WEATHER BUREAU. 57 



INSPECTION OF RIVER STATIONS. 



Owin|r to the unprecedented demand for engineers, it has not been 

 possible to obtain from the outside persons having the necessary skill 

 and experience to correct irregularities which invariably creep into 

 the work of river-gaging stations unless the work is frequently 

 inspected. 



xVs a temporary expedient an employee of the Washington office was 

 detailed for a part of his time to field work in connection with the 

 installation and upkeep of river gages. It was not possible in this 

 way, however, to care for more than the most pressing cases. A re- 

 turn to the prewar basis of having persons of engineering ability 

 available at central points for service in keeping the system of river- 

 gaging stations up to standard is urgently needed. 



CHANGES IN DISTRICT CENTERS. 



No new river districts were organized during the year, but the 

 charge of the Kansas River was transferred from Kansas City, Mo., 

 to Topeka, Kans., largely for administrative reasons. 



SNOW SURVEYS IN HIGH ALTITUDES. 



The activities of the Bureau in determining the depth and density 

 of the snow cover of high altitudes in certain drainage basins of the 

 West were naturally restricted to the most urgent and promising cases. 

 These were the White Mountain region of Arizona draining into the 

 Roosevelt Reservoir and on the headwaters of the Walker River of 

 Nevada. 



FORMULA FOR FLOOD FORECASTING. 



Studies leading to the formulation of rules for forecasting floods 

 almost wholly from the physical data of rainfall have been completed 

 during the year for the Asheville (N. C.) district. 



COOPERATION. 



Progress was made on the following-named specific projects during 

 the year: 



1. The collection of rainfall measurements in the mountains of Los 

 Angeles and San Bernardino Counties, Calif., in cooperation with the 

 local county officials. 



2. The Wagon Wheel Gap Experiment Station in cooperation with 

 the Forest Service of the department. This important project has 

 now run for eight years, and a mass of unique data has been collected 

 to establish, if possible, hitherto unknown facts concerning the rela- 

 tions between weather conditions and stream discharge on forested 

 watersheds. The experiment has reached its second stage, in which 

 one of the two watersheds will be denuded of its forest and observa- 

 tions continued for a further period of years under the changed con- 

 ditions. A detailed study of the data for the first stage of the experi- 

 ment is far advanced, and the future observations are looked forward 

 to with great interest. 



151352°— 20— 5 



