16 FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 



also, all departments issue instructions or give items of particular 

 interest. 



BUREAU OF POLLUTION. 



Until such time as the Commission had additional funds it was 

 deemed best to consolidate tliis bureau with the Bureau of Publicitj^ 

 under Major Watkins, and it has functioned ably. As previously 

 noted, it takes over from the Department of Commercial Fisheries and 

 tlie Department of Fish Culture and the former patrol districts, this 

 ever-present problem which seems to be getting so acute throughout 

 tlie state and nation. ]\Iajor Watkins can not be commended too highly 

 for the able manner in which he has conducted the bureau. The most 

 gratifying feature of the work has been the results accomplished by 

 persuasion without court procedure. Sore spots of the worst character 

 have been remedied, and in many cases, obliterated. 



BUREAU OF SCREENS AND LADDERS. 



At the head of this bureau we have placed a trained hydraulic 

 engineer, John Spencer. The creation of the bureau was deemed 

 necessary because the work of the Department of Fish Culture has 

 grown so enormously within the past few j^ears that it is absolutely 

 impossible for that department to put into this important feature the 

 necessary time and energy. It is almost unbelievable when I say, 

 conservatively, that there should be at least three thousand installa- 

 tions of screens and ladders in California ; probably at the present time 

 not more than six hundred have been installed, and of these it is doubt- 

 ful if more than 50 per cent are functioning adequately. 



Early in April a conference was called at the executive office, to 

 which were invited representatives of all power companies and irriga- 

 tion districts in California, for a free discussion of the screen and 

 ladder problem to the end that committees could be appointed by 

 those interested in such installations to help the Commission devise 

 standard forms, hereafter to be adhered to. The conference was well 

 attended and resulted in the formation of two committies, each of five 

 members, one composed of those interested in power development, and 

 the other of those interested in irrigation matters. These two com- 

 mittees are cooperating with the head of the bureau and we believe 

 they will aid us materially in the solution of our problem. 



Large sized maps have been procured for the bureau, old records 

 have been delved into, and the head of the bureau has card indexed the 

 situatio2i thoroughly and is graphically showing upon the maps all 

 installations and their present condition. Surveys are being made 

 as rapidly as i^ossible all over the state, and the cooperation of the 

 patrol, through the individual deputies, is gradually bringing to this 

 bureau the information necessary on which to base an aggressive cam- 

 paign during the coming spring. 



Incidentally, experiments are now being carried forward for the 

 first time, we believe, in the United States, to determine once and for 

 all whether nonmigratory trout, such as rainbow and eastern brook, 

 are carried down the canals and through the turbines of pow'er com- 

 panies. Racks and traps have been installed below Hat Creek No. 1 

 plant of the Pacific Gas and Electric Company and in cooperation with 

 the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries, and with the assistance of the associated 



