HYDROLOGY OF NEW YORK 



467 



Floods in Raquette river. The estimated flood discharge of 

 Raquette river at Piereefield about Ma}- 1, 1900, was 7000 cubic 

 feet per second (catchment, 700 square miles), or at the rate of 

 about lo cubic feet per second per square mile. Owing to a large 

 amount of lake storage probably the flood-flows of Raquette river 

 do not often exceed this, although the}' may occasionally rise 

 .somewhat higher. 



Floods in Hudson river. The maximum flood of this stream 

 is stated to have occurred in the spring of 1869. and at Mechanic- 

 ville amounted to about 70,000 cubic feet per second (catchment, 

 4500 square miles), or was at the rate of 15.5 cubic feet per second 

 per square mile. Gagings have been made at Mechanic ville for 

 sixteen years, the highest flood during the period having been 

 59,400 cubic feet per second on April 9, 1896. The large pondage 

 on natural lakes and ponds on the headwaters of the Hudson 

 tends to reduce the severity of the floods. On April 18, 1896, 

 the water stood on the crest of the Fort Edward dam at the hight 

 of 8.16 feet, giving a computed flow of 41,675 cubic feet per second 

 (catchment. 2800 square miles), or 14.7 cubic feet per second per 

 square mile. 



The ordinary floods at Fort Edward, as determined from the 

 last seven years' record, may be taken at about 25.000 cubic feet 

 per second, or 9.2 cubic feet per second per square mile. The fol- 

 lowing tabulation shows the flood-flows at Fort Edward since the 

 establishment of the station in the fall of 1895. As stated on a 

 preceding page these flows may be 25 per cent in error. 



r— Maximum Discharge-^ 

 Cubic 



Cubic feet feet per 

 Date per second second per 



square mile 



April 18. 1896 42,620 15 . 2 



November 7, 1896 24,550 8.7 



April 12. 1897 23,732 8.5 



June 12. 1897 23,242 8.3 



December 17, 1897 27,920 10.0 



March 16, 1898 29,856 10.7 



April 25, 1898 32,159 11.5 



April 23, 1900 43,900 15.7 



April 23. 1901 42,820 15.3 



Hudson river has a catchment area of about 12,200 square miles 

 in Xew York, 200 square miles in Xew Jersey, 320 square miles in 



