Collection: Books and Periodicals > Nevada County Historical Society Bulletins

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Title: Volume 052-2 - April 1998 Collection Type: Books and Periodicals Collection Name: Nevada County Historical Society Bulletins # of Pages: 8 Download PDF: User Login Required Download OCR Text: User Login Required

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Original Held At: Searls Historical Library Location: 161 Nevada City Hwy, Nevada City, CA 95959

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can be accomplished without injury to the navigability of said rivers or the land adjacent thereto. The commission was an extremely powerful body and in cases dealing with hydraulic mining, it constituted judge, jury and executioner. In 1893 the California legislature passed its own version of something like the Caminetti Bill, which Governor Markham signed. In July 1893 the governor appointed John F. Kidder as the state Debris Commissioner. Mr. Kidder was better known as the operator and primary owner of the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad that ran between Colfax and the twin cities of Grass Valley and Nevada City. Mr. Kidder’s duties (for which he was paid $300 a year) were to consult with and advise the Corps of Engineers Debris Commission. Kidder was to examine and pass upon the merits of solutions for the resumption of hydraulic mining interests and to keep a record of such determinations. He also had custody of $250,000 appropriated by the legislature to build such dams if Congress appropriated an equal amount. Initially the federal commission was hampered by a lack of funds, but the commission still had the aura that accompanied significant power. Miners and farmers both looked to the federal commission for authority and direction. Once the federal Debris Commission was funded, it acted decisively and competently. By 1900 hydraulic mining in the foothills was reduced to yo minor workings. Even though the federal Debris Commission issued 800 permits between 1893 and 1935, the mines that were active were never so numerous as in the old days. This could be attributed to several situations: water was not available in the quantities necessary for many operations; much of the experienced work force had moved out of the area; and finally, because many of the large operations could not prove to the Debris Commission’s satisfaction that they could control their debris, they were denied permits. In 1898 the federal commission sent a civilian assistant engineer, Hubert Vischer, to examine the potential for erecting a dam at the Upper Narrows on the South Fork of the Yuba River. Vischer spent a year preparing estimates and designing a dam and diversion project for carrying debris material to a settling basin 28 miles distant. The report became known as the “1898 Project.” At that time the Narrows site for a dam was considered unfavorable because of the following conditions: 1. difficulty and expense of obtaining suitable foundations 2. limited storage capacity of the contemplated dam/reservoir 3. uncertainty of being able to store the lighter debris and none of immense quantity lying in the river bed below the down (dam?) site /™ 4. the excessive cost of the entire project (over a million dollars) As a result of the dissatisfaction with the “1898 Project,” NCHS Bulletin April 1998 attention was given to the possibility of storing the debris within the river bed. This became known as the “1899 Project.” In June 1902 an act of Congress was approved to restrain the debris in the bed of the South Fork of the Yuba River. As initially drawn, the plan envisioned four barriers being built across the river, the dredging of a settling basin and the building of training walls to guide the river in the desired course. In addition a cut was to be made through the promontory in the river known as Daguerre Point to provide an overflow channel. Daguerre Point is roughly twelve miles below the site of the present dam forming Lake Englebright. The small barrier dams consisted of fascines placed across the width of the river. Each fascine was about a foot in diameter and consisted of brush and strong poles one inch in diameter and wired together every three feet. The fascines were aligned with the flow of the river and were raised above normal water level. The pockets in the fascines were to trap debris particles. In retrospect, this appears to be a naive stop-gap measure. Subsequent winter storms destroyed all of the barrier dams with the result that engineering was concentrated at the Daguerre Point cut. There a concrete dam and spillway was constructed and with improvements in the channel, the dam was found to be partially effective in preventing tailings delivered at Marysville. This work was not completed until 1935 and stands to the present day. In 1925 state legislation created the California State Hydraulic Mining Commission, which was charged with the examination of the feasibility of resuming hydraulic mining. While this commission did issue a report favoring a resumption of hydraulic mining and suggesting that three dams be built on the affected rivers and the purchase of storage capacity behind Bullards Bar Dam on the North Fork of the Yuba River, there was sufficient opposition to insure that no funds were committed to the project. The commission did gain some recognition by listing the benefits that would result from the building of the dams and the resumption of hydraulic mining. These benefits were: 1, Revival of Nevada and Placer Counties due to increased employment. 2. Increased revenue for the valley due to orders for machinery and supplies. 3. Development of water supplies. 4. Protection of farm lands. 5. Prevention of natural debris from reaching the navigable river channels. 6. Dams would provide water for irrigation and power. These benefits sounded most attractive during the depression years. THE DAM IN 1935, WITH THE AID OF Congressman Harry Englebright of Nevada County, Congress approved the development of storage facilities on the Yuba, Bear and American 13