newbllO SALT RIVER, ARIZONA. 49 
Liston, section foreman. The distance of the gaging station from the 
section honse is 1 mile. The gage, of oak timber, is vertical, and is 
spiked to the north abutment on the west side of the bridge. It is 
painted white and black. The channel is rocky. The point 7.*;:} of 
the gage is level with the top timber of the abutment. The current- 
meter measurements are taken from the same bridge. The discharge 
on October 22, 1894, was 34 second-feet. 
ARIZONA DAM, ON SALT RIVER. 
Computations of the discharge of Salt River for a number of years 
have been made, based upon measurements of water entering the Ari- 
zona Canal and flowing over the dam at its head. This dam, about 30 
miles east of Phoenix, Ariz., is described and figured in the Thirteenth 
Annual Report of the Survey, Part III, Irrigation, pages 221-224. The 
results of the estimates prepared Wr Mr. Samuel Davidson and his suc- 
cessors have been given in annual eports of the Survey, but those for 
1893 and 1894, if prepared, have not been given out by the company. 
A number of attempts have beer made by this Survey to obtain accu- 
rate measurements of the flow of the Gila River and its tributaries, but 
owing to the unsettled condition of the country and the difficulty and 
expense of transportation it has been found impracticable to continue 
the work, since with the amount available far larger results could be 
obtained elsewhere. On May 11, 1889, Mr. W. A. Farish, assistant 
hydrographer, was sent to Arizona to establish a gaging station, and 
he continued in charge of this work until the end of August, 1890. 
During that time he placed a number of rain gages, which were, on 
September 24, 1890, transferred to the Signal Service, and later passed 
into the charge of the Weather Bureau. He also began observations 
of evaporation at Tempe, Yuma, and other localities. A reconnaissance 
was made for the purpose of selecting favorable points for measuring 
the rivers, but no place suitable for continuous measurements was found 
on Salt River below the junction with the Verde. About one-half mile 
above the junction of these two streams there were found localities where 
work might be done, but unfortunately it was almost impossible to 
secure a person to make observations of river height. In July, 1889, a 
station was located on the Salt above the mouth of the Verde, about 2 
miles from the Arizona Canal. 
An examination of Verde River was made in August, up to Fort 
McDowell, but no suitable cross section was found. At McDowell the 
river is almost 1,000 feet wide. The bed is sandy, and is divided into 
a number of channels or sloughs. About 12 miles above the fort the 
river emerges from a box canyon, but no person was found in that 
locality to make observations of river height. The section selected, 
near the mouth of the Verde River, appeared to be the only feasible 
locality, and gave fair results up to 4-foot rise of the water. At this 
stage the stream overflowed into back channels. 
Bull. 131 1 
