208 



NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



The elevation of the water surface at the head of the rapids 

 above the falls is 560 feet above tidewater, thus giving a fall from 

 the Lake Erie level to that point of from 12 to 13 feet, of which 

 from 4 to 5 feet are included in the rapids at the city of* Buffalo, 

 in front of and just below Fort Porter. The descent in the river 

 from the head of the rapids to the brink of the falls is about 50 

 feet. At the narrows, half a mile above the whirlpool, the eleva- 

 tion of the water surface is 300 feet, while that of the surface 

 of the still water opposite Lewiston is 249 feet; the fall in this 

 section, which is from 4 to 4.5 miles in length, may therefore be 

 taken at 51 feet, while from Lewiston to the mouth at Fort Niag- 

 ara the fall is only 2 feet in a distance of 7 miles. The total 

 length of Niagara river is about 37 miles. The catchment area of 

 Niagara river above Niagara Falls is 265,095 square miles. 



On account of the immense water-power developments now 

 taking place at Niagara Falls the runoff of Niagara river must 

 necessarily receive extended discussion in a complete account of 

 the Hydrology of New York. 



Lake Ontario catchment area. This catchment comprises the 

 strip of territory draining directly into Lake Ontario and extend- 

 ing from the Niagara river to beyond the Black river. The im- 

 portant streams of this section are Genesee river, Oswego river. 

 Salmon river west and Black river. The less important are 

 Eighteen Mile creek (tributary to Lake Ontario), Johnson creek. 

 Oak Orchard creek, Sandy creek (Orleans county), West creek, 

 Salmon creek (Monroe county), Irondequoit creek, Salmon creek 

 (Wayne county), Wolcott creek, Red creek, Sodus creek, Nine 

 Mile creek, Fish creek, Little Salmon river (Oswego county), 

 Beaver Dam brook, Sandy creek (Oswego county), north and 

 south branches of Sandy creek (Jefferson county), Skinner creek. 

 Little Sandy creek. Stony creek, Perch river and Chaumont river. 

 None of these small streams are of any great importance, although 

 some of them have considerable water power upon them. 1 



lFor statement in detail of water power on streams tributary to the 

 proposed Black river feeder canal, see table No. 129, water power in use 

 on streams tributary to proposed Black river feeder in 1898, at pp. 857-861 

 of the Deep Waterways Report. 



