HYDROLOGY OF NEW YORK 



27!) 



175 square miles lie at an elevation of between 2000 and 3000 

 feet above tidewater, the average elevation of this portion being 

 about 2500 feet. Of the remaining 200 square miles above Pros- 

 pect the average elevation is placed at not less than 1600 feet. 

 The Trenton Falls Power Company has been reported as intend- 

 ing to develop an extensive storage on the headwaters of this 

 stream, thus enabling it to produce several thousand electrical 

 horsepower at Trenton Falls for transmission to Utica, Rome, 

 and other towns in the vicinity. General plans were prepared by 

 Mr Johnson, but the details of the project are not at hand. 

 Judging from the data at hand, the writer is disposed to place the 

 minimum flow of West Canada creek at from 0.25 to 0.30 of a 

 cubic foot per second per square mile. 



Water power of West Canada creek. However, these develop- 

 ments were not made by the Trenton Falls Power Company, and 

 the property at Trenton Falls has passed into the hands of the 

 Utiea Gas & Electric Company, who have developed an electric 

 power plant which presents a number of points of interest. It 

 is estimated that 4000 horsepower can be furnished from this 

 station. Water powers are also in use on West Canada creek at 

 Herkimer, Middleville, Newport, Prospect and Hinckley, as well 

 as at a few points higher up. 



Parties interested in the development of an extensive power 

 project at Trenton Falls have claimed that a very large storage 

 reservoir could be constructed in the main valley of West Canada 

 creek a short distance above Prospect, and at very low cost per 

 unit volume stored. The data are not at hand for accurately 

 determining the cost of a reservoir at this place. However, 

 casual inspection of the Kemsen sheet of the topographic map of 

 the State, made in 1897, shows that such a reservoir would prob- 

 ably be expensive in proportion to the storage gained. A trial 

 estimate shows that with a dam from SO to 100 feet in hight a 

 storage of about 2,000,000,000 cubic feet may be obtained. The 

 cost of the dam necessary to store this quantity of water can 

 hardly be placed as an experimental figure at less than $1,000,000, 

 whence the cost per 1,000,000 cubic feet stored would become $500. 

 This approximate estimate lias no other significance than to indi- 



