EIGHT MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE
Sunday, Auguii 17, 193
urvey Gives Area
ce Notice on
Ad van
Supply
Water
Water
Work of Surveyors
In Flooded Streams
Is Often Hazardous
First Station Set Up
At Gold Ray in 1905
Water to many of us is often
taken for granted as a somewhat
tasteless liquid which can be
made a great deal more palat
able by the inclusion of fresh
coffee grounds, lemons and the
like.
To others, especially farmers
and orchardists, it is the life-
blood of their livelihoods when
used for irrigation. Water is also
good up to a certain concentra
tion, then it becomes bad.. when
it strays from its well-worn
course and results in floods.
It gives us electricity, fish,
watermelons, grass, timber, and
just about everything else ex
cept dryness. If then, it is so very
important, somebody must be
doing a lot of thinking about
how it happens to be, where it
comes from, how much is expect
ed, its quality, eto.
Three Branches
That "somebody" throughout
the United States is the Water
Resources division of the U. S.
Geological survey, Department
of Interior. In the Water Re-
principal functional branches:
surface water, ground water and
quality of water.
The latter branch conducts
studies of the chemical and
physical quality of surface and
ground water. While ground
water is investigated for occur
rence, quantity and availability
for use, surface water .is studied
for flow of streams, floods,
droughts and utilization of re
sources. Both ground and surface
studies, though separated for in
vestigation, are necessarily con
current in many instances where
ground water seeps into springs,
rills and larger streams.
The largest of the three divis
ions is the surface water branch
which has maintained an office
in Medford since 1946. The Med
ford office is a branch of the
Portland district office with K.
N. Phillips, district engineer, in
charge. The local office is under
his direction and investigations
in southwestern Oregon are un
der the .supervision of C. A.
Young, hydraulic engineer, as
sisted by D. R. Hansen and
D. H. Giles.
The local office maintains 55
river-measurement stations in
the Rogue, Klamath, Umpqua
and Coquille river basins as a
part of the regular nationwide
stream-gauging program for the
investigation of the water re
sources of the nation. These sta
tions are maintained by the Geo
logical survey in cooperation
with the state of Oregon, the
cities of Coos Bay and North
Bend, and other federal agen
cies. Stream flow investigations are
also being made by the Survey
for the California Oregon Power
company, a licensee of the Fed
eral Power commission. Stream
gauging under the Copco-FPC
license exceeds that for all other
FPC licenses in the state, accord
ing to Engineer Young, partly
because this company has been
the only private company to do
any building of hydroelectric
plants in Oregon in the last 20
years. The power company bears
the maintenance and cost of
operation of the stations where
these investigations are made, j
The engineer pointed out that
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CONSTANT RECORD Shown (right) is the concrete tower
at Dodge bridge on Rogue river which houses a water-stage or
height recorder which keeps a constant measurement of the river's
height and when it occurs. The instrument is housed near the top
of the structure which is connected with the river by pipes below
the water surface which keep the water level of a well within the
structure the same as the river. A float on the surface of the
well regulates the pen on the recorder's graph paper through a
system of lines and weights. The recorder is reached by the ladder
and walk (left) which is anchored to a remaming portion of the old
Dodge bridge superstructure.
-yr " aT- f tmiwinwn irmi imi inrmiiMi in riniiiwmn
WINTER WORK Pictured is a -Tucker Sno-Cat, used In long
trips into the mountains during the winter to places where stream
flow investigations are made by the U. S. Geological survey, water
resources branch, and the depth of snow measured at regular snow
courses. The picture was taken en route to the gauging station at
waiao lake in the Deschutes National forest, southwest of Bend
(Aubrey E. Perry Photo)
an extensive Copco rower de
velopment is now in progress on
the Upper .North Umpqua river
above and below Toketee falls
which is necessary to keeD ud
with the rapid growth of the
industrial development of south
western Oregon.
The survey has a stream flow
record at one of the several gaug
ing stations in the Toketee area
which dates back to 1908. These
records of discharge in the Un-
per North Umpqua basin were
used by the company in the de
sign of hydroelectric equipment
to be used in that area.
