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  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  1894. 
  The 
  west 
  branch 
  of 
  Canadaway 
  creek 
  at 
  Fredonia 
  was 
  

   gaged 
  from 
  July 
  18 
  to 
  September 
  2, 
  1883, 
  and 
  Morris 
  run, 
  a 
  tribu- 
  

   tary 
  of 
  Oatka 
  creek, 
  from 
  July 
  4 
  to 
  December 
  26, 
  1894. 
  Gibson's 
  

   creek, 
  another 
  tributary 
  of 
  Oatka 
  creek, 
  was 
  also 
  gaged 
  from 
  Sep- 
  

   tember 
  20,1894, 
  to 
  June 
  21, 
  1895. 
  During 
  the 
  autumns 
  of 
  1856 
  and 
  

   1857 
  gagings 
  were 
  made 
  of 
  the 
  following 
  streams 
  on 
  Long 
  Island, 
  

   which 
  are 
  now 
  a 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  Brooklyn 
  water 
  supply, 
  in 
  order 
  to 
  

   obtain 
  the 
  minimum 
  delivery: 
  Hempstead, 
  Rockville, 
  Valley, 
  

   Clear, 
  Brookfield, 
  Springfield 
  and 
  Jamaica 
  brooks. 
  

  

  Possibly 
  there 
  are 
  other 
  measurements 
  for 
  short 
  periods 
  in 
  the 
  

   State 
  of 
  New 
  York 
  which 
  have 
  not 
  been 
  made 
  public, 
  but 
  so 
  far 
  

   as 
  the 
  writer 
  can 
  learn 
  the 
  foregoing 
  include 
  all 
  the 
  systematic 
  

   measurements 
  of 
  streams 
  made 
  in 
  the 
  State 
  previous 
  to 
  1898, 
  

   except 
  those 
  by 
  John 
  B. 
  Jervis, 
  of 
  Madison 
  and 
  Eaton 
  brooks, 
  

   made 
  in 
  1835, 
  the 
  results 
  of 
  which 
  are 
  presented 
  in 
  Mr. 
  Jervis' 
  

   report 
  for 
  that 
  year 
  to 
  the 
  Canal 
  Commissioners. 
  The 
  broad 
  

   proposition 
  is 
  therefore 
  true 
  that 
  previous 
  to 
  1898 
  the 
  data 
  for 
  

   computing 
  runoff 
  of 
  streams 
  based 
  on 
  careful 
  measurements 
  of 
  

   the 
  same 
  were 
  limited 
  in 
  the 
  State 
  of 
  New 
  York. 
  

  

  Rainfall 
  records, 
  however, 
  were 
  more 
  common, 
  and 
  engineers 
  

   were 
  in 
  the 
  habit 
  of 
  assuming 
  that 
  about 
  50 
  per 
  cent 
  of 
  the 
  rain- 
  

   fall 
  would 
  appear 
  as 
  runoff 
  in 
  the 
  streams. 
  How 
  far 
  from 
  true 
  

   this 
  is 
  may 
  be 
  seen 
  by 
  inspecting 
  the 
  tables 
  on 
  the 
  following 
  

   pages. 
  There 
  was 
  absolutely 
  no 
  preception 
  of 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  in 
  the 
  

   State 
  of 
  New 
  York 
  streams 
  vary 
  from 
  a 
  minimum 
  runoff 
  of 
  2 
  to 
  4 
  

   inches 
  to 
  10 
  to 
  12 
  inches, 
  and 
  that 
  average 
  runoffs 
  of 
  from 
  8 
  to 
  10 
  

   inches 
  to 
  20 
  to 
  25 
  inches 
  are 
  common. 
  

  

  Probably 
  no 
  one 
  mistake 
  of 
  engineers 
  has 
  been 
  more 
  far-reach- 
  

   ing 
  than 
  this. 
  The 
  great 
  bulk 
  of 
  the 
  earlier 
  water 
  supplies 
  

   throughout 
  the 
  State 
  are 
  insufficient; 
  power 
  projects 
  have 
  been 
  

   overestimated, 
  and 
  while 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  way 
  of 
  stating 
  the 
  amount 
  

   of 
  damage 
  done, 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  easily 
  assumed 
  to 
  rise 
  to 
  several 
  mil- 
  

   lion 
  dollars. 
  This 
  oversight 
  is 
  purely 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  engineering 
  pro- 
  

   fession, 
  and 
  the 
  same 
  kind 
  of 
  an 
  oversight 
  is 
  taking 
  place 
  in 
  

   many 
  other 
  states, 
  in 
  1904. 
  Indeed, 
  comparatively 
  few 
  engineers 
  

   fully 
  realize 
  the 
  significance 
  of 
  gagings. 
  

  

  Streams 
  gaged 
  for 
  Board 
  of 
  Engineers 
  on 
  Deep 
  Waterways. 
  In 
  

   1898 
  the 
  writer 
  undertook 
  an 
  investigation 
  for 
  the 
  Board 
  of 
  Engi- 
  

  

  