HYDROLOGY OF NEW YORK 



490 



Oswego river, of which the catchment area at the mouth is 5002 

 square miles. The minimum flow of this stream has been the 

 subject of judicial inquiry. In August, 1875, in the case of 

 Michael J. Cummings against owners and lessees of the water of 

 the Varick canal at Oswego, it was decreed : 



(1) That the average flow of water from the Oswego river into 

 the Varick canal in low water in the summer months is about 

 45,000 to 50,000 cubic feet per minute; (2) that in extreme low 

 water in the summer, and which usually occurs in the month of 

 July or August, it is about 35,000 cubic feet per minute; and (3) 

 that the average flow of the whole three summer months is about 

 75,000 cubic feet per minute. 



Varick canal is entitled to receive one-half the total flow of the 

 river, less the amount of water required for navigation purposes. 

 Hence the average summer flow, according to the decree, is from 

 90,000 to 100,000 cubic feet per minute (1500 to 1670 cubic feet 

 per second) . The extreme low-water flow is placed at 70,000 cubic- 

 feet per minute for the whole flow of the river, or at 1170 cubic 

 feet per second, while the average flow of the whole three summer 

 months is given at about 150,000 cubic feet per minute, or 2500 

 cubic feet per second. From the foregoing figures we deduce an 

 extreme minimum of perhaps 0.23 of a cubic foot per second per 

 square mile, with an average of low water in the summer months 

 of about 0.30 to 0.33 of a cubic foot per second per square mile. 



The following measurements may, however, serve to show that 

 the minimum figures just stated may be modified somewhat. 



Beginning in April, 1897, a record of the flow of Oswego river 

 has been kept at High dam, two miles above the city of Oswego. 

 This record is, however, somewhat uncertain as to the low water, 

 but it is given for what it is worth in table No. 50. This record 

 does not include diversion for the use of the Oswego canal. 



For seven days in September, 1897, the flow was at the rate of 

 about 900 cubic feet per second and during the entire month of 

 September, 1898, the mean flow was 925 cubic feet per second. 

 For twenty-five days in September, 1898, the mean flow was only 

 795 cubic feet per second (catchment, 5000 square miles), or at 

 the rate of a little less than 0.16 cubic foot per second per square 

 mile. 



