WATER-POWERS OF ALABAMA. 59 



2. COOSA RIVER AT ROME, GEORGIA. 



Coosa River is formed by the junction of Etowah and Oosta- 

 naula rivers at Rome, Ga. The drainage area is 4,006 square 

 miles. Both of the tributary rivers rise in the northern part 

 of Georgia and flow for the most part through a hilly, broken 

 country, well wooded, about one-fourth of the land being un- 

 der cultivation. The Coosa River flows in a southwesterly di- 

 rection into Alabama and joins the Tallapoosa 6 miles above 

 Montgomery, Ala., to form Alabama River. Measurements of 

 flow are made at Rome and at Riverside, 120 miles farther 

 downstream. The measurements at Rome are made on the 

 Oostanaula and Etowah just above their junction. Etowah 

 River is measured at Second avenue bridge and the Oosta- 

 naula at Fifth avenue bridge in Rome, and the result added 

 to give the flow of Coosa River. The gage height is taken from 

 the United States Weather Bureau gage at Fifth avenue 

 bridge, on the Oostanaula. There is practically no fall on 

 Oostanaula River from Fifth avenue bridge to the junction, 

 hence the gage is used as Coosa River gage and gives the fluc- 

 tuations of Coosa River. This gage is a 4 by 6 inch timber, 

 graduated to feet and tenths and fastened to the downstream 

 left-hand corner of the first pier from the left bank. The zero 

 of gage is 575.79 feet avove sea level. The United States 

 Weather Bureau has maintained the station here for many years. 

 It is now maintained only as a half-year station? from Novem- 

 ber i to April 30, inclusive, but W. M. Towers, the river ob- 

 server, kindly reads the gage and furnishes the Survey with 

 monthly reports of the daily gage heights for the entire year 

 without charge. Mr. Towers has kept the records for many 

 years and has predicted floods with great precision. The chan- 

 nel of the Etowah is straight, current swift and unobstructed, 

 but the Oostanaula is rather sluggish and somewhat ob- 

 structed by piers. The banks are high, but liable to overflow in 

 times of high water. 



The following discharge measurements were made during 

 1896-97-98 by Max Hall and others : 



1896 

 September 29: Gage height, 0.20 feet; discharge, 1,209 second-feet. 



1897 



May 7: Gage height, 2.75 feet; discharge, 4,646 second-feet. 

 October 5: Gage height, 0.15 feet; discharge, 990 second-feet. 



