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NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



The foregoing undeveloped powers may be considered as either 

 vertical falls or as rapids of sharp descents. In addition, the 

 following with smaller catchment areas and less rapid descent, 

 may be enumerated : Buttermilk falls, above Long lake ; Raquette 

 falls, below Long lake ; Jamestown falls and Moody falls. There 

 is about 70 feet fall per mile at all these places. There are also 

 numerous small falls and rapids, capable, when the country is 

 settled and lines of communication established, of furnishing valu- 

 able power, although at present such water powers have less value 

 than they otherwise would have because there is no way of utiliz- 

 ing them. The discussion on a later page of this report, how- 

 ever, as to the developing of mountain powers and transmitting 

 them electrically may be taken into account in estimating the 

 value of undeveloped water powers. With efficient water storage 

 on the many fine lakes at the headwaters of Raquette river, it is 

 perhaps possible to keep the stream in its lower reaches (at 

 Piercefield and below) up at all times to at least 1000 cubic feet 

 per second. Assuming that it is practical to develop 900 feet 

 out of the possible total of 1025, we would have about 100,000 

 gross horsepower from this stream alone, and this estimate does 

 not take into account a number of the smaller water powers. 1 



St Regis river. This stream rises in various Adirondack lakes 

 in the southern part of Franklin county, flows northerly into and 

 through St Lawrence county and enters the St Lawrence river at 

 St Regis village. Like most of the streams flowing north from the 

 Adirondacks, its catchment consists of a high plateau, then a 

 steep, rocky portion, followed by a low plateau near its mouth. 



The catchment areas of the St Regis river and its principal 

 branches are as follows : 



Square miles 



West Branch of St Regis 280 



East Branch of St Regis 347 



St Regis below junction i\'27 



Deer river 212 



St Regis at mouth • 910 



1 In a paper, the Future Water Supply of the Adirondack Mountain Region 

 and its Relations to Enlarged Canals in the State of New York, the writer 

 hns estimated the water power on Raquette river at 70,000 horsepower. 

 It is evident that that estimate is very conservative. 



