River Survey

Abstract

IN a small pamphlet of a dozen pages (“A Note of the Work of River Flow Records.” River Flow Records. 6d.), Capt. W. N. McClean sets out a statement of the work performed by River Flow Records, the private organization of which he is the founder and director, during the period of its existence. The aim of River Flow Records, it is stated, is to obtain, in the area of a river system, records of water-levels of so comprehensive and accurate a character as to enable full information to be deduced therefrom respecting the flow and storage of water. Surveys on these lines have been carried out on the Rivers Garry, Moriston, Foyers, Oich and Ness in the Ness Basin; on the River Arkaig and Muccomer Cut in the Lochy Basin; on the River Spey and on the Aberdeenshire Dee, with results which have been detailed in a series of papers and publications. The pamphlet goes on to discuss several aspects of survey work, including water level stations, flow gauging, rainfall, temperature and wind, the compilation and presentation of records and the analysis and use of records. The author points out the influence of the work and experience gained by River Flow Records in the promotion and institution of an Inland Water Survey for Great Britain, which has been the outcome of a discussion in 1932 at the York meeting of the British Association. There are two appendixes dealing with mechanical details of river survey work.