THE KANSAS RIVER 
183 
square miles, of which 2,450 are in Kansas and 7,040 in Ne- 
braska. In volume of water the Blue river is by far the most 
important of the tributaries of the Kansas. The discharge of 
this river is being measured by the Geological Survey at Rocky- 
ford, about five miles above its mouth, and the minimum has 
been found to be about 300 cubic feet per second. 
The next stream in order, and also in amount of water deliv- 
ered, is the Republican, draining an area of 25,837 square miles, 
and showing a minimum flow, as observed at Junction City, of 
about 200 cubic feet per second. It will be noticed that though 
draining over two and one-half times as large an area as the Blue, 
its discharge at low water is only two-thirds as great as that of 
the latter stream. This is due to the fact that the Blue drains 
the northern and eastern parts of the basin, where the rainfall is 
heaviest, Avhile the Republican rises at the western extremit}' of 
the drainage area and flows for hundreds of miles through arid 
sand hills that yield very little run-off, except in times of ex- 
cessive rainfall. No part of its basin receives a precipitation 
equal to the average of the basin of the Blue; so, although the 
basins adjoin each other and the rivers empty within twenty 
miles of each other, the ratio of run-off to area is over four times 
as great for the Blue as for the Republican. 
The Smoky Hill river rises in eastern Colorado and drains an 
area of 20,428 square miles. It has two considerable tributaries, 
the Saline and the Solomon, draining respectively 3,311 and 
6,882 .square miles. Gauging stations have been estal)lished on 
all three of tliese streams. The station at Ellsworth, on tlie 
Smoky Hill, intercepts the drainage of 7,980 square miles, of 
which 6.447 are in Kansas and 1,533 in Colorado. A minimum 
discharge of only 10 cubic feet per second sometimes occurs at 
this i)oint. At the gauge on the Saline river at Beverly the area 
drained is 2,730 square miles, and a low-water discharge of 20 
second-feet is shown. The gauge on the Solomon is at Beloit. 
4'he area draining ])ast this ))oint is 5,539 sfpiare miles, and the 
low-water flow is 140 cubic feet jier second. 
There are many water-power develo))inents in the Kansas 
basin, the most numerous and important occurring on the Solo- 
mon and Blue rivers. These develo])ments are, however, in their 
infancy, only a small ])roportlon of the favorable sites being im- 
jiroved. The fidlowing summary of the i)ower in use in this 
basin, taken from the reports on the Whiter Power of the United 
States, published by the 4’enth Census, vol. xvii. page 361, ex- 
