Report of the Joint board consisting of the Metropolitan park commission and the State board of health : upon the improvement of Charles River from the Waltham line to the Charles River bridge. April, 1894.

  • Massachusetts. Joint Board upon Improvement of Charles River.
Date:
1894
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the Joint board consisting of the Metropolitan park commission and the State board of health : upon the improvement of Charles River from the Waltham line to the Charles River bridge. April, 1894. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    1894.] Table showing the Comparative Flow of the Charles and Sudbury Rivers driv- ing the Week of the Great Freshet in February, 1880. DATK. Total Flow. Flow her Sq. Mile. CHARLES RIVER. Sudbury River. Charles River. Sudbury River. At Waltham. Through Mother Brook. Total. Friday, Feb. 12, . Sat., “ 13, . Sun., “ 14, . Mon., “ 15, . Tues., “ 16, . Wed., “ 17, . Thurs., “ 18, . Totals and avs., Cubic Feet per Second. 1,216 4,365 4,900 4,900 4,900 4,900 4,476 Cubic Feet per Second. 223 802 900 900 900 900 822 Cubic Feet per Second. 1,439 5,167 5,800 5,800 5,800 5,800 5,298 Cubic Feet per Second. 1,421 3,086 1,992 1,296 825 663 553 Cubic Feet per Second. 5.8 20.2 23.4 23.4 23.4 23.4 21.4 Cubic Feet per Second. 18.9 41.0 26.5 17.2 10.9 8.8 7.4 29,657 5,447 35,104 9,836 20.2 18.7 The total watershed above the point of measurement at Waltham is 248.1 square miles, and of the Sudbury above the point of measurement, 75.2 square miles. The results given in the table show clearly the conservative character of the How of the Charles River during freshets. They also show that the total flow per square mile from the Charles during the whole week was somewhat greater than from the Sudbury, notwithstanding the much higher flow of the Sudbury when the freshet was at its height. The slight difference between the week’s flow per square mile of the Charles and Sudbury can be more than accounted for by the difference in the rainfall upon the two watersheds. The rainfall during this storm was greatest in Rhode Island and dimin- ished rapidly going toward the northwest until it was only an ordinary rainfall in the northwesterly part of Massachusetts. The average rainfall at points on or near the Charles River watershed was 5.57 inches and the rainfall on the Sudbury River watershed was 4.64 inches. If two inches are added in each ease to allow for the water derived from melted snow, the relative average flow of the Charles and Sudbury during the whole freshet should have been as 21.3 to 18.7. It is proba- ble that the relative quantities would have been very nearly as given in the table if another day’s flow had been included,