analyses and special report on that subject, it actually matters little where the intake is located. The volume of flow of the river is so large in comparison with the amount of sewage discharged into it at Poughkeepsie that the latter is lost, even to delicate chemical tests, a few feet distant from the sewer outfalls. In the plans for which estimates have been made, however, the intakes have been located above the town, more in order to have these estimates large enough to cover all possible contingencies than because the facts in the case require such an arrangement.

The plans proposed are to build storage reservoirs in the upper Hudson Valley, take the water from the river several miles above Poughkeepsie, pump it up to the filter beds located on high land, and after purification to let it run to new covered reservoirs at New York. The plans proposed contemplate two plants of 250,000,000 gallons daily capacity each, one delivering the water, at the City line, 260 feet above sea level, and the other, 131.5 feet, which is the elevation of Jerome Park reservoir.

VI.

WALLKILL RIVER AS A SOURCE OF SUPPLY.

Wallkill River rises in the northern part of the State of New Jersey, a few miles south of the town of Sparta. Its general course is in a northeasterly direction, and it enters the State of New York about half way between the villages of Liberty Corner and Unionville. Flowing then through the Counties of Orange and Ulster, it joins Rondout Creek which empties into Hudson River at Kingston.

Just before reaching the State line the stream enters a broad, flat valley reaching to Phillipsburg, and varying from one to five miles in width. The floor of this valley is practically flat, both longitudinally and transversely, and its slope in the direction of the river flow is so slight that the valley is practically a lake during the spring rains. Several hills and ridges of small extent rise up from the floor of the valley, and are, in local parlance, called islands. During dry weather the waters drain

off the flats through the river and through several artificial drainage ditches.

The valley walls consist of high hills with steep sides. The hills on the west and north sides of the valley are of slate rock, with a thin covering of soil, while the hills on the easterly side are of granite, marble and limestone. The bottom of the valley is underlaid with a calciferous sandstone, cropping out in certain places, but generally covered with a few feet of black soil on top of the detritus with which the valley is filled. From the geological structure of the region it is to be inferred that all the rain falling on the watershed above Phillipsburg passes through the open river bed at that point with very little underground flow.

The valley floor is now nearly clear of timber, only from 20 to 30 per cent. being wooded. The cleared portions are used partly for raising grass and partly for corn and onions. These crops are not reliable, however, a rainy season often causing great loss to the farmers.

The valley is crossed by several roads built with State or town aid to afford cross communication at ordinary seasons. At the time of my first visit to the valley the water stood over the greater part of the road from Gardnerville to Pine Island about two feet deep, and had the water not been covered several inches in thickness with ice, the road would have been impassable.

The water of the reservoir as proposed would be as soft and as colorless as the Croton water. This conclusion is based on a knowledge of the local conditions, on a set of carefully made experiments and analyses, and on a study of the ground and surface flows of the streams. As the slope of the river is very slight, a rainy season will pile the water up in the flats more rapidly than the head thus acquired can force it out through the gap at Phillipsburg. These waters, however, drain off when the stream flow is small and the weather is dry.

It is proposed to erect a dam at Phillipsburg which will impound the waters of the river and flood these drowned lands from 20 to 30 feet in depth. The general elevation of the valley is about 390 feet above sea level. A dam which would raise the water level to elevation 410 would provide sufficient storage to make possible a daily draught of 250,000,000 gallons by

drawing the water in the reservoir down five feet. This would leave 15 feet of water over the bottoms at the lowest level to which it is drawn. The area of the watershed above Phillipsburg is 465 sq. miles. The area of the land submerged at elevation of 405 is 48.9 square miles, and at 410 it is 51.4 square miles, showing that only about 5 per cent. of the area is exposed by drawing down the reservoir enough to give a yield of 250,000,000 gallons daily. The amount of water impounded behind this dam would be, approximately, 200,000,000,000 gallons, of which 53,000,000,000 gallons would be available. This amount of storage would assure a daily yield of 615,000 gallons of water per square mile of land surface per day, or 254,000,000 gallons per day.

In view of the large area of the reservoir, and the possibility of algae and lily growths in the shallow places around the edges, it is proposed to filter the water before conducting it to New York.

