UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 
ASTROPHYSICAL OBSERVATORY 
NATIONAL AIR MUSEUM 
NATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL PARK 
NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART 
NATIONAL COLLECTION OF FINE ARTS 
FREER GALLERY OF ART 
INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE SERVICE 
CANAL ZONE BIOLOGICAL AREA 
MEMORANDUM FOR DR. WETMORE 
March 12 
From: J. L. 
Several of us have "been considering the matter of the size of the water 
tank for Barro Colorado Island and question the need and the practicability 
of a tank as large as 20,000 gallons. That will require a structure of about 
2,700 cubic feet capacity which in turn is nearly as large as your main 
office in the Smithsonian building. The construction of such a tank which 
mst provide for the safe storage of over 8h tons of water would be a terrific 
responsibility and undertaking for the small force available for the Work. 
There is in addition the tremendous difficulty of transporting to the site 
around 20 tons of concrete-making material. 
Would you not authorize a brief review of the requirements at the island 
before final determination as to the size of this project. Considering 
that the lake is an ever-present source of supply of water, and that a 
reliable pump is a necessity anyhow to supply water to the tank, there would 
be in this pump a fire engine on the site at all times. It is believed that 
considering the maximum number of people on the island at any one time that 
a water supply of 2,000 gallons would be entirely adequate. The storage 
capacity for this quantity of water could be met through the construction of 
a pair of one thousand-gallon capacity concrete tanks. Such structures which 
would be roughly 6 feet in diameter and 8 feet high would seem to be more 
nearly within the construction capabilities of the available force. 
