The Alaska daily empire., 1922-01-10
SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA POWER
 SITES CAN BE DEVELOPED ON
 LOW COST SCALE, SAYS REPORT

lines. The first started in 1915 and consists of obtaining a "A hour per ! day record for period of years of ! the amount Of water flowing in lh , power streams. This informati)n IS essential to engineers charged with the responsibility of planning opera tions that will cost immense sums of money and many of them feel that at least five-year record should be available. Incidentally it may be stated that although the extremely heavy rainfall in this region may have it's unpleasant features 1T adds very materially to the value of the power sites through giving an enor- nous flow of water in streams drain ing a comparatively small area. With Southeastern Alaska having three times the rainfall of localities in Western Washington and Oregon a square mile of country here will sup ply three times as much water to a power stream as an equal area in the states mentioned
 Method of Procedure
 "The amount of water flow is ob- tained by establishing gazing stations n the power streams Water gages driven by 60-day clocks automatically record the rise and fall of the streams and these data used In con nections with actual measurements of ne flow made at various seasons sr:Np iptl1nC rncnrd af h., amount of water flowing in the stream.
 Twenty Of these gazing stations on IS many power streams are now maintained in Southeastern Alaska and the number is being increased yearly. Records covering six years are now available for number of power sites.
 ''The second line of investigative work consists of making surveys of the power sites to show how they can best be developed, what the work horse power available. It is neces- sary to determine the possibilities that exist for storing water for Win ter use when the normal stream flow is very low, the dimensions of the dam required to store this water, the elevation through which the water fllls from the dam to the< beach, the length and size of pipe line needed available sites for power houses, etc
 Water Storage important
 t@Tho noccibilitiac for u,nta, of is an important question The Al askan streams become very low dur Ing the months when the precipita ton is in the form of snow and in- dustrial plants could not operate to full capacity if they depended wholly therefore, to store the excess water in the streams during nine months of the year for use in the three winter months.
 "In the states conditions are the reverse of this. Excess winter water must be stored for the three summer months. Many operators in the states have no means of storing suf- ficient water and frequently have to ! close down their plants for a month | or more in summer Fortunately most of the Alaskan power sites have 1 high hanging lakes with steep walled narrow canyons at their out lets. These canyons make excellent dam sites and the lakes can be raised to high levels which gives ample water storage at relatively low costs These high lakes from which the water will be diverted are usually within one to two and a half miles of the beach and in many cases within three-quarters of mile, so that long expensive pipe lines are not required. Also the power plant and the industrial plant will usually occupy the same site which elimi mates the use of long transmission lines
 Description of Sites
 '"The survey of power sites wa. started in 1921 and 13 sites werf covered that year. It Is planned tt continue the work in 1922 and a.s' to explore the country for other val