Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-10-16
ARID LANDS.
A Resume of Engineering Work Done
During the Present Season.
rs. T, Bulletin October 18th


rs. f. Bulletin, October 18th.
To carry out the work of examining The
arid lands of the West, and surveying the
watersheds adjacent, the country has been
divided into two sections. That portion of
the country between the Mississippi river
and the Rocky Mountains is known as the
Grand Eastern Division. The work in this
division is under the supervision of e. S.
Nettleton OF Colorado. The section west
of the Rocky Mountains is called the West
ern Grand Division, and the work in this
division is supervised by Chief Engineer
w. II. Hall, who has an Office in the Flood
building, where large corps of assistants
are employed in summarizing field reports.
Eacn grand division is divided into five
subdivisions, an assistant having charge of
each. The immediate supervision of mat
ters relating to geological survey work is
under the direction of Professor ]. w.
Powell. The chief executive officer of the
Irrigation Branch of the Geological Survey
is Captain G. E. Dutton.
SURVEYING PARTIES IN CALIFORNIA.
In this State three parties have been il
the field during the past season, and large
amount of preliminary work has been &C.
complished. The work of the irrigation
branch this year must necessarily be of a
general nature. The appropriation is not
very large, considering the extent of the
country to be examined, and was appor-
toned out among the various sections
The party engaged in surveying Clear
lake, in this State, under the direction of
G. r. lockwood, has completed its work,
and the members of the party are now en-
gagged in making a final report. There has
been some apprehension on the part of
people living in the vicinity of the lake
that the raising of the lake level, caused by
the damming of the outlet, might result
seriously to adjacent lands. Mr. Hall is
positive that the present level of the lake
will not be interfered with.
Another party under the charge of VIM.
q. Fitzhugh is now in the northern portion
of the State. The work of this party is of
preliminary nature; it will examine
reservoir sites and open the way for larger
parties next year. Mr.. Fitzhugh has been
at work in Modoc, Shasta and Siskiyou
counties, and is now moving south through
the eastern slope of the Coast Range.
RESERVOIRS IN THE SIERRA.
Luther Wagner, at the head of another
party, has been engaged for several months
in examining the drainage basins of the
Stanislaus, Tuolumne and MERGED rivers.
About sixty reservoir sites have been To-
Gated and surveys made of about dozen.
Some of those surveyed are of immense
SIZE and, by the construction of dams, will
form lakes three or four miles in length
and averaging mile in width, with depth
of fifty or sixty feet. Little Yosemite val
ley has been surveyed, and should a reser-
yolr be made there, it will afford a supply
of water by which some of the Yosemite
falls can be replenished during the dry sea-
son.
The formation of the country embraced
10 the watersheds of the Tuolumne and
Stanislaus rivers is not favorable to the
formation of large artificial lakes. MERGED
| river offers better possibilities, but the
| rivers in the northern portion of the State
offer better opportunities for reservoirs.
Mr. Wagner has just returned to COM
mence the preparation of his report, but
the surveying party will remain in the field
| two weeks longer, under the leadership of
Assistant H. s. Davidson.
w. T. Trowbridge, with detachment, is
engaged in gauging streams and making
photographic examination of the country
| on the east side of the San Joaquin valley.