American Forest Congress 69 



In contrast with the Gila River and Queen Creek in 

 Arizona, is the discharge of Cedar Creek Washington, 

 for the year 1897. The point of measurement of this 

 stream is at CHfford's Bridge, in Section 19, Township 

 22 North, Range 7 East, Willamette Meridian. The 

 drainage area is estimated to be 143 square miles, and 

 it, therefore, is the same as the area of the basin of 

 Queen Creek. The basin of Cedar Creek lies on the 

 western slope of the Cascade Mountains. It is heavily 

 timbered and, in addition, the ground is covered with 

 a very heavy growth of ferns and moss. The precipi- 

 tation for the year 1897 was about 93 inches in the 

 lower portion of the basin, and is estimated to have 

 been as great as 150 inches on the mountain summits. 

 The rainfall of the Queen Creek basin is estimated to 

 be about 15 inches. The maximum flood discharge 

 in 1896 on Queen Creek was 9,000 cubic feet per 

 second, and the maximum flood discharge on Cedar 

 Creek in 1897 was 3,601 cubic feet per second. The 

 mean discharge for Queen Creek was 15 cubic feet 

 per second, and for Cedar Creek 1,089 cubic feet per 

 second. While Queen Creek is frequently dry, the 

 minimum discharge of Cedar Creek during the period 

 in question was never less than 27 per cent of the 

 mean for the year. These two streams represent 

 extreme types. The radical difiference in their char- 

 acter is believed to be largely due to the difference in 

 forest cover. The discharge of Cedar Creek for the 

 year 1897 is believed to be fairly representative. The 

 following table of discharge is taken from the Nine- 

 teenth Annual Report of the Geological Survey, Part 

 IV, Hydrography. 



It will be noted that the vertical scale showing the 

 discharge is twice as large on the Cedar Creek diagram 

 as on that of Queen Creek. If they were on the same 

 scale the contrast would be greater : 



