32 PROGRESS REPORT, HYDROGRAPHY, 1893 AND 1994. [bull. 131. 
ing irrigating ditches, yet it lias been demonstrated to be possible to 
punip what appears to be practically an inexhaustible supply. 
The main Platte River, formed by the junction of the North and 
South branches, flows easterly through Nebraska, only a small propor- 
tion of its water being diverted for irrigation and water power. The 
channel is extremely wide, and during the hotter part of the summer 
the water is divided and subdivided into numerous small rivulets in the 
broad, sandy plain. Many of these gradually disappear by evapora- 
tion or by percolation into the sands, and thus at points along the river 
the channel is sometimes almost completely dry, as was the case during 
the fall of 1894. On August 14, 1894, the discharge of the river at 
Fremont was 1,420 second-feet; on September 17 there was no water 
passing Columbus, Nebr., nor on October 6. On that date water was 
found at a depth of 3 feet 8 inches below the surface of the sand in the 
bed of the river. 1 No systematic measurements of this river have 
been made on account of the difficulty of ascertaining the amount of 
water in its broad, shallow channel, and the expense of maintaining 
observations. 
COLUMBUS STATION, ON LOUP RIVER. 
This station is located just above the iron bridge of the Union Pa 
cine Railway. The observer is M. Savage, bridge watchman. The 
distance of the observer's house from the gaging station is about a 
half mile 5 from the bridge, 50 yards. The gage is of oak, 3 inches 
by G inches, 12 feet long, fastened by lag screws to a pile which forms 
part of the training works above the bridge. The rod is vertical. 
There is an island at the bend, about 1,000 feet above the bridge. 
The training works cause the current to set from the shore. In high 
water the flood passes through willows and underbrush on the opposite 
side. The 12-foot mark on the rod is 7 feet below a point 2 feet east of 
the third panel point of the north truss of the east span, counting the 
end of the span as the first panel point. All levels are taken from 
the top of the bottom chord. This is not a good location, but after 
considerable search it seemed to be the best available. Observations 
were begun October 13, 1894, the water standing then at 4.70 feet on 
gage, not varying greatly from this during the remainder of the year. 
KANSAS BASIN, IN NEBRASKA. 
The Kansas Eiver is formed by the union of a number of streams ris- 
ing in the plains region not far from the boundary between Colorado, 
Nebraska, and Kansas. The most northerly of its branches is the 
Republican River, which, rising in Colorado, flows as a small stream 
through the southwestern portion of Nebraska, and continues easterly 
north of the State line for over half the distance of this boundary. 
'O. V. P. Stout, Bulletin of the Agricultural Experiment Station of Nebraska, vol. 7, p. 156. 
