HYDROLOGY OF NEW YORK 



597 



the Genesee river into Erie canal, June 6, 1821. The Commis- 

 sioners complete their report by stating that after this feeder is 

 completed, which will probably be in May, 1822, it is expected 

 that with a little additional expense, a good navigation forty 

 miles up the river will be available, in connection with the Erie 

 canal. • 



The canal was opened to Rochester in July, 1822, and the 

 problem then was to obtain a sufficient supply of water from the 

 Genesee river west until Lake Erie could be reached and its waters 

 drawn upon. 



On the 26th day of October, 1825, water having been turned 

 into the canal from the harbor at Black Rock the first boat 

 ascended the locks at Lockport and passed through the deep cut 

 at the mountain ridge and on to Lake Erie. In their report, sub- 

 mitted to the Legislature, on March 25, 1826, the Canal Commis- 

 sioners say: 



The first admission of a full head of water upon the dam and 

 pier at Black Rock, and into the canal from Buffalo to Lockport, 

 put to the test of actual experiment the strength and solidity of 

 the works, the accuracy of the levels, and the practicability of 

 carrying through the mountain ridge a supply of water, which 

 would be adequate to the wants of the canal, during the dry 

 season. The result of this experiment was entirely satisfactory. 



On the removal of the temporary dam which had been thrown 

 across the narrowest part of the Black Rock basin, the water rose 

 within a few inches of the level of the lake, and flowing into the 

 canal below, gave a depth throughout its whole extent to Lock- 

 port, of from five and a half to six feet above the bottom line of 

 the canal as originally located by David Thomas. 



This volume of water drawn eastward by the declivity in the 

 canal, of one inch in a mile, will be sufficient to supply the 

 Rochester level, and probably the canal as far eastward as the 

 Cayuga marshes, without any aid from the Genesee river. 



The event marked the completion of the original" Erie canal, 

 and further marked, in the opinion of the Canal Commissioners, 

 the end of the use of the Genesee river as a source of water supply 

 for the canal. 



We are now able to discern the real reasons for constructing 

 the Genesee river feeder. As the result of long and exhaustive 

 examinations the Canal Commissioners adopted the settled policy 



