drainage area is mostly in the wheat-growing districts of eastern Washington; it is bare of vegetation, with the exception of occasional pine trees, and the stream is subject to very radical differences in flow. It is believed that there will be no serious difficulty in diverting the waters of Palouse River so as to irrigate those portions of the Big Bend lands lying below 800 feet elevation. The feasibility of using this stream for the reclamation of lands near Big Bend will depend upon whether storage capacity can be found sufficient to retain all of the flood waters. A station was established on Palouse River September 9, 1897. Following is a list of discharge measurements for the years 1897, 1898, 1900, 1902, and 1903: Date. Discharge measurements of Palouse River at Hooper, Wash. Hydrographer. Columbia River on the north and west and Snake River on the south of the irrigable area flow through steep and rocky gorges too low to be feasible for irrigation purposes except by pumping. Spokane River flowing from Lake Coeur d'Alene, whose elevation is 2,124 feet, is separated from the irrigable area by the basaltic ridge above mentioned. It flows in a general easterly direction and enters Columbia River at the point where the Columbia changes its course from south to west. A gaging station was established on this river at Spokane, August 27, 1896. The principal branches of Spokane River flowing into Lake Coeur d'Alene, St. Joseph and Coeur d'Alene rivers, rise in the Bitterroot Mountains. The drainage area is wholly mountainous, the lower portions being covered with a dense growth of timber. Following is a list of discharge measurements for the years 1896 1900: Discharge measurements of Spokane River at Spokane, Wash. The estimated run-off and discharge for the years 1898-1902 are shown in the following table: Discharge of Spokane River at Spokane, Wash. [Estimated drainage area, 4,005 square miles.] |