APPENDIX X X. ANNUAL Report of THE CALIFORNIA DÉBRIS COMMISSION FOR THE CALIFORNIA DÉBRIS COMMISSION, San Francisco, Cal., July 1, 1897. GENERAL: The California Débris Commission has the honor to submit the following, its fifth annual report: The Commission was created by act of Congress approved March 1, 1893. During the past year its members have been the following offi cers of the Corps of Engineers, viz: Col. Charles R. Suter, president, Maj. Charles E. L. B. Davis, and Capt. Cassius E. Gillette, secretary. The State Débris Commissioner, the Hon. John F. Kidder, has been present at most of the sessions of the Commission, and has accompanied its members in visiting hydraulic mines. Mr. Hubert Vischer, civil engineer, has been in the employ of the Commission throughout the year, inspecting the operations of mines working under permits from the Commission, and looking after illegal mining in the district under the Commission's jurisdiction. The jurisdiction of the Commission extends to hydraulic mining in the territory drained by the Sacramento and San Joaquin river systems in California. The duties of the Commission may be briefly stated to be: First, the prevention of such hydraulic mining as may be deemed injurious to the navigable waters within the Commission's jurisdiction, permitting, under proper regulation, such mining in cases where it can be carried on without such injury; second, to mature general plans for the improvement of the rivers whose navigability has been injured by hydraulic mining, and, if practicable, to devise general methods whereby such mining may be carried on without damage to the navigable waters. PREVENTION OF ILLEGAL MINING. In accordance with the opinion of the Attorney-General of the United States (Appendix A, House Ex. Doc. No. 11, Fifty-third Congress, third session), the Commission has, since the date of its last annual report (July 1, 1896), called the attention of the owners and operators of ten mines, which were being worked illegally, to the requirements of the law and the duties of the Commission in the matter. So far as known, these mines have been closed, and in five cases applications have subsequently been made to the Commission for permits to mine. These mines are all small. On June 8, 1897, the Commission received notice from the United States district attorney that the injunction suit requested by the Commission on December 4, 1894, against the North Bloomfield Mining Company, had been decided by Judge Ross of the United States circuit court in favor of the United States, and that the injunction had 3961 been issued. On June 22 the Commission was informed that an appeal had been taken by the North Bloomfield Mining Company, and that their motion to vacate the injunction pending the appeal had been granted. Under these circumstances it is unknown when an injunction that will cause the cessation of the apparently illegal work of this conpany will be obtained. APPLICATIONS AND PERMITS. The Commission has, since it organized, received 311 applications to mine; 238 permits have been granted. A table showing a synopsis of the applications received and the action taken is appended and marked A. Eight permits have been canceled and 28 permits have been at different times temporarily suspended, generally on account of the neglect of the owners to comply with instructions concerning the impounding works, or from accidents to those works. Several of the smaller impounding dams have broken or have been damaged during the year, but none of any importance excepting the dam connected with the Manzanita Mine, near Sweetland, Nevada County. The permit for this mine was canceled January 19, 1897, for irregularities in its management. On January 25, the substantially built crib shaft connecting the settling pool above the dam with the tunnel underneath the dam collapsed from some unexplained cause, and the bulk of the material, about 130,000 cubic yards, stored above the dam, escaped or will eventually escape into the Yuba River. This fact, together with the alleged blowing up with dynamite of a number of large dams in Slate Creek, built before the Commission was appointed, illustrates the difficulty of securing permanent dams for large mines in streams of any magnitude, located, as most of them are, distant from inhabited neighborhoods, and dependent for their maintenance upon owners who have no direct interest in maintaining them. The total amount of material mined under permits during the year is estimated at 1,256,910 cubic yards. The available storage provided at present and partially or wholly completed for future operations is esti mated at 11,000,000 cubic yards. The requirements in respect to storage of detritus exacted by the Commission during the past year have been the same as those during the previous year. No dam for impounding detritus in the larger streams has as yet been authorized by the Commission. IMPROVEMENT OF RIVERS. The duty of devising plans for the improvement of the rivers concerned devolves upon the Commission by section 4 of the act. A Board, consisting of the same membership as the Commission, has been appointed, in accordance with the act of Congress approved June 3, 1896, and charged with essentially the same duties. Under the latter act the board has been making the necessary surveys of the Sacramento River. This work has not yet been completed. The same river and harbor act also provides: For the construction of restraining barriers for the protection of the Sacramento and Feather rivers in California, two hundred and fifty thousand dollars; such restraining barriers to be constructed under the direction of the Secretary of War in accordance with the recommendations of the California Débris Commission, pursuant to the provisions of and for the purposes set forth in section twenty-five of the act of the Congress of the United States entitled "An act to create the Californis is Commission and regulate hydraulic mining in the State of California," oved March first, eighteen hundred and ninety three: Provided, That the Treasof the United States be, and he is hereby, authorizea to receive from the State alifornia, through the Débris Commission of said State, or other officer thereduly authorized, any and all sums of money that have been or may hereafter ppropriated by said State for the purposes herein set forth; and said sums 1 so received are hereby appropriated for the purposes above named, to be nded in the manner above provided. he legislature of the State of California on March 17, 1897, passed ct appropriating $250,000 to be used in conjunction with the above ropriation of the United States. This act provides: Jenever said "California Débris Commission" or the Government of the United es shall have entered into any contract for the construction of works for the purdescribed in this act, in pursuance of plans and specifications that have been tofore approved by the State board of examiners as in this act provided, it be the duty of the Débris Commissioner to carefully inspect such works during process of their construction and to keep a record of the result of such inspecand to report the same monthly to the State board of examiners. Said Débris missioner shall also from time to time during the process of the construction of works, when requested so to do by the said "California Débris Commission," his warrants upon the State controller in favor of such person or persons as be designated by said "California Débris Commission" for such amounts as equal one-half of the cost of the construction of said works; and said Débris missioner shall in like manner, and when requested so to do by said "California is Commission," draw his warrant upon the State controller for an amount El to one-half the purchase price of any site or sites necessary for the construcof said works: Provided, That the purchase of such site or sites shall have been approved by the State board of examiners: And provided further, That no warrant I be drawn in excess of the amount appropriated by this act. 1 compliance with instructions from the Secretary of War, the Comsion has been developing a project for the expenditure of the money ropriated by the United States, and it is proposed to make this ject so that the money appropriated by the State can be expended ler it. The act of the California legislature referred to is appended eto, marked B. Money statement. e 30, 1897, amount unexpended of appropriation for "expenses of Balance.. e 30, 1897, amount appropriated by act of June 4, 18.7, for "expenses ount estimated to be necessary for expenses of the Commission to the $8,983.54 10.75 8,972.79 15,000.00 15,000.00 CHAS. R. SUTER, Colonel, Corps of Engineers. CHAS. E. L. B. DAVIS, Major, Corps of Engineers. CASSIUS E. GILLETTE, Captain, Corps of Engineers. |