The land which would be submerged is very sparsely populated, and with the exception of Florida, Hamburg and Deckertown, there are no villages of any importance near the valley. The sewage of Goshen and Middletown, which now enters streams flowing into the Wallkill above the point where the dam would be located, would be taken below the dam by means of sewers. The sewage of Florida, Deckertown and Hamburg would have to be purified before its discharge into the streams tributary to the lake. The other small hamlets, consisting of from three to a dozen houses, could easily be taken care of by purchase or otherwise, and there would be therefore nothing left to injuriously affect the purity of the water.

Since it is proposed to filter the water, it will not be necessary to remove the top soil of the submerged portions except in a few places, ample protection being afforded by simply clearing the land, grubbing out the roots, burning the grass and débris and then giving the area a general cleaning. The estimates of cost provide for a purchase of 70 square miles of country, which includes a strip of land around the edge of the lake wide enough to afford sufficient protection from contamination.

Of the land that it is proposed to submerge, not over 20 per cent. is at present, or has been in the past, under cultivation,

or of value for crops of any kind. The rest is now covered with water and rank growths of coarse grass, reeds and underbrush. Many drainage ditches intersect the flat areas, nearly all of which have been cleared to facilitate their drainage.

The hills surrounding the valley are dotted with dairy. farms, and the Lehigh & New England Railroad and Pine Island Branch of the Erie Railroad collect the milk and convey it to the markets. These railroadswould have to be re-located along the edge of the proposed lake, with crossings, embankments and bridges where required. It would also be necessary to build crossroads over the lake, with bridges, and roads along the margins. The expenses of all these items have been included in the estimates of cost.

The most expensive damages that will be incurred on account of land will be in the Village of Florida; about half of the village will have to be moved further up the hill.

There are several dams on Wallkill River, below the drowned lands, at which power is used for operating mills and factories.

At Phillipsburg, a low dam gives about 60 H. P. at low-water flow. Considerably less than this amount is now in use there.

Just below Montgomery Bridge there is a dam that will furnish about 100 H. P., and half a mile further down is another, from which about 120 H. P. can be obtained. Both powers are in use.

The principal developed power on the river, however, is at Walden, which is engaged in the manufacture of cutlery and similar wares. The population of the village is from 2,500 to 3,000 people, and its prosperity depends upon the water power that has been developed by two dams and which amounts, altogether, to about 500 H. P. at minimum low-water flow. At ordinary times the power available would be double this. The crippling of this power would seriously affect the community dependent on it. In the estimates, therefore, very liberal figures have been used and are thought to be sufficiently high to cover any method of compensation that might be adopted.

At Wallkill about 70 H. P. is available, at low water flow, but the considerable amount of storage in this pond would allow a higher power development than that given; the power is not at present in use.

The last dam is on Rondout Creek below the junction of

Wallkill River, at New Salem. This belongs to the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, and was built to create slackwater navigation in the river; it is not used for power.

The total power actually in use does not much exceed 1,000 H. P., although in some instances the plants have a capacity somewhat in excess of that needed for the minimum flow of the stream.

Some distance below the proposed dam at Phillipsburg, there is a suitable piece of ground on which the filter beds can be built. The plan proposed provides for the construction of covered filter beds, similar to those described for the Poughkeepsie projects, with all the necessary appurtenances, and an aqueduct leading from the filters to a new covered reservoir at New York 310 feet above sea level.

The water flows from the reservoir to the filters, then to the aqueduct, and thence to New York, by gravity, without the intervention of pumping machinery. No steam power will be required in connection with the works, as the power necessary to pump the water under pressure for the sand washers, and to provide for electric lighting, is to be generated by turbine wheels interposed between the dam and the filters, and operated by the water before filtration.

The filter beds have a reserve area of 20 per cent. to permit proper operation, and are designed to filter the water at the rate of 3,000,000 gallons per acre per day. For filtering 250,000,000 gallons daily, 133 beds, and for filtering 460,000,000 gallons daily, 245 beds are provided. They are each three-quarters of an acre in area and have the requisite sand runs, regulating chambers on inlets and outlets, sand washers, and equipment necessary for

economical service.

The estimates of cost are for the work complete, ready for service, with all needed appurtenances the best of their respective kinds.

The aqueduct from the filters to New York will be expensive, as it has very little "cut and cover" work, being nearly all either in tunnel or of pipe lines. It is not, however, a very difficult tunnel line to build, as shafts can be sunk at almost any desired point, and only in a distance of about three miles will they be excessively deep. The estimates of cost take into account these