﻿HYDROLOGY 
  OF 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  31 
  

  

  As 
  regards 
  the 
  water 
  power 
  of 
  New 
  York, 
  the 
  Tenth 
  Census 
  of 
  

   the 
  United 
  States 
  (1880), 
  Vols. 
  XVI 
  and 
  XVII, 
  gives 
  in 
  detail 
  

   the 
  statistics 
  of 
  the 
  main 
  water 
  powers 
  as 
  they 
  existed 
  in 
  1882. 
  

   Many 
  of 
  these 
  show 
  considerable 
  increase 
  at 
  the 
  present 
  time, 
  

   although 
  the 
  extensions 
  are 
  for 
  the 
  most 
  part 
  similar 
  to 
  those 
  

   described 
  in 
  the 
  census 
  report, 
  and 
  hence 
  present 
  few 
  additional 
  

   features 
  of 
  interest. 
  Several 
  of 
  the 
  recent 
  plants, 
  however, 
  are 
  

   on 
  quite 
  different 
  lines 
  both 
  as 
  to 
  their 
  scope 
  and 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  method 
  

   of 
  development 
  adopted. 
  It 
  has 
  therefore 
  seemed 
  more 
  important 
  

   to 
  describe 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  the 
  new 
  plants, 
  illustrating 
  them 
  by 
  

   photographs, 
  and 
  to 
  give 
  the 
  main 
  facts 
  of 
  the 
  great 
  storage 
  proj- 
  

   ects 
  of 
  the 
  Black, 
  Genesee, 
  Hudson, 
  Salmon, 
  Schroon, 
  Wallkill 
  

   and 
  other 
  rivers, 
  than 
  to 
  spend 
  time 
  on 
  small 
  and 
  relatively 
  unim- 
  

   portant 
  powers 
  which 
  are 
  already 
  sufficiently 
  described. 
  

  

  The 
  peculiar 
  relation 
  of 
  the 
  State 
  to 
  water 
  power 
  development 
  

   on 
  the 
  main 
  rivers 
  of 
  New 
  York 
  is 
  an 
  interesting 
  subject 
  for 
  dis- 
  

   cussion. 
  Owing- 
  to 
  the 
  circumstances 
  of 
  the 
  earlv 
  settlement 
  and 
  

   the 
  development 
  of 
  the 
  canal 
  system, 
  the 
  State 
  has 
  assumed 
  owner- 
  

   ship 
  of 
  the 
  inland 
  waters, 
  or, 
  at 
  any 
  rate, 
  of 
  all 
  streams 
  used 
  as 
  

   feeders 
  to 
  the 
  canals. 
  This 
  assumption 
  has 
  worked 
  injustice 
  to 
  

   riparian 
  owners, 
  and 
  is 
  at 
  present 
  a 
  bar 
  in 
  the 
  way 
  of 
  the 
  full 
  

   development 
  of 
  important 
  streams 
  by 
  private 
  enterprise. 
  

  

  Moreover, 
  New 
  York 
  is 
  preeminent 
  in 
  position 
  by 
  virtue 
  of 
  the 
  

   fact 
  that 
  she 
  is 
  the. 
  only 
  State 
  resting 
  on 
  the 
  ocean 
  and 
  at 
  the 
  

   same 
  time 
  grounded 
  on 
  the 
  Great 
  Lakes. 
  The 
  Hudson 
  river 
  is 
  

   a 
  navigable 
  estuary 
  for 
  one 
  hundred 
  and 
  fifty 
  miles 
  inland, 
  and 
  

   the 
  depression 
  of 
  the 
  Mohawk 
  valley, 
  together 
  with 
  the 
  valley 
  of 
  

   Oswego 
  river, 
  extends, 
  with 
  slight 
  elevation, 
  from 
  the 
  northern 
  

   end 
  of 
  this 
  estuary 
  west 
  to 
  Lake 
  Ontario. 
  It 
  was 
  inevitable, 
  

   therefore, 
  that 
  from 
  time 
  immemorial 
  the 
  Mohawk 
  valley 
  should 
  

   be 
  the 
  highway, 
  along 
  which 
  passed 
  the 
  commerce 
  between 
  the 
  

   east 
  and 
  the 
  west. 
  If 
  the 
  proposed 
  deep 
  waterway 
  connecting 
  

   the 
  Great 
  Lakes 
  with 
  the 
  ocean 
  is 
  ever 
  constructed, 
  nature 
  has 
  

   from 
  the 
  beginning 
  predestined 
  by 
  two 
  possible 
  routes, 
  both 
  of 
  

   which 
  pass 
  through 
  the 
  State 
  of 
  New 
  York 
  — 
  one 
  by 
  way 
  of 
  Oswego- 
  

   Mohawk 
  valleys 
  to 
  tidewater 
  and 
  the 
  other 
  by 
  way 
  of 
  St 
  Lawrence- 
  

  

  