The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-05-14
THE INNING DErRITUs PROBLEM
The fia, TO Author,s- Hydraulic Minine n
California Under Nntlonnl = mrerylsion.

cpNfornfn tnurr NATIONAL SurcrNiNtous
WASHINGTON. May 12-The President has APP
pointed during the rast week the members OF
the Board provided for in tho act passed by
the last Congress to create tho California
Debris Commiss on and to regulate hydraulic
mining in that State.
The question involved in this legislation has
occupied the attention Of Congress for several
years. In tho process Of hydraulic mining. as
tho bill described it. "a bank OF gold bearing
enrth and rock Is excavatca Ivy a Jet OF water
discharged through the convcrGinE nozzle OF
a pipe under great pressure. whereby tho earth
and debris are carried by means OF water
through fumes or otherwise. and discharged
on lower lcvcls into the natural streams and
water courses below" It is. OF course. evident
that this washing nway OF the gold-hear.ng
gravel banks and the deposit OF material else
where may be hurtful to river navigation:
and. in fact. II was discovered that apnroprin-
ti,ns had been made In River and llarhor bills
for removing distractions thus created. Nat
uraily an cutlery WIS raise | against compel
ling the Treasury to repair the damage caus"i
by privat" mining operations. On tne other
hand. IT was considered desirable not 10 in,e"-
feru with II valuable industry. rtovi,ini 1t
could le conducted in II proper way: and nc
cordingly this Commission has bopn created.
Tho region in question is that Of tho Sacra.
mcnto and san Joaquin rivers. The inrmrr is
Califnrnia's chief waterway. and needs to lie
cared for all the moro ms 1t is liable to danger
Gus ovs-ilows. The San joaquin flowing
nortliward, as tho Sacramento flows south
ward. uetwecn tho same mountain ranges.
unites with the latter noir STOCKTON. and
the streams thus combined proceed to tic.'
outlet on the Pacific coast. 1t will DO iemcEl.
hcred that ~ lew yenrs aga. Whilo Congress
was In SESSION. Il Croit | rcak W ~ threatened
In tho bank Of III, sacramento. n new bar be.
ing formed. and that Gov. Waterman sent an
urgent despatch Tor the application ~ funds
available To- prevent til" river from leaving it's
proper channel. There was. at that time. y
very large sum uneNfandcd for improving thu
Sacramento. and tho Feather. one Of its tribu-
taries. 1t had remained unused. however. Tor
many years. for tho reason that the employ
ment proposed for it was that OF dredging tho
Sacramento. and also erecting barriers upon
tho Yuba. American. and Bear rivers. tributn-
ries Of the Sac ram cnto and the Feather. to hold
nck Tie flow OF dotriius caused by hydraulic
mining. Secretary Lincoln had declined TO
use nublic funds for impounding the ietritus.
especially rs California had been prevented
from using money from the State Treasury for
n similar purpose. under II decision rendered
by the supreme Court OF the State. This do
cislon was that the Legislature has no power
10 lWpOSe tIASS tIe ucNtlt VI lnulNiu uuib
connected with n private enterprise"
These !ncts will give q general idea Of the
Importance Of the subject under consi1era-
tion. 1t involves the vallov system OF Culifor-
mia between its two great mountain chains
the Sierra Nevada and tho Coast iiang". 1t
way in it's lower and commercially most I'M;
Iortunt portion. and moreovert the agricultural
lands which arc in Iureh 10y overl"ws. Never
thrless. as has lteen seen, California consi!-
erol the prosecution OF hydraulic n: lining i'm
por;ant enough for her to IN AXE an ate IN ut 10
restore and regulate 1t units the coats inter-
ferr,l. 4 possible compromise wa suggested
when the plan was brought forward Of con-
s strusiins and NJ s stHirrst the mn Mining t"tips i"r and
mining ,corrorntions for whose benefit they
were to he constructed.
In 1Sss Congress- passed an act to "iinvesti-
gate the mining Debris In california" and 4
that recommended the construction Of certain
restrictive works. In the snring ~ 1857. in
". ii. il. Bcnyuurd furnished estimates OF til.
cost OF such restrictive works, lie proposed
Tor Yam Giesen Dam. ~ voc: for the dam ut
De Guerrp Point. SI5O. OUO. and for restrictive
works below the latter. 100000. He added
these comments:
Tue roarl o; Engineer on,cers appointed to consider
MIA, reported the rxitttnes OF vas. deposlts OF material
,,r. nydrau u IN, mt yInns rs e.. ana in q, tie plain he below the
successive iood. and Will eventually mud lodSment IN
jury ni navigation.
est points IN Tue saaon' Of the Hapa and rear liver,
ana sns a ~, The h., m %E..,i' TX {" "us .1s rI ra,nS n", % r.. ,a UnI' On
was considered mn. these points ., long as hydraulic
ieature. Tor The lmp"uni.ns wor,s in tmo interests Of
nny,sat'on than rou'i be i",nd at other point. above;
debris where now situated would require work. IN
every ravime. creek an canon Throughout the entire
ann !,s,"; ,i .",e WI, IN the N. 'n nrasIu; ct m" !" = ga t',,mn and not no ~, in
drauI,c mlilms, the above estimates were presented.
Still the object OF Congress- was not simply to
improve the navigation OF the river. but 10 find
our also whether hydraulic mining could not
be revived. under its authorization. in. such a
. WAY al IT, tts s shr.k "f Ey ito 'h mjn nTi.f wh, seau n.d
PASSED. with some notifications. few months
ago was introduced. section , OF that bill de-
scrlbed it's purposes ms, being. first. to con-
struct restraining and imnoundins dams. set
calculated to protect the naviGable water
ways and channels Of the Hacram"ntoa and san
mrmt Of and damage from d6bris resulting
from mining operations, natural erosion. or
other causes. and permanently TO improve tho
same, second. to permit IN behalf OF tho
tarie; OF, said rivers, In the bill as intro
select storage sites for n" detritus on the
rivers and In the plains; slouEhs. tnl: and
AMI nwHn ",h ,sra wa ar!'tef for " WhIs1 G "rnronfia ahms
any mips worked by til. hydraulic process. OF
dams, thus TO be constructed, was to pay
monthly n sum equal to u certain percentage
on tho gross value OF tho gold extracted hy 1t
for the previous month. It also provided for
beginning certain da,ns al rlnces specified.
IN the passage OF the dill through Congress
1t received various notifications. and the do;
into. The main thing to note is that Congress
has formally decided to authorize and regulate
constructing ,lanis. basins. and relief canals
such as will. be necessary, for protecting the
navigation OF California's chief rivers and the
crops In tho agricultural districts. The OH
jrction raised by Secretary Lincoln. and found
also in TIL" opinion OF the supreme Court. that
q private enterprise. has a certain force: but
Congress has acted on the theory that. as 1t
has jurisdiction over navisnblo streams. 1t