HYDROLOGY OF NEW YORK 



851 



Black creek. This stream flows into the Genesee river on the 

 west side at a point about four miles southwest of the Mount Hope 

 reservoir. Its catchment area is so large that there could be no 

 question as to the sufficiency of the stream to furnish the desired 

 amount of water. The quality of the water is, however, very ob- 

 jectionable, since it contains 73.4 grains of solid matter per gal- 

 lon. The stream also flows through extensive swampy districts 

 so that filtering would be indispensable in order to fit the water 

 for domestic use. The cost of the necessary filtering and pumping 

 plant, with force-main to the reservoir, would amount to at least 

 $80,000. 



OatJca creek. The confluence of this stream with the Genesee 

 river is about one mile east of Scottsville and a little more than 

 nine miles in a direct line southwest of the Mount Hope reservoir. 

 At Scottsville the entire dry weather flow is diverted into the old 

 Genesee valley canal, through which it flows to the southern por- 

 tion of Rochester, where it is carried in a pipe under the river into 

 the Erie canal feeder. During the season of navigation on Erie 

 canal the State has the first claim upon the water, and it was con- 

 sidered doubtful whether permission to use any portion thereof 

 could be obtained. Assuming, however, that such consent was ob- 

 tained, it would not be advisable to use the water for drinking pur- 

 poses without filtration, as the creek receives considerable sewage 

 from the villages of Warsaw and Leroy, besides the waste water of 

 the salt works in the Wyoming valley and the surface drainage 

 from Scottsville and a number of other small villages. 



The suggestion was also made to obtain the needed temporary 

 supply from the old Genesee valley canal within the city limits, 

 it being taken for granted that permission to do so could be se- 

 cured from the canal authorities. If this had been carried out, 

 the same objection to the use of the water without filtration would 

 likewise be valid, and might even become stronger when it is re- 

 membered that in many places between Scottsville and Rochester 

 the old canal prism contains dense growths of aquatic vegeta- 

 tion, the emanations from which have been the cause of much 

 complaint from persons residing in the vicinity. This vegetation, 

 furthermore, greatly retards the flow of the water; hence, if an 

 adequate supply for both the Erie canal and the city were to be 



