amount of about 2.0 billion cubic feet would be available, but the cost, from property damage alone, would be prohibitive. A large part of the business section of Saranac Lake village would be submerged, and about ten miles of new State road would have to be relocated. The project therefore is not considered feasible. Franklin Falls A small amount of storage has already been obtained at this place. By increasing the height of the dam by 10 feet, a total storage of about 0.35 billion cubic feet can be obtained without seriously interfering with the operation of the power plant. Union Falls About 0.50 billion cubic feet of storage is now available at this place. This amount can be doubled by increasing the height of the dam by 8 feet, but this increase would interfere somewhat with the operation of the Frankling Falls plant. Tefft Pond The amount of storage here available does not exceed 0.10 billion cubic feet, an amount so small that it can hardly be considered other than as pondage" for the proposed power development hereinafter described. Lake Kushaqua The North Branch is almost entirely lacking in reservoir possibilities, though a small amount of storage has been privately developed at Lake Kushaqua. The storage capacity of the lake does not exceed 0.15 billion cubic feet, and it cannot be materially increased. This storage is at present used chiefly for log driving in the spring, and under ordinary conditions, the reservoir is maintained at spillway level during the summer months. All of the small reservoirs above mentioned will be of some value in the regulation of the river, and collectively they can be so manipulated as to provide at least 1.0 billion cubic feet of storage. At present they are all under private control and they have not been considered in the estimates of streamflow and available power, shown in Table IV. This table shows the benefits which will result from the proposed Saranac Lake reservoir only. However, with these smaller reservoirs in use, even with present capacities, the total amount of power available will be somewhat higher than that shown in the table. Method of In the use of stored water through a number Operating Reservoirs of plants at various distances from a storage reservoir, it is obvious that, due to the inflow of tributary streams below the reservoir equally good regulation cannot be secured at all points. Each reservoir must be so regulated as to provide, as nearly as possible, a uniform year-round flow at some definite point on the stream. Under ordinary conditions this point should be so selected that, within the economic wheel installations at the various plants, a maximum amount of energy will be added to the stream as a whole. If, however, this plan is strictly followed, it may be necessary at certain times, while the reservoir is filling, to completely close the outlet gates, and thus entirely, or very nearly, shut off all flow from a plant located at, or near, the reservoir. Such would be the case with the power and pumping plants at Saranac lake. It will therefore be necessary to determine a just and equitable minimum flow which should be maintained at this point while the reservoir is filling, even though some plants at points further down stream have more water than they can use. At Saranac Lake, the average monthly flow for the lowest month each year for the past 11 years has amounted to about 100 cubic feet per second, and in 1908 the mean flow for the month of September amounted to only about 50 cubic feet per second. Therefore, for the purposes of this study, it has been tentatively assumed that the interests of all will be best served if a minimum flow of 100 cubic feet per second be maintained at this point while the reservoir is filling. This has the effect of shifting the period of low flow from the summer to the spring months. The following estimates of regulated flow are based on this method of operation. A careful study of the profile of the Saranac River, and of the power developments thereon, indicates that the proposed reservoir should be so operated as to give, as nearly as may be, an even flow at a point near the mouth of the North Branch. Therefore, in the following studies it has been assumed that the Saranac Lake reservoir will be operated for best results at the proposed Tefft Pond power development. On this basis, mass curves and the resulting "power-percentage-of-time" curves have been com |