The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1912-03-22
a.B AllE
Water Resources Are Treated
on in IA New Federal
Pubiication.

NEASSI4AHNNN4 N{4Nf 4AAs4As, 49, > Nv NAgVrl
Logical Survey has recently issued q
valuable publication concerning the
surface water resources Of the north
western portion Of the United States,
the greater part Of which is occupied
by the basin Of Columbia river. This.
river has drainage area Of 10000
sqnare miles, Its source is in BritishI
Columbia and Its basin occupies enor-
nous areas nthat Province and IN
Montana, wyoming. Idaho, Washing
ton, oregon; and Nevada. The region
is one Of great interest and value.
Few river basins III the country are
SO diverse. 1t contains some Of the
highest peaks IN America and some
Of the most fertile valleys in the.
world. Some idea Of the resources
Of the basin may bes had from the
statement that the nayigable waters
Of the Columbia and It's tributaries
aggregate length OF 2,1S6 miles.
within the area drained are the lars-
est forests On the world. The eli
mate exhibits all the variations from
the rigor Of the northern latitude to.
the mildness Of western Oregon and
washington. Agriculturally the area
ranges from the extremely arid re-
gion, where irrigation is essential,
through the semiarid country, where
dry farming and irrigation are prac-
tised side by side, to the humid
county, which, strictly speaking, is
arid during the summer. The values
OF the irrigated agricultural land
range from about $50 an acre for the
poorest to $4,000 an acre for the In
tensively cultivated orchards. Within
the Columbia river drainage basin are
at least. one-third of the available
water powers in the United States,
but development Of this resource has
scarcely begun.
The study Of the water resources
Of this great region as carried on by
the United States Geological Survey
becomes therefore a matter of i'm
portance and interest. Water+supply
Paper 272, Or the Survey which has
Just been issued, contains large
amount of useful data resulting from
the Investigation Of the streams of
this area, including the records of
flow OF the numerous large tributaries
as well as the main rivers. Among
these tributaries are Clark Fork.
which occupies large areas in Idaho,
Montana, and British Columbia, and
Snake river, which has its origin in
the Yellowstone Park region OF
Wyoming, traverses the southern por-
ton OF Idaho, and on its way drains
large areas I'M Nevada. For part
of its course the Snake forms the
boundary between long distances In
the state of Oregon before 1t finally
joins the parent stream. In addition
to stream-fow data concerning the
Columbia, the report contains infor-
nation concerning the water re-
sources of the coastal streams, such
as the Rogue, UmpQns, ""d Sfletz, To-
Gated in Oregon, and the Cedar, Ska
git, and Cascade, which drain into
Puget Sound. The stream-Aow OBJ
seryations presented in this report
consist Of records obtained at 207
stations. About one-half of the ex-
pense of the work is borne by the
states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho,
and Montana, which, under the au-
thority Of laws enacted by the several
Legislatures, cooperate with the Uni
ted States Geological Survey in
carrying on the work.
A copy of Water Supply Paper 272
may be had free on application to the
Director of the United States Geo
logical sufe@N Washington. D. c.