The Passaic Flood of 1903

Part 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

MARSHALL ORA LEIGHTON

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.

Part 2

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 the same time in different parts of the basin. For example, the gage-height records at Dundee dam show that the flood began to rise on October 8 at 6.30 a. m., and reached a maximum of 9-1/2 inches over the dam crest at 9 p. m. on October 10. Similarly, on Beattie's dam at Little Falls the flood began to rise at midnight on October 7, and reached its maximum at 2 p. m. on October 10, or about thirty-eight hours after the initial rise, the height of the water being 1.29 inches over the crest of the dam.

The flood rose on the highland tributaries as follows: On Ramapo River the flood crest passed Hillborn at about 10 a. m. on October 9 and reached Pompton, at the mouth of the river, shortly after noon of the same day.

The highest reading recorded on the Geological Survey gage at the feeder of Morris Canal, in Pompton Plains, was 14.3 feet, at about 6 o'clock on the morning of October 10. As this gage is read only once daily it is probable that this reading does not represent the height of the flood crest. Evidence shows that it passed this point on the previous day. Records of the Newark water department show that the flood on Pequanac River began to rise at Macopin dam on October 8 at noon, and rose rapidly to the maximum of 6,000 cubic feet per second at 4 p. m. on October 10.

No records are available with reference to the rise of flood on Wanaque River.

Observations made on Pompton Plains on the morning of the 11th show that Pompton River was well within its banks at that time; therefore the Ramapo, Wanaque, and Pequanac must have discharged their flood waters some time previous to this hour. The fact is important when considered in connection with the height of water in the main stream at that period. This observation was made only eighteen hours after the maximum height over Beattie's dam at Little Falls, and twelve hours after the flood crest passed Dundee dam. The conditions here outlined illustrate the rapidity with which flood waters are discharged from the Pompton drainage area, and the deterring effect of Great Piece Meadows upon the flood.

The rise of the flood on Rockaway River at Old Boonton was almost coincident with that on Pequanac River at Macopin dam. The maximum flow occurred fourteen hours later than the maximum on the Ramapo at Pompton.

The flood crest did not reach Chatham on upper Passaic River until the morning of October 11, or about twenty-four hours later than the flood heights in Pompton and Rockaway rivers, and about twelve hours later than the maximum over Dundee dam.

Adequate reasons for these differences in flood periods between neighboring points are abundant. They are apparent after a review of the physiographic conditions described in Water-Supply Paper No. 88.

The flood of 1903 was the immediate result of an enormous rainfall, and not, as is often the case in north temperate latitudes, the combined effect of rainfall and the rapid melting of accumulated snows. The records of weather-observation stations in northern New Jersey and New York fail to show, throughout their entire observation periods, as great an amount of precipitation in so short a period. The storm which was the immediate cause of the flood occurred principally between October 8 and 11. During that interval rain fell to an average depth of 11.74 inches over the Passaic Basin.

The Passaic Basin is fairly well supplied with storage facilities, which, under ordinary circumstances, would temper the severity of floods by holding back a large amount of water. In this case no such effect was produced, as the reservoirs, lakes, and ponds on the drainage area were filled, or practically so, at the beginning of the storm, and there was consequently no available space in which to hold back even an appreciable part of the run-off water. Over some of the dams in the highland region a comparatively small amount of water was being discharged at the beginning of the storm. Therefore, while these storage basins may have had a certain deterring effect upon the rate of flood accumulation, they could not, in the end, assist materially in preventing damages in the lower part of the drainage area.

PRECIPITATION.

The precipitation records for June, July, August, and September are given below:

Precipitation, in inches, in Passaic Valley and vicinity, June to September, 1903.

-----------------+--------------+--------------+--------------+------------ | June. | July. | August. | September. -----------------+--------------+--------------+--------------+------------ |Normal. |Normal. |Normal. |Normal. | Observed.| Observed.| Observed.| Observed. -----------------+--------------+--------------+--------------+------------ Highland region: | | | | | | | | Dover | 3.29 | 15.02 | 5.54 | 5.47 | 5.08 | 9.04 | 4.02 | 3.39 Chester | 3.48 | 12.80 | 6.42 | 7.59 | 5.16 | 9.35 | 4.60 | ... Charlotteburg | 3.52 | 9.45 | 5.54 | 3.97 | 4.98 | 7.78 | 4.80 | 3.29 Ringwood | ... | 10.13 | ... | 3.08 | ... | 6.17 | ... | 3.06 Red Sandstone | | | | | | | | plain: | | | | | | | | Paterson | 4.31 | 11.17 | 5.32 | 5.40 | 4.31 | 10.89 | 4.86 | 2.88 Hanover | 3.32 | ... | 5.23 | 5.40 | 5.20 | 9.40 | 4.52 | ... River Vale | 3.17 | 10.62 | 4.87 | 3.41 | 4.17 | ... | 3.61 | 2.90 Essex Fells | 3.08 | ... | 7.03 | ... | 5.95 | ... | 3.67 | 1.80 Newark | 3.60 | 11.51 | 4.48 | 4.27 | 4.75 | 14.54 | 3.83 | 4.56 South Orange | 3.57 | 9.28 | 5.43 | 4.22 | 5.05 | 13.75 | 4.04 | 3.80 New York City | 3.13 | 7.42 | 4.26 | 3.23 | 4.70 | 5.96 | 3.72 | 2.60 Plainfield | 3.62 | 10.14 | 5.86 | 4.70 | 4.37 | 6.87 | 4.42 | 7.10 Elizabeth | 3.68 | 8.76 | 5.74 | 4.31 | 4.26 | 7.15 | 4.14 | 4.38 -----------------+--------------+--------------+------|-------+------+-----

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