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Show This will require the development of a network of precipitation stations carefully located to reliably sample the rates and amounts of precipitation in each area. From these and other data the amounts and variability in water supply for each area can be determined. EXPANSION OF THE NETWORK OF STREAM- GAGING STATIONS TO SECURE ADEQUATE COVERAGE THE PROGRAM CONTAINS PROVISIONS FOR A MARKED EXPANSION OF GROUND- WATER ACTIVITIES II. STREAM GAGING Present program.- Stream- gaging stations have been established on the Nation's principal rivers and on many of the smaller streams. Records of daily, monthly, and yearly streamflow are obtained in terms of cubic feet per second from which the number of acre- feet can be calculated. The branches of the larger streams and many small streams are without gaging stations. Most of the records are of short duration and the newer sections of the country are especially deficient in coverage. National water resources basic- data program.- The program provides for an expansion of the network of stream- gaging stations to secure adequate coverage for Federal and other water resources development projects. Additional stations will be established and research conducted to enlarge the scope and improve the accuracy of data on surface stream flow. III. GROUND WATER Present program.- The present Federal program in ground water, carried on almost exclusively by the Geological Survey extends to only a small fraction of the ground- water basins of the country. This program is almost 100 percent cooperative, under which appropriations must be used on a matching basis with States and municipalities. Predominantly, current projects involve trouble areas and are usually undertaken at the request of the States and municipalities only after difficulties from failing ground- water resources have already developed. The present program does not provide for careful studies which are prerequisite to wise use of subsurface water resources. Especially lacking are facilities required for - ( a) Broad studies designed to explore and develop the basic principles and science of ground water hydrology. ( b) The study of ground- water problems involved in the extensive Federal projects now under way in nearly all of the drainage basins of the country. Federal projects for water resource development are restricted almost exclusively to surface streams. ( c) Subsurface water resources are neglected and the interrelations between surface and subsurface stream flow and storage have been determined in only a small percentage of the drainage basins. ( d) Broad explorations needed to reveal the full extent of the hidden and unutilized ground water resources, which by geological inference are known to be extensive, are not possible under the present limited program. National water resources basic- data program.- The program contains provisions for a marked expansion of ground- water activities of the Geological Survey in both cooperative and noncooperative phases of the program. Provisions are made for the development of ground- water programs in connection with all Federal projects sufficient to provide a complete understanding of the 28 |