Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-08-30
THE IMPORTANT QUESTION OF DRAIN.
AGE.

The City Trustees, the County Su-
pervisors and several citizens living south
of the city and upon bottom lands, on
Wednesday took a trip over the line of
the sc-called drainage canal-a drain that
does not drain the city. The result of the
examination appears to have been the
erection of generally accepted opinion
that the canal should be widened and
deepened and dredged out to tide-water at
Snodgrass slough =; that the cost will ex-
coed $4,000, by how much no one seemed
to have any clear idea. The only member
of the party entertaining practical views
as to the cost of drainage, roughly esti
mated that he could build dredger
for 81 900 and do the work with it in two
years time.
The bottom-land residents appeared to
think that the city ought to repair and
dredge out the canal, and while they ex-
pressed their willingness to bear a fair
share of the cost the idea was kept to the
front by some of them, that in justice they
should not be called upon to pay anything
towards repairing the canal.
Now in these statements, there are sew
eral distinct subjects, every one of them
embodying present or prospective PROPOSE
tions of vital Importance to the people of
fhsc off or thn Loot
first The bottom lands must have drain
age. With levees intact, the catchment
area of the district is sufficient to flood
half the superficial area of the district by
the rainfall and indrain from high lands
every winter, if no water came from the
city. Of course the canal overflow is
damaging to lowlands, and the people of this
city regret it, but are not wholly to blame
for it. The lowland- owners, therefore,
must keep open a drain to the lowest
point, which is the mean low tide mark at
the upper end of Snodgrass slough. Or,
they must do as do the island men, pump
out the drainage. 1t follows then, that
the bottom land people are deeply and in
separately interested in the drainage canal,
and in justice are bound to pay their pro-
portion of the cost of keeping it open, and
this we believe they will do, if the
matter is properly presented. But
it should not be lost sight of, if the county
is to aid in this work, that the assessed
valuations in the city pay half the taxes
or more from which such aid will be
drawn. So then, the city and the low
land interests are mutual, if the city needs
the canal at all, and the people of the low
lands ought TO favor system to enable
the city to abandon the canal, or at least
the greater part of it, for they will thus be
freed from the annoyance of OVERLOOKING
city drainage.
The proposition is made to deepen and
widen the canal. Widening it will give it
greater receptive power, and thus more
benefit landowners along its line than any
others. Deepening it, save in the section
but partly cut and near Snodgrass slough,
is of no value beyond making it reser-
voir, except to bring It's bottom to the
level of mean low tide, if at any point it
is filed above that line. When, therefore,
it is suggested that the city go to great ex-
pense to deepen it by dredging, it is an I'M
tenable proposition if the deepening is ex-
pected to give US any greater fall than
originally the canal had.
The thing essential to be known at the
outset is the natural fall OF. the land from
the mouth of the canal at Sixth and r
streets to Snodgrass slough a distance of
some eighteen miles. Is that fall sufficient
to give this city efficient drainage? Since
it is but very few feet, probably not more
than FIVE or six, less than half foot to
the mile, we answer our own question in
the negative.
But if the canal will benefit our drain
age system by being cleaned out and deep
ened and opened into Snodgrass slough
will il take two years to do it? Certainly
not. Dredgers can be secured from San
Francisco Bay that will do such work in
one-third that time, since there is no deep
cutting to be done. For we hold that so
far as the city's interest is concerned it
would be folly TO cut below the natural
line of fall, as reservoir capacity is not
what we want Save for the filling by
sludge and caving, the canal is already
cut down to the line needed to give great
est possible fall, for most part, and ex-
scepting the distance just north of Snod-
grass slough, which is practically I'M
opened
As a temporary relief the canal should