Tl)e Patare Water ^appl\^ of tl)e 

 Adirondacl^ ^oantain F\egion 



And its Relation to Enlarged Canals in tbe 3tatc of New ^orJ^i. 



By GEORGE \V. RAFTER, Consulting Engineer. 



THE Adirondack Alountaiii region, extending o\'er an area greater than the 

 State of Massachusetts, comprises within its limits high mountains, manv 

 hikes, dense forests, deep valleys, and is, altogether, a region of exceeding 

 interest from whatever point viewed. It is proposed in the present ]3apcr to 

 pirticularly indicate some of its more interesting features, as well as to show what 

 may be expected of the region in the future, when enlarged canals of some sort 

 become a fixed fact. 



In a paper on The Relation of Rainfall to the Run-off of Streams, the jjresent 

 w riter has shown that a dense forest covering of pine, spruce, hemlock and balsam 

 will increase the water yield over what it A\-ould if the area were deforested, any- 

 where from 4 to 6 inches in de[:)th. This means that tlie run-off of streams whose 

 catchments are covered with such forests will be from 4 to 6 inches greater over the 

 entire drainage area than it would be if the same area were deforested. 



The gradually accumulating prcjof of this proposition is found in the writer's 

 various papers and reports,'"' and is based upon extensive gagings of the New York 

 streams tUiring the last ten years. Rather singularly, aside from gagings made b_\' 



'■'■'riiL' following papers and reports are cited : 



(1) Three Rcporls on (Jenesee River Storage Surveys. .\])pen(lices i.i Ann. Repts. of State Engr. 

 and Sur., for 1S93, 1894 and i8g6. 



(2) Two Iveports on Upjier Hudson Storage Surveys, .\ppendiees to .\nn. Kepts. of Slate Engr. 

 and Sur. for 1S95 and l.Sq6. 



(3) Water ."-upply of the Western Division of the Erie Canal. ,Vnn. Rcpt. of the State Engr. and 

 .Sur. for iSgd. 



<4) The Economics of the Ilttdson River. Lecture before the engineering classes of Rensselaer 

 Polytechnic Institute, Eel). 24, 1807. 



(5) Paper on Stream Elow in Relation to Forests. Proc. .Vni. Forestry .'Vssn., \'ol. .\ II (1807). 

 Also, reprint in .-Vnn. Rept. of risheries, (iame and Eorest t'onimission (1S9O). published in iSgS. 

 Iveprinl. 189*^. 



461 



