iNotes on Discharge of the Kansas River at 

 Lawrence, Ks.. Since 18(S1. 



BY E. C. MURFHV. 



In 1880 Mr. J. D. Bowersock put in a gauge on the Kansas river 

 at Lawrence for the purpose of comparing the height of the water 

 on his w^eir, — or dam as it is called — at different dates. He has 

 read the gauge dail}' since Feb. 1881. and when the water was rising 

 or falling rapidly, two or more times a day, up to Aug. 1895, re- 

 cording the reading only when there was a material change in them. 

 He has prepared for the V. S. Geological Siirve}' from his record, 

 a table giving the mean weekly gauge reading or height of water on 

 his dam during this period. 



In Aug. '95, tliis place was cliost'U as one of the government 

 river gauging stations, and the writer given charge of it. Through 

 the kindness of Prof. F. H. Newell of the U. S. Geological Survey 

 who has charge of all the river gauging stations in the United States, 

 I have permission to use for this paper Mr. Bowersock's data and 

 the discharge measurements made by the writer. 



The gauge used by Mr. Bowersock was a vertical board graduated 

 to feet and inches fastened on the east end of the south pier of the 

 carriage bridge, with its zero on a level with a large stone in the 

 crest of the dam. The gauge used at present is a vertical board 

 graduated to feet and tenths, fastened to the old one with their 

 zeros coinciding. 



The crest of the dam is 595 feet long and is not quite horizontal, 

 the south end being 4 to 5 tenths of a foot higher than the north 

 end. When the gauge reads zero the water is on a level with the 

 crest of dam near its center. 



The flume is on the south side of the river with its gates a few 

 feet west of crest of dam. It is 60 feet wide and has a maximum 

 depth of 7 feet when the gauge reads zero. 



The discharge measurements — except Nos. 9 and 10, were made 

 from the west or up stream side of the bridge about 65 feet west of 

 crest of dam. The channel has a maximum width at this place of 

 690 feet broken bv four piers. Fig. 2 shows a plan of the dam. 

 bridge and flume: and Fig. i. the section where the discharge 

 measurements were made. 



(lG:i) KAX. iNiv. i^r.MJ.. VOL. IV, .no. :>. .iamakv. Je'JU. 



