he has been close observer of the habit
of the Sacramento river for thirty years,
and has noted every step of the march of
hydraulic slickens in its movement of con-
guest of the rivers. A few years ago there
was not gravel stone to be found in any
river within fifteen miles of Marysville;
now the gravel comes down the Feather
almost to the Sacramento, and coarse sand
quite to it. Up the American there are
gravel beds within ten miles of Sacramento.
The farmers cannot keep up the levees
ION the Sacramento below the Feather).
and the waters pour over the banks, thus
rendering the river less and less able to
carry its floods and scour out It's channel.
He adds, that had it not been for slickens
every acre of swamp land could have been
reclaimed by this time. Above the Feather
the Sacramento is deeper than in 1S49,
and the maintenance of the levees enables
the river to keep up the securing process.
According to his view there is no hope for
the river below the mouth of the Feather.
Shall navigation be abandoned ?" he asks.
He answers No" But here is his rem
edy, which is certainly pleasant for Sacra-
mento. He would have channel cut
from the sharpest point of Gray's bend,
above the Feather, to the head of Cache
slough, which debouches into the river
close TO Rio Vista, and near the mouth of
the Sacramento. As for the Feather, he
would have that stream keep the old chan
mel OF the Sacramento, or else turn it
westward into the basin above the Ameri
can, where it could deposit its slickens and
fill up that section The American he
would have turned into the same basin:
Ne would run the new channel of the Sac
ramento on the west side of the Yolo basin
throwing most of the earth to the east so as to
cut on IN food times the muddy waters of the
ifeather and the American. In these DAYS of
steam dredgeS the cutting of such channel
would not be the big job ii would have been
few years ago.
The effect would be to leave Sacramento
out III the cold, so far as situation on
navigable stream is concerned, but that
he does not consider worthy Of much at
tention, as he holds ii must happen some
time, and soon, and so he believes in say
ing what can be saved now. This is all very
startling on paper. But in practice it would
be absurd. The Government will scarcely
undertake any such scheme, because to re-
claim the river N It's present channel from
the threat to it is an easier task, and In the
direction of seconding the effort of nature.
The Sacramento occupies the right drain
age route now, and it cannot be changed so
readily as the editor of the SIN would
have us believe. Moreover, the discharge
of the Feather as suggested would leave
the Government with Just as big sob y
on hand as il now has. As for the Amer
lean, we imagine that II win be stronger
arm than that OF any Government that
can turn its waters into the basin north OF
1t and retain its mud there. To guard
against the food waters Of Putah and
Cache creeks that pour down into the val
ley basin, he admits will be difficult en-
gineering feat, but he thinks it may be ac-
co:nplished by dams and restraining gates
on the upper reaches OF those streams to
regulate the flood discharge. His plan he