submitted on the item contained in section 4 of the river and harbor act of August 8, 1917, as follows:

The Secretary of War is hereby authorized and directed to cause preliminary examinations and surveys to be made at the following-named localities.

*

Old River, Chambers County, Tex.

LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION.

2. Old River rises in the southwest corner of Liberty County, Tex. It flows in a general southerly direction and joins the Trinity River about 2 miles above the head of the delta, leading into the upper end of Galveston Bay. See U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey chart No. 204. The drainage area is about 175 square miles.

3. The total navigable length of the stream is about 21 miles with a ruling depth of about 2 feet at mean low tide; the shoal water is found in the upper end of what is known as Old River Lake, near the mouth. The ordinary fluctuation of the water surface is about seven-tenths of a foot, but a high storm tide, or an overflow in the Trinity River raises the level to as much as 3 feet above mean low water, while a strong "norther" in the winter sometimes lowers it almost as much.

4. The lands through which the river flows are fertile, being given up to rice growing and general farming; cattle, and hog raising. 5. The river may be divided into four natural sections as follows: Section 1: This section extends from the junction of Old River with the Trinity to Old Rover Lake, a distance of some 2 miles. The ruling depth through this section is about 9 feet at mean low tide. The banks are low, standing from 2 to 3 feet above the water surface and there are numerous snags visible in the bed, which have been carried in by rises of the Trinity River. The surrounding country is given up to stock raising, no farming being done.

Section 2: This consists of Old River Lake about 3 miles long and of a mile wide. The lake is shallow, the ordinary depths ranging from 2 to 3 feet. The channel is narrow and has a ruling depth of 2 feet at mean low tide. No marks indicate the channel until just before Old River, itself, is reached, where a few brush stakes are used. The land along the southern shore is farmed, that along the northern shore is given up to grazing.

Section 3: Beginning at the head of Old River Lake, this section extends to the dam belonging to the Old River Rice & Irrigation Co., a distance of 9 miles. For the first 6 miles the river is free of snags and overhanging timber, and carries a ruling depth of about 3.8 feet at mean low tide with a soft mud bottom; the channel is tortous. The banks gradually increase in height, from about 4 feet until they reach 6 or 8 feet some 3 miles below the dam; from this point to the dam (at mile 15) the timber thickens, overhanging trees are encountered, some snags are found, and the ruling depth is about 6 feet at mean low tide. The width varies from 140 feet near the head of the lake to about 75 feet at the dam. This is a crude structure of sheet piling and earth and is provided with a small lock on the right bank. It was constructed (under a permit granted by the Secretary of War, dated June 29, 1918), for the purpose of impounding fresh water for the Old River Rice & Irrigation Co.'s plant,

5 miles above. The river is connected with the Trinity, just above the dam, by Pickett Bayou.

Section 4: This is the last section and extends from the dam to the head of navigation, a distance of 6 miles. The river is tortuous and its banks, heavily timbered, vary in height from 8 to 10 feet. The snags become of frequent occurrence and the branches of the trees almost meet over the stream. The ruling depth through this section is about 11 feet at mean low tide. The width gradually decreases until the stream is only 55 feet wide at the head of navigation at mile 21.

6. On the right bank of the river, about 5 miles above the dam, the Old River Rice & Irrigation Co. have installed an extensive pumping plant, valued at about $100,000, with a capacity of about 60,000 gallons per minute. The plant irrigates between 10,000 and 12,000 acres of land. One mile above the pumping plant there are the remains of an old saw mill, now dismantled and abandoned.

7. The towns nearest the mouth of Old River are Anahuac, located on the eastern shore of upper Galveston Bay, 3 miles away, and Wallisville, on the left bank of the Trinity River, a few miles upstream. At the head of Old River Lake is the settlement of Cove, containing about 200 people. There are three small stores on the river between Cove and the pumping plant, in addition to four warehouses about equidistant from each other, maintained by the Rice & Irrigation Co.

8. No bridges cross the river within the limits of this examination, but three small ferries are in use.

WHAT IS DESIRED.

9. The relief desired by the parties interested in the development of the country tributary to Old River is a channel across Old River Lake, from opposite the settlement of Cove to the head of section 1, with a minimum depth of 5 feet at mean low tide. No complaints of the depths in the river through section 3 were made, probably due to the very soft bottom existing through the shoal portion of the section. It is claimed that, owing to the present shoal water in Old River Lake, commerce on the river has practically been abandoned since the end of 1918. It is further stated that nearly all supplies are received overland from Cedar Bayou, about 8 miles west of the river. The exports are shipped over the same route and the stores and the rice industry have instituted automobile truck lines to meet the needs of commerce.

PREVIOUS REPORTS.

10. The only previous report on this stream resulted from an examination made October 4, 1910, and is printed as House Document No. 351, Sixty-third Congress, third session. It was unfavorable.

WORK PREVIOUSLY DONE.

11. No work has been done on Old River by the Government. It is reported that a cut 50 feet wide and about 8 feet deep was made some 12 years ago through the shallowest part of Old River Lake. Little

trace of it now remains; its existence is only shown by the extremely soft bottom, as compared with the general lake bottom. This work was done by private interests, a dipper dredge being used.

COMMERCIAL STATISTICS.