CABLEWAY METHOD Shown above is D. H. Giles, employed
in the Medford office of the surface water branch, Water Resources
division, U. S. Geological survey, suspended from a cableway at
Gold Ray dam on the Rogue river with a current meter (cups and
fin above bomb-like sounding weight). The meter is let down into
waici dim revoives irom tne speed of the water, measuring the !
velocity by timing a series of clicks through the earphones on the
operator. Meter reading results, plus the width and depth of the;
stream, gives the discharge in cubic feet per second. Other methods '
used in current meter tests are by wading, from a boat and from i
a bridge.
Other streams are currently
being investigated where no
power or irrigation development
is anticipated at the present; in
cluding spot measurements on
streams along the coast and in
land, which could be developed
for power or irrigation.
Takes No Sides
. In regard to basin develop
ment projects such as "Plan A"
and other questions dealing with
water, the survey does not enter
into or take sides on such ques
tions, but rather furnishes basic
information that can be used to
determine the feasibility of res
ervoirs, channel development,
soil treatment and flood fore
casting. This information on the stream
yield is published in the survey's
annual water survey papers. A
detailed report on the floods of
October and November, 1950, in
southwestern Oregon and north
western California is currently
being prepared and will be pub
lished as a special report to
make possible a detailed study
of the behavior of flood crests,
incidence of crests from differ
ent tributaries, and the progress
of flood crests throughout the
river system.
The survey's chief cooperator
is the state engineer who is rep
resented locally by the county
watermaster. The basic data used
by the survey is systematically
collected at stream-gauging sta
tions (see picture) where a rec
ord is kept of the river stage or
height, measurements taken of
discharge or quantity of flow,
and general information nspfnl
in determining the daily stream
flow.
Recorder Used
The record of stase is obtain
ed by either periodic readings on
a non-recording gauge or by a
water-stage recorder which pro
vides a continuous graph, of the
stage. The instrument used here
is a Stevens recorder, manufac
tured in Portland, and widely
used by various organizations
over the nation.
The instrument is housed near
the top of a wooden or concrete
tower (see picture), located on
the river bank. The elevated
structure is connected with the
river by pipes below the water
surface which keep the water
level of a well within the struc
ture the same as the river.
,A float on the surface of the
well regulates the pen on the re
corder's graph paper through a
system of lines and weights and
the pen thus draws a continuous
line showing both river stage
and time of the stage.
Discharge Measurements
Discharge measurements are
made by use of a current meter
(suspended below the cabiecar in
picture) held by the engineer
while wading if the stage per
mits, or from a boat, cableway,
or bridge. The meter, a series of
cups which revolve (similar to
wind velocity cups) from the
speed of the water, measures the
velocity by timing a series of
clicks through the earphones of
the operator.- The results of the
meter readings, plus the width
and depth of the stream, give
the discharge in cubic feet per
second at any particular stage.
A cubic foot per second repre
sents 449 gallons a minute.
After these measurements are
made at various low and high
water stages, the stream is rated
and a stage-discharge relation is
obtained. With this information
of discharge and stage, the daily
flows and runoff figures are com
puted.
Indirect Methods
At times when stations cannot
be reached during floods in the
daytime, or when they occur at
night, current meter measure
ments cannot be made. Selected
sites are then picked and the dis
charge is determined by indirect
methods, using a hydraulic for
mula jointly with the data from
the field survey.
Young pointed out that the
work during floods is sometimes
hazardous, owing to the nature
of the measurements and wea
ther conditions. Discharge meas
uring during flood stages is
"usually in the worst kind of
weather," he added, "and sta
tions in the remote areas are
only reached after a hard and
hazardous trip."
He noted that the survey lost
an engineer by drowning a few
years ago when his boat capsized
on the lower McKenzie river,
and that investigating engineers
risk their life during floods
when they sound from bridges
which may collapse at any min
ute, and from cablecars where
the sounding line can ; become
snagged by a log.
