10 



The excess amount of rainfall comes at a time when the least amount 

 of water is being used by the citizens of Fall River. The following 

 table gives the monthly and average daily consumption, as indicated 

 by the gauges at the water works, for the year 1901. The increase in 

 the summer consumption is at times nearly 50 per cent. This and 

 other causes, such as increased evaporation, makes a loss in the water 

 stored in the pond during the warm months. 



CONSUMPTION FOR 1901. 



If a dam could be constructed at the "Narrows" which would hold 

 all the excess of water that would accumulate in the winter months, 

 the regulation of the run-off by the forest cover w 7 ould not hold such 

 an important place in this report. But because of riparian rights held 

 by the Reservoir Company, which controls the water power for the 

 mills on the Quequechan River, the city is obliged to let the water 

 flow freely from North Pond into South Pond until the level of the 

 former is 40 inches below full pond, after which they can shut the 

 flowage down to 5,000,000 gallons a day. In other words, it is im- 

 possible for the city to lay up a store of water in North Pond against 

 the time of need; they can only husband it when the time of need 

 arrives. The rainfall must be stored in the earth, and to bring this 

 about, the watershed of the pond must have a forest cover. 



