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Division of Hydrography 



ANNUAL REPORT. 



Honolulu, Hawaii, January 26, 1916. 



Board of Commissioners of Agriculture and Forestry, 

 Honolulu, T. H. 



Gentlemen : — The following brief report of operations of the 

 Division of Hydrography during the calendar year 1915 is sub- 

 mitted : 



Scope of Work. The hydrometric work in Hawaii during 

 1915 has been done, as in the past, by the Territory of Hawaii, 

 represented by this division in cooperation with the Water Re- 

 sources Branch of the United States Geological Survey. The 

 technical personnel has been provided by the survey while the 

 greater part of the funds available for this work have been appro- 

 priated by the Territory. Attention is invited to the financial 

 statement. 



While the original plan of obtaining detailed reliable hydro- 

 metric data relative to all surface water sources in the Territory, 

 regardless of ownership, has been generally adhered to, there has 

 been a much larger portion of time and effort given to the in- 

 vestigation of waters owned by the Territory than in previous 

 years. 



This has been brought about, largely, by the fact that several 

 Territorial water licenses, under which private corporations pay 

 certain fixed annual rentals for the use of government waters, will 

 terminate in the near future. The value, and necessity, of accu- 

 rate information relative to the amounts of water supplied under 

 each license is recognized by both the water users and the Terri- 

 torial officials, and this division is making intensive investigations 

 of these sources of water in order that the necessary data may be 

 available at the proper time. 



The value of accurate data relative to the flow of privately 

 owned streams and ditches has also become more generally recog- 

 nized during the past year. Many private corporations have ex- 

 pressed a desire to utilize the services of the expert personnel of 

 this division and a willingness to pay all costs — including the 

 salaries of the experts — incident to intensive investigations of not 

 only their sources of supply, but also of their water distributing 

 systems. 



Attention has also been given to the collection of data which 

 may be of especial value to the city of Honolulu in connection 

 with its water supply. 