Danger is not always in flood
stages, Young continued. Last
winter one of the local engineers
was making a routine wading
measurement near Butte Falls
and "inadvertently stepped into
a hole which filled his waders
with water. The swift current
made it extremely difficult to
reach shore and he had a hard
time making it without drown
ing. The equipment was found
later after the near tragedy."
During the winter, measure
ments are often accomplished in
blizzard conditions.
Areas Vary
The gauging stations in this j
area are located at points that :
measure the flow draining from
areas ranging from 8.6 square j
miles (Powell creek near Wil
liams, Ore.) to 2,420 square i
miles on the Rogue river at the
Grants Pass station. Many of the
stations are reached by -automobile
over the main highways,
while others are reached by for
est service roads. A few are so
isolated that they can only be
reached in the winter by snow
vehicles or skis.
The survey uses a Tucker Sno
Cat (see picture), manufactured
at Medford, for its long trips into
the Cascade mountains where
stream flow investigations are
made and the depth of snow is
measured at regular snow
courses. The snow triDs are usu
ally made under adverse wea-!
ther conditions and occasionally
a storm will force the engineers
to hasten to previously stocked
cabins until the weather mod
erates. Winter Trips
Winter trips are made into a
Klamath drainage gauging sta
tion on Beaver creek, near Lake
O' Woods, by skis from the snow
line on the Dead Indian road.
Information from this trip is
gathered to show the yield of this
creek, now important to the Bu
reau of Reclamation which is
surveying it at the present time
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NORTHWEST ORTHOPEDIC &
SURGICAL SUPPLY CO.
2747 N. PACIFIC HIGHWAY Vx Mile North of Big Y
for a dam site to provide supple
mental irrigation water for Jack
son county. The station is 14
miles from the snow line and in
winter can only be reached un
der ideal weather conditions. ;
One of the longest continu
ously operated stations in the
state is the one situated on the
Rogue river at Gold Ray dam
between Bybee bridge and Gold
Hill. The station was established
in 1905 with the records provid
ing a "good picture of the be
havior of the Rogue river for the
past 46 years," according to the
engineer.
The maximum ' instantaneous
discharge for the period of rec
ord at this station was 91,500
cubic feet per second on Feb.
21, 1927. The minimum daily
discharge occurred on Sept. 6,
1931, when the river flowed at
the daily rate of 616 cubic feet a
second.
Wagon Trip
The next oldest station on the
Rogue river is still in operation
near Prospect. It was established
in 1907. A district engineer in
one of the southwestern districts
of the United States told Young
that at one time prior to 1910 he
visited this station by a horse
drawn wagon.
Other stream flow stations on
the main stem of the Rogue are
Robertson Delegate To Elks Conference
Harvey W. Robertson, 1955
Gregory road, left here Friday
located above Bybee creek near
Union creek, at Laurelhurst be
low the South Fo?k of the Rogue,
Dodge bridge (pictured), and
Grants Pass. Reconnaissance will
be made later this summer for
the establishment of a station in
the vicinity of Galice, Ore., near
the mouth of Grave creek.
Numerous gauges are in oper
ation on tributaries of the Rogue
and some of these streams have
more than one station.
for Salt Lake City, where he
is to attend a regional confer
ence of the district deputies of
the Elks lodge of 11 western
states. Robertson recently was
appointed district deputy, Grand
Exalted Ruler of Oregon South
for the lodge.
Robertson has served in all of
the offices of the local Elks
lodge and was exalted ruler for
1946-47. He served three years
as a trustee and has been on
numerous committees. Robert
son has also been active in Ore
gon State Elks association wor.
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DATE" NOW
For the
mis
Achievements
of 4-H-F.F.A.
Boys and Girls
On Parade!
URGE YOU TO ATTEND THE
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Sponsored by the Medford Rotary Club
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You'll ENJOY this fine showing of Jackson County's boys and girls mem
bers of 4-H Clubs and Future Farmers of America . . . you'll be PROUD of
their achievements . . . you'll lend encouragement to these thoroughly prac
tical, thoroughly American youth movements. Jorgensen's urge you to attend
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supporting these fine two organizations, in which boys and girls LEARN by
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