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SACRAMENTO AND SAN JOAQUIN RIVERS, CAL.

HEARINGS ON THE SUBJECT OF THE
IMPROVEMENT OF THE SACRAMENTO AND
SAN JOAQUIN RIVERS, CAL.

HELD ON BOARD THE S. S. "COLUSA"
JULY 23 AND 24, 1915, BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON RIVERS AND HARBORS

U.S. Congress, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

1136

Patio

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STATEMENTS

OF

HON. CHARLES F. CURRY

A Representative in Congress from the State of California

HON. V. S. MCCLATCHY

President of the State Reclamation Board

CAPTAIN A. E. ANDERSON
President of the California Transportation Co.

MAJOR P. J. HARNEY

President of the Sacramento Transportation Co.

MAJOR L. H. RAND

Corps of Engineers of the United States Army, and Secretary
of the California Débris Commission

MR. C. E. GRUNSKY

Consulting Engineer of the State Reclamation Board

MR. P. DRESCHER

MR. G. A. ATHERTON

WASHINGTON

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

D. of D. FEB 4 1916

HE 393 A13 1916

SACRAMENTO AND SAN JOAQUIN RIVERS, CAL.

ON BOARD THE S. S. "COLUSA,"

ON THE SACRAMENTO AND SAN JOAQUIN RIVERS,

July 24, 1915.

The following members of the Committee on Rivers and Harbors, House of Representatives of the United States, were present: Stephen M. Sparkman, Florida, chairman; George F. Burgess, Texas; Charles G. Edwards, Georgia; John H. Small, North Carolina; Thomas Gallagher, Illinois; Charles Lieb, Indiana; William Kettner, California; William E. Humphrey, Washington; Charles A. Kennedy, Iowa; Robert M. Switzer, Ohio; Allen T. Treadway, Massachusetts; William C. Brooker, clerk; Joseph H. McGann, assistant clerk.

Appearing before the committee were Hon. Charles F. Curry, a Representative in Congress from the State of California; Hon. V. S. McClatchy, president of the State reclamation board; Capt. A. E. Anderson, president of the California Transportation Co.; Maj. P. J. Harney, president of the Sacramento Transportation Co.; Maj. L. H. Rand, Corps of Engineers, United States Army, secretary of the California Débris Commission; Mr. C. E. Grunsky, consulting engineer of the State reclamation board, and Messrs. P. Drescher and G. A. Atherton.

Mr. CURRY. We have with us Mr. C. E. Grunsky, one of the leading river and harbor engineers in the United States, and the consulting engineer of the State reclamation board. He is really the originator of the proposed plan for the improvement of these waterways, and is therefore well able to explain it. He will answer any questions the members of the committee may propound.

STATEMENT OF MR. C. E. GRUNSKY, CONSULTING ENGINEER OF THE STATE RECLAMATION BOARD.

Mr. GRUNSKY. The problems of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers are like the problems on every other large river in the world, and yet they are different, because no two river systems present exactly the same conditions. The flood waters that come into the great California Valley are due to winter rains. Our climate is peculiar. We have no summer storms. A heavy winter rain causes the streams to flash up quickly. And such a rain falling on the snows of the Sierra Nevada and coast range produces the occasional extreme conditions.

The floods with which we are concerned occur with greatest frequency in December, January, February, and March, rarely later. During the summer months the rivers gradually fall to a low stage. Floods are not usually of long duration. The maximum flow presents itself quite suddenly, lasts for a short time, and then the river falls gradually.

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