294 FORESTS, RESERVOIRS, AND STREAM FLOW 
never be abandoned, but will be extended along the lines of the original 
project.* 
The U. S. Geological Survey has recently proposed quite an 
extensive reservoir system for the Sacramento Basin, similar in 
principle, though smaller in extent, to that of the proposed Ohio 
system. The flood problem of the Sacramento River is the most 
difficult in the United States in proportion to its magnitude. In 
fact it seems as if it will prove impossible to convey the extreme floods 
of that river to the sea without extensive overflow of the bottom 
lands along its course. The proposition to control the floods to some extent 
by means of reservoirs was elaborately set forth in the paper by Messrs. 
Clapp, Murphy, and Martin, previously referred to. The subject had 
already been considered by the Commission of Engineers appointed by 
the State of California in 1904 to devise a plan of flood relief. The 
Commission reported that, while any help from such a source must, 
of course, be welcome in solving the problem, it was very doubtful if 
such aid would be of sufficient importance to justify giving it much 
weight.+ In discussing the paper above referred to, the writer stated 
that, while he had never visited the sites in question, it was his 
opinion that, as to most of them, it would not be possible to realize 
more than one-fourth to one-third of the benefits claimed, and he based 
his opinion on the published records of the flood of 1907, which was 
the greatest in the history of the river. George L. Dillman, M. Am. 
Soc. C. E., in discussing the paper, flatly pronounced the whole scheme 
impracticable, and gave his reasons in detail for this conclusion. 
Among them he cited in one case the great value of the lands to be 
flooded by the reservoirs, which he claimed were altogether more 
important for agriculture than for any diminution of flooding which 
the storage might cause in the valley below. In another case he 
cited the difficulty, which always suggests itself to an engineer in 
considering the subject, of timing the operations of the reservoirs 
so as to combine their effects to the best advantage, and particularly 
in keeping them empty in periods of prolonged precipitation, so that 
their capacity may be available at the critical moment. Other obstacles 
were pointed out, and the whole discussion presents another instance 
*The report of this Board contains exhaustive data upon the system and its 
operation. It may be seen in the annual report of the Chief of Engineers for 1906, 
p. 1443 (Appendix AA, published separately in pamphlet form). 
tReport, Commissioner of Public Works, State of California, for 1905. 
iTransactions, Am. Soc. C. B., Vol. LXI, p. 357. 
