OCR Text |
Show 244 Sudden floods and cloudbursts occur in September and other fall months and water rises from one inch to forty and fifty feet. These floods occur usually every year at that season. During these floods all of the loose sands from the washes are dumped into the San Juan River, and chokes the river entirely across. R. 618- 620. " Q. Where? " A. At Cottonwood, at Recapture, across between Monte-zuma and Bluff on the south side of the river; in all of them, in fact." R. 620. " Q. What effect does this discharge of sand in the river have upon the river bed? " A. I don't know what effect is has on the river bed; cobble rocks and stuff comes down in these discharges, and it will take the river some five of six days to clean it up and wash it out; gets around the end of this delta, keeps caving it in; a lot of times there will be mud balls that roll down and cobble rocks. " Q. What do you mean by mud balls? " A. Up in the clay washes there will be a clay bank cave off, a small one, the water in the flood will start to rolling that piece of clay, and it will pick up other pieces of clay, and get as big as the from wheel of a wagon. This will be composed of all kinds of sediment, cobble rocks, clay, sand, all rolled into a big mud ball; that is all washed into the river and they stay longer than the loose sand does. But in time the river cleans that all off, takes the rock and clay balls too, and gets back to its natural channel. |