The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-12-04
TO OPEN NEW LANDS.
TIE DRAINAGE OF MUSGROVE
CREEK WATER SHED.

Biandford's Report to the County
Commissioners Under Consideration
by the Drair age Committee of Coun-
Gil and the City Engineer
The drainage committee Of the city coun-
ell and tho special conference committee
appointed by the county commissioners are
now considering the proposition Of the
county commissioners to drain the water
shed of Musgrove creek by way Of the
Springfield and Ogeechee canals.
Capt. R. A. Blandford, chief engineer Of
the topical survey OF Chatham county, has
submitted special report TO the commits
sioners for use In this conference,
going fully into detail upon
the drainage of the Musgroye creek water
shed and the swamps and water courses in>
cluded init. The report, while very lengthy,
is very interesting, as it treats Of most i'm
portant subject
MUsGRoVE CREEK WATER SHED.
The water shed of Musgrove creek en-
braces an area Of l215 square miles, its eastern
| boundary being the summit of the ridge
upon which the city OF Savannah Is built
and which is the divide between it and
the water ter, shed Of Cuyler swamp;
to which this report applies lies south of the
Back-water dam and includes nine square
miles, or $3.50 acres. This is at present
almost entirely unbelievable, except for
rice, on account of its swampy condition,
and Is chiefly inhabited by alligators and
water moccasins. Only a few scattered
patches are under cultivation.
Capt. Blandford's report includes COM
plete map Of the Musgrove creek water
shed, showing the situation OF each of its
five principal swamps, Main swamp, Tel
fair swamp, South Fork swamp, Lamar
| swamp and Minis swamp, with their re-
spective areas, elevations and general oon-
| ditions.
THE SPRINGFIELD CANAL.
Springfield canal, or the present outlet of
Musgrove creek, is required to discharge
the waters flowing from this whole area.
| SO totally insufficient Is the drainage nt
present that 8, 100 acres Of this territory re-
main practically undrained. It is the pur-
pose OF the county commissioners to drain
this area for the double purpose of opening
1t 10 cultivation and of improving the sani-
tary condition Of both the city and county.
The waters falling upon the area having
no sufficient outlet stagnate in the numer-
| GUS ponds, swamps and wet flats In which
the area aboundS and become prolific breed
ers OF melarial germs. During the sums
mer, for the greater part of the time, the
winds blowing into the city pass directly
over these malarial swamps, bringing their
vapors into the city.
| EASY OF DRAINAGE.
In Capt. landlords opinion the whole of
this area is easily drained, and could be put
into cultivation provided an outlet of suffl-
cient capacity we're provided to carry off
the water, but to drain 1t before this outlet
| Is provided would result in flooding the
| ha Pan
every heavy rain.
Capt. Blandford divides the water shed
into five principal areas, drained by the five
| separate swamps as follows: Main swamp
| 545 acres; Telfair swamp, !, LAG acres; South
| Fork, 1,l76 acres; Lamar's swamp, 1851
acres; Minis swamp, TAO acres. The sur
veys show the elevation to be ample to admit
OF easy drainage with properly constructed
water ways. Telfair swamp has q fall OF
about Q feet to the mile. South Fork about
8 feet, Lamar's swamp about feet aud
| Minis swamp about feet. The natural
drain of all these swamps Is Musgrove
| creek, which has been converted into
| Springfield canal.
THE ONLY PRACTICABLE DRAINAGE
Capt. Blandford discusses at length the
immense amount Of rain falling upon this
area every year, giving figures aud statistics
| for twenty years back and demonstrates
outlet which will carry OFF the water salts
| factorily at any reasonable cost. He con-
| siders the only practicable way to drain the
| Musgrove creek water shed Is into the
Savannah river by the Springfield canal or
some other outlet.
The level of the natural surface of the
swamp OF Musgrove creek at the river, &C
ording to Capt. Blandford's report is
.25 feet above sea level or 3.52 feet
above mean low water in the river. The
surface Of the swamp at the Back-water
dam is feet above sea level, or 527 feet
above mean low water in the river. The
distance from the river to the dam is
about two miles.
THE PROPOSED SLOPE.
By giving the bottom of the outlet canal
the average slope of the swamp between
these points, about one foot in 5000 feet,
and beginning at the point of discharge at
the lowest level practicable, about one foot
above sea- level he thinks a canal
with bottom width of 30 feet and side slopes
IL fest horizontal to l foot vertical, care
fully constructed, will discharge the water
flowing from the water shed. He supports
this estimate by a table giving velocity of
flow In feet per second, and the volume of
discharge In cubic feet per second for differ
ent depths Of water for an earthen channel
and also for a channel lined with bricks OF
plank.
The influences OF the tides are also dis.
cussed at length. Owing to the flow of the
tides there will be only about four hours In
each day in which the water can pour out
OF the canal into the river, and on this ao-
count 1t will be necessary that the outlet
should be sufficiently large and tc
carry off the maximum flow
of water within that time,
Capt. Blaudford's estimate Is that the out
let should have a net area Of waterw way of
not less than 400 square feet
THE PLAN BEING CONSIDERED.
The plan suggested by Capt Blandford
and approved by the county commissioners
and now under consideration by the city
council to accomplish the desired end is to
turn the Springfield canal at its crossing, at
Gays lock, removing the trunk OF
the Ogeechee canal at its mouth
and making it in effect an
arm of the river then widen and deepen,
Springfield canal to accommodate the in
creased flow of water which would be
brought down by che drainage of the Mus
grove creek water shed above the Back
water dam.
| AN ADVANTAGE TO THE CENTRAL.
The discharging of the Springfield canal
into the Ogeechee canal would make a
good many changes In the territory ira
versed by the two canals in the neghbor-
hood of the city. From the lower end