The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1892-07-08

bis reply was prompt. 81 say, as I
always have, build up your levees. IN
til there is uniform, systematized treat
ment Of the river by the Government it
is all you can do" This capable and ex-
perienced engineer then went on to en-
phasize his advice by saying that to
thicken the levee from r to Y street to a
top width of sixty feet viii greatly re-
strain sipage, now SO annoying and even
dangerous, and that it will at the same
time give the city valuable river frontage
for shipping of which she now has so
little Independently.
1t was also added that, in the opinion of
the engineer, it would be impracticable
for Sacramento to attempt to maintain
waste or relief way on the west side.
Even if the land could be secured it could
not be kept out Of reclamation district
long; that it would at best be doubtful
relief way that this city could construct
Regarding the late high water here, Mr..
Grunsky said that there was to him no
novelty in it; he had in his report to the
Legislature with his commission col
leagues pointed out that it would come.
All it means is that when the basins
above the city fill, the waters here will
be greater in volume than they appar-
emily are on the upper reaches, but not
really SO, the fact being that the carrying
capacity Of the stream at Sacramento is
greatly less than some miles up stream.
Hence, a part of the volume Of water
early in the season ran into and filled the
basins north Of the city, and when they
were full and the late light freshet came,
the river at Sacramento being well leveed
up was choked or gorged by its waters
that could not pass through, and this
though the water was low on the upper
reaches above the basins that had been
filled.
Mr.. Grunsky with emphasis said that
it was greatly to be regretted that the con-
ditions are those of sections leyeeing
against sections; but until the Govern
ment takes hold of the stream to treat ii
that will be the rule. and under it Sacra-
mento must build her levees higher,
broader and better. Concerning the
sinking of part Of the recent riprapping,
Mr.. Grunsky said that it was due to a
well known fact that the river scours out
holes to great depths here and there, and
is liable to do so beneath any riprapping
where the current impinges upon the
! bank. 1t does not indicate, he added,
that the stones were ill-placed, or that
they were not placed from the bottom
up. The engineer was earnest and urgent
in his view that Sacramentos duty is to
raise and broaden her leyees now, and
! by so doing she will have not only APP
parent visible but actual safety. The
better the levees are built and hold on
both sides, the better for the river, in his
opinion, as the clearance of the stream
will be the more stimulated.
These expressions by so competent an
authority, one careful in his utterances,
and who has surveyed and cross-sec-
toned every foot of the river for hun
dred miles or more, ought to have weighty
| Importance with the Trustees and settle
| the question about the benefits of the
talked-of waterway. That relief must
and will come in time, but it is not q
question of the present, nor will it be
worth considering until the Government
treats the river to improve its naviga-
bility, and until there is possibility
under law, of uniform common reclama-
ton along the river. 1t is to be hoped
| therefore, that the Trustees will not
longer delay but at once appoint the ex.
aiming engineers and proceed to cast
about while they are at work to hit upon
proper ways and means to accomplish
the end desired, which is that wished fol
by nine out of every ten of the people O
the city.