18 SOUTH WESTEKN NEVADA AND EASTERN CALIFORNIA. 
HYDROLOGY. 
GENERAL STATEMENT. 
The water resources of this area consist of streams, springs, tanks, 
wells, and snow. Data concerning the local water - resources are given 
•n the descriptions of the mountain ranges and valleys. While suffi- 
cient water is available or can be developed at a number of points for 
villages, mills, small ranches, and truck gardening, it is probable that 
the present supply of the area will never be greatly increased. 
STREAMS. 
Well-developed drainage systems exist in the hills and mountains, 
but nearly ail the channels, except in times of cloud-bursts, are dry. 
Only in the higher mountains where heavy snows fall are perennial 
streams found, and the longest of these has a length of less than 4 
miles. While the streams are small, a few, notably the Amargosa, 
furnish sufficient water for concentrating mills. 
The so-called Amargosa River heads well up in Pahute Mesa, 
and the stream channel can be traced through the Amargosa Desert 
into Death Valley. Water comes to the surface only in that portion 
known as Oasis Valley, where numerous springs burst forth and give 
rise to small streams from 200 feet to one-half mile in length. Above 
Indian Camp the channel of the Amargosa occupies a canyon 500 feet 
deep, while between this point and Beatty the valley, from 200 yards 
to 1 mile wide, is bordered by low hills. The valley floor is here 
formed of fine clay, which, where not covered by drifting sand, sup- 
ports a fair growth of salt grass. In places many acres are covered 
with an incrustation of white alkali. Between Beatty and Gold Cen- 
ter the valley contracts to a gorge. In the Amargosa Desert the chan- 
nel is from 4 to 15 feet deep and 100 feet wide. In addition to the 
recent channel there are several older channel remnants. This shal- 
low, sinuous channel, lined by heaps of angular bowlders and banks 
of sand, strongly resembles the deserted river beds of the Great 
Plains. 
Four small streams are situated in Kawich Range. Breen Creek 
has its origin in a large number of springs rising from a marshy 
area on the Breen ranch. The stream in summer is from 1 to 3 feet 
wide and 2 to 4 inches deep. Early in the morning it flows to Sil-j 
verbow, a distance of 3| miles, but by night the lower 2 miles are 
dry. The water at sunset is warm, while in the morning it is cold. 
The daily variation in size and temperature is characteristic of 
all the streams of this region and is due to the great heat of midday, 
which warms the water and induces evaporation. The large spring 
1} miles below the Longstreet ranch yields a stream of water 1 foot 
wide and 3 or 4 inches deep, which sinks in the valley gravel one- 
half mile from its source. The underflow rises to the surface three 
