8 CONNECTICUT GEOL. AND NAT. HIST. SURVEY [Bull. 



tends to exhaustion, and the diminished supply must mean in the 

 near future a considerable increase in the cost. It is evident, 

 then, that in the near future our manufacturing industries must 

 depend more largely than in the past upon some cheaper form 

 of power than that which is afforded by the combustion of coal. 



It is believed, also, that irrigation is destined to play a large 

 part in the future development of the agriculture of Connecticut. 

 There is, of course, no such necessity for irrigation in Connecticut 

 as exists in the arid region of the country. The average rainfall 

 for Connecticut is sufficient for agricultural use ; but our rainfall 

 is more or less irregular, and our fanners often suffer heavy losses 

 from occasional long periods of drouth. It is practicable, by 

 means of irrigation, not only to carry on agriculture in localities 

 where the rainfall is always insufficient, but to avoid the heavy 

 losses to agriculture from occasional periods of drouth in districts 

 ordinarily well watered. 



In view of the growing demands upon our water supply, it 

 is evidently fitting that there should be a thorough study of our 

 water resources. The streams should be gaged, that we may 

 know their rates of flow in different seasons of the year and their 

 fluctuation in different years. The gaging of the streams must, 

 therefore, be carried on not for one year but for a term of several 

 years, in order that the necessary data may be obtained. Profiles 

 of the streams should be constructed so as to indicate suitable 

 sites for storage reservoirs and for the development of water 

 power. 



The underground waters of the state should also be studied. 

 Already our population is coming to rely largely upon deep wells 

 for manufacturing and other purposes. The geological structure 

 of Connecticut is not such as to make it possible to say with 

 approximate certainty, as can be done in some parts of the 

 country, at what depth an abundant supply of water can be en- 

 countered. But it is believed that a careful study of wells and 

 springs throughout the state will render it possible to map the 

 distribution of ground water in such a way that the search for 

 an underground supply of water will not be so completely a 

 lottery as it is at present. 



In view of these considerations, it was determined by the 

 Commissioners to apply $2,000 of our appropriation to coopera- 

 tive work with the United States Geological Survey on the water 

 resources of the state. The following contract was accordingly 

 signed by the Director of the United States Geological Survey 

 and the Superintendent of the State Geological and Natural 

 History Survey of Connecticut. 



"This agreement, made and entered upon this 31st day of 

 May, 191 1, by and between George Otis Smith, Director, for 



