The Passaic Flood of 1903

፰
Passaic Flood of 1903, by Marshall Ora Leighton

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Title: The Passaic Flood of 1903
Author: Marshall Ora Leighton
Release Date: November 20, 2006 [EBook #19878]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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Water-Supply and Irrigation Paper No. 92 Series M, General Hydrographic Investigations, 8
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CHARLES D. WALCOTT, DIRECTOR
THE PASSAIC FLOOD OF 1903
BY
MARSHALL ORA LEIGHTON
[Illustration]
WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1904

CONTENTS.
Page. Letter of transmittal 7
Introduction 9
Precipitation 11
Descent of flood 14 Highland tributaries and Central Basin 14 Flood at Macopin dam 15 Flood at Beattie's dam, Little Falls 16 Flood flow over Dundee dam 17
Damages 23 General statements 23 Highland tributaries 23 Ramapo River 23 Pequanac and Wanaque rivers 24 Central Basin 25 Lower Valley 25 Paterson 26 Passaic and vicinity 27
Preventive measures 28 General discussion 28 Lower valley improvements 29 Flood catchment 31 Pompton reservoir 31 Ramapo system 33 Wanaque system 34 Midvale reservoir 34 Ringwood reservoir 35 West Brook reservoir 35 Pequanac system 35 Newfoundland reservoir 36 Stickle Pond reservoir 36 Rockaway system 37 Powerville reservoir 37 Longwood Valley reservoir 37 Splitrock Pond 38 Upper Passaic Basin 38 Millington reservoir 38 Saddle River 39 Summary of flood-catchments projects 40 Preferable reservoir sites 40
General conclusions 44
Index 47

ILLUSTRATIONS.
Page. PLATE I. A, Beattie's dam, Little Falls, N. J., in flood; B, Flood-water lines in residence district, Paterson, N. J. 16
II. A, Pompton Lakes dam and water front of Ludlum Steel and Iron Company; B, Dry bed of Pompton Lake 24
III. Flood district of Paterson, N. J. 24
IV. A, Washout at Spruce street, Paterson, N. J.; B, River street, Paterson, N. J., after flood 26
V. A, Effects of flood in mill district, Paterson, N. J.; B, The wreck of a hotel in Paterson, N. J. 26
VI. A, Devastation in Hebrew quarter, Paterson, N. J.; B, A common example of flood damage 28
VII. A, Inundated lands at Passaic, N. J.; B, Undamaged bridge across Passaic River after partial subsidence of flood 28
FIG. 1. Comparative flood run-off at Dundee dam, March, 1902, and October, 1903 18
2. Diagram of flood flow at Dundee dam, flood of 1903 20

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, HYDROGRAPHIC BRANCH,
Washington, D. C., December 4, 1903.
SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith a manuscript entitled, "Passaic Flood of 1903," prepared by Marshall Ora Leighton, and to request that it be published as one of the series of Water-Supply and Irrigation Papers.
This paper is a continuation of Water-Supply and Irrigation Paper No. 88, by George B. Hollister and Mr. Leighton, and describes the flood of October, 1903, which was higher and far more disastrous than the flood of 1902. The occurrence of two great floods in the same basin during so short a period makes the subject worthy of attention, especially as the district is, from a manufacturing and commercial standpoint, one of the most important along the Atlantic coast.
Very respectfully,
F. H. NEWELL, Chief Engineer.
HON. CHARLES D. WALCOTT Director United States Geological Survey.

THE PASSAIC FLOOD OF 1903.
By MARSHALL O. LEIGHTON.
INTRODUCTION.
In the following pages is given a brief history of the disastrous flood which occurred in the Passaic River Basin in October, 1903. In the report by George Buell Hollister and the writer, entitled "The Passaic Flood of 1902," and published by the United States Geological Survey as Water-Supply and Irrigation Paper No. 88, are discussed the principal physiographic features of the drainage basin and their general relations to the stream flow. This report will not repeat this information, and the discussion will be confined to the flood itself. References to local features will be made without explanation, the presumption being that this publication shall accompany the earlier one and be, as it is, a continuation of it. In the present report more attention is given to an estimate of damages than in the earlier work, and remedies by which devastation may be avoided are briefly considered.
Passaic River overflowed its banks on October 8, 1903, and remained in flood until October 19. Between these dates there occurred the greatest and most destructive flood ever known along this stream. Ordinarily the channel of the lower Passaic at full bank carries about 12,000 cubic feet of water per second, but at the height of this flood it carried about 35,700 cubic feet per second.
The flood period for the entire stream can not be exactly stated, as the overflow did not occur at