﻿HYDROLOGY 
  OF 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  347 
  

  

  Previous 
  to 
  1886 
  Skaneateles 
  lake 
  was 
  the 
  principal 
  feeder 
  of 
  

   the 
  Jordan 
  level 
  of 
  Erie 
  canal, 
  but 
  in 
  that 
  year 
  Otisco 
  and 
  Owasco 
  

   lakes 
  were 
  also 
  made 
  feeders. 
  The 
  Skaneateles 
  lake 
  dam 
  was 
  

   reconstructed 
  9 
  feet 
  high 
  by 
  the 
  State 
  in 
  1887, 
  and 
  in 
  1893 
  was 
  

   again 
  rebuilt 
  by 
  the 
  Syracuse 
  Water 
  Board 
  with 
  its 
  spillway 
  2 
  feet 
  

   higher 
  than 
  the 
  crest 
  of 
  the 
  old 
  dam. 
  The 
  following 
  are 
  the 
  

   •catchment 
  areas 
  of 
  this 
  stream 
  : 
  

  

  Square 
  

   miles 
  

  

  Land 
  surface 
  above 
  State 
  dam 
  60.3 
  

  

  Water 
  surface 
  of 
  lake 
  12 
  . 
  3 
  

  

  Total 
  catchment 
  area, 
  above 
  foot 
  of 
  lake 
  73 
  . 
  

  

  Total 
  area 
  above 
  Willow 
  Glen 
  weir 
  74 
  . 
  3 
  

  

  Total 
  catchment 
  above 
  Jordan 
  93 
  . 
  

  

  The 
  elevation 
  of 
  Skaneateles 
  lake 
  is 
  867 
  feet 
  plus 
  tidewater, 
  

   while 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  outlet 
  at 
  the 
  Erie 
  canal 
  crossing, 
  near 
  Jordan, 
  

   is 
  about 
  400 
  feet. 
  The 
  lake 
  lies 
  in 
  a 
  deep 
  valley, 
  -with 
  bold 
  shores 
  

   rising 
  several 
  hundred 
  feet 
  at 
  either 
  side. 
  The 
  figures 
  given 
  in 
  

   table 
  No. 
  53 
  do 
  not 
  represent 
  in 
  any 
  degree 
  the 
  natural 
  runoff 
  

   of 
  this 
  catchment, 
  but 
  merely 
  the 
  water 
  yield 
  during 
  the 
  years 
  

   indicated, 
  in 
  which 
  there 
  was 
  large 
  storage. 
  

  

  In 
  March, 
  1895, 
  the 
  city 
  of 
  Syracuse 
  began 
  to 
  draw 
  water 
  

   through 
  the 
  new 
  conduit 
  to 
  Skaneateles 
  lake. 
  The 
  results 
  

   given 
  in 
  table 
  No. 
  53 
  are 
  the 
  quantity 
  flowing 
  in 
  the 
  outlet 
  as 
  

   measured 
  on 
  the 
  weir 
  located 
  at 
  Willow 
  Glen, 
  plus 
  the 
  outflow 
  

   through 
  the 
  conduit. 
  

  

  In 
  table 
  No. 
  52 
  the 
  mean 
  monthly 
  elevations 
  of 
  Skaneateles 
  

   lake, 
  above 
  and 
  below 
  an 
  arbitrary 
  datum, 
  as 
  derived 
  from 
  ob- 
  

   servations 
  taken 
  on 
  the 
  first, 
  eighth, 
  fifteenth 
  and 
  twenty-second 
  

   days 
  of 
  each 
  month, 
  are 
  given 
  for 
  the 
  water 
  years 
  1890-1901, 
  in- 
  

   clusive. 
  These 
  observations 
  have 
  been 
  made 
  by 
  gate 
  keepers 
  of 
  

   the 
  Canal 
  Department 
  and 
  are 
  approximate 
  merely. 
  In 
  the 
  

   original 
  record 
  they 
  are 
  given 
  to 
  the 
  nearest 
  quarter 
  of 
  an 
  inch, 
  

   while 
  in 
  the 
  present 
  record 
  they 
  have 
  been 
  translated 
  to 
  feet 
  

   and 
  tenths 
  — 
  it 
  has 
  not 
  been 
  considered 
  worth 
  while 
  to 
  carry 
  out 
  

   the 
  hundredths 
  of 
  a 
  foot. 
  

  

  Geologically, 
  Skaneateles 
  lake 
  catchment 
  lies 
  in 
  the 
  horizon 
  

   •of 
  the 
  Hamilton 
  shales. 
  

  

  