12. The only arguments or statistics received from local interests are inclosed herewith. From these it appears that the value of the incoming and outgoing river-borne freight in 1918 was about $206,000, equally divided, and employed 8 motor boats and 10 barges of from 20 to 40 feet in length. It is further stated that the annual value of the river-borne freight reached as high as $400,000 between the years 1906 and 1912. Ten thousand barrels of fuel oil, it is stated, are used annually by the Old River Rice & Irrigation Co., but the majority of this now comes overland from the Goose Creek oil fields, 7 or 8 miles west of the river.

The only statistics that could be obtained for water-borne freight were for the calendar year 1918, and were furnished by C. T. Joseph, whose letter is inclosed. The accuracy of these statements could not be checked by this office.

1

13. There are no public wharves or terminal facilities on the river. Four small privately owned wharves are available, however, to all on equal terms. The wharves are of light construction and are provided with no labor-saving devices or railway connections. No public lands are available for wharf construction.

1 Not printed.

WATER POWER.

14. There is no water power development possible that could be considered in connection with the improvement of the river and to lessen the cost to the United States.

LAND RECLAMATION, ETC.

15. There is no question of land reclamation or other development which could be coordinated to lessen improvement costs to the United States.

GENERAL DISCUSSION.

16. In order to provide the relief desired by parties interested in the commercial development of Old River, it will be necessary to excavate a channel about 5 feet deep at mean low tide, and about 70 feet wide on bottom, through Old River Lake for a distance of 34 miles, and to clear out the channel through section 3 for a distance of about 6 miles to a depth of 5 feet at mean low tide. Some small amount of snagging and cutting of overhanging timber will also be necessary for that portion of the river between mile 10 and mile 21. Nothing is proposed above mile 21.

17. The above, it is believed, would prove adequate for the needs of commerce for the next five years or more, and would provide the relief sought by the territory tributary to the stream.

RECOMMENDATIONS.

18. The Old River Rice & Irrigation Co., the parties who have the largest interests in the river, have shown so little interest in its improvement that they have arswered none of the letters from this office on the subject. In view of this lack of interest, of the small number of people living on or near the stream, of the fact that Old River lies between the Trinity River on the east and Cedar Bayou on the west, both of which are navigable, that the territory east of Old River is of little commercial value, that the country between Old River and Cedar Bayou (a strip about 9 to 10 miles wide) as already an outlet in the latter, and that the distance to Houston is 20 and to Galveston 10 miles longer by way of Old River than by Cedar Bayou, it is recommended that Old River, Chambers County, Tex., be considered not worthy of improvement at this time.

INCLOSURES.

19. There are inclosed herewith letters from Messrs. C. T. Joseph and E. P. Hill, of Cove, Tex., and Mr. J. H. Broussard, of Anahuac, Tex., together with a map of the stream from the head of Galveston Bay o the head of navigation on the river. A copy of the notice of the unfavorable report and list1 of parties to whom sent is also inclosed.

SPENCER COSBY, Colonel, Corps of Engineers.

1 Not printed.

[First indorsement.]

OFFICE OF DIVISION ENGINEER,

GULF DIVISION,

New Orleans, La., July 19, 1919.

To the CHIEF OF ENGINEERS, UNITED STATES ARMY.

1. Forwarded.

2. This locality was inspected by the division engineer July 10,

1919.

3. Old River is a tributary of Trinity River, emptying into the latter just above the Trinity delta. From 2 to 5 miles above its mouth, Old River flows through Old River Lake, where the channel is both narrow and shallow, the ruling depth being 2 feet at mean low water. Below the lake the river has a ruling depth of 9 feet. Above the lake the navigable portion of the river has a length of about 15 miles and a ruling depth of about 3.8 feet, with long stretches, where the ruling depth is from 6 to 11 feet. In its upper portion the river narrows to a width of 55 feet at the head of navigation and is obstructed by numerous snags and overhanging trees. At a point 15 miles above the mouth the river is obstructed by a dam built to facilitate rice irrigation. Navigation is provided for by a

small lock.

4. An unfavorable report on the river was made in 1910. A cut 8 feet deep and 50 feet wide is said to have been made across Old River Lake about 12 years ago by private interests. The cut is now practically obliterated.

5. The only town on the stream is Cove, a settlement of about 200 people at the upper end of the lake. The land along the stream is used for farming and grazing. The chief exports from the locality are lumber, firewood, live stock, and farm produce. Incoming freight is reported as consisting chiefly of oil, lumber, shell, and general merchandise. The total commerce in 1918 appears to have been about 8,000 tons. This freight is handled mostly by way of Cedar Bayou, which is about 8 miles west of the river.

6. The improvement desired is a channel across Old River Lake with a depth of 5 feet at mean low water. Some snagging and cutting of overhanging trees would also be required in other parts of the stream. These improvements would enable the storekeepers at Cove to bring in supplies without delay. The amount of commerce of this kind that would profit by the improvement is very small. The largest interests on the river, those engaged in rice growing, have not shown any concern over the subject of improvement of the river. The number of people near the stream is small, and the locality has outlets by the Trinity River to the east and Cedar Bayou to the west. The distance to Galveston by way of Cedar Bayou is 10 miles shorter than by Old River.

7. For these reasons, I concur with the district engineer in reporting Old River as not worthy of improvement by the United States. HERBERT DEAKYNE,

Lieutenant Colonel, Corps of Engineers, Division Engineer. [For report of the Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors, see p. 2.]