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Show vicinity of Washington and Great Falls, was en- dorsed by the Federal Power Commission. Savage River Dam will be completed in 1951, and a project for local flood protection at Cumberland, Md., and Ridgeley, W. Va., is under construction, with completion scheduled for 1955. No funds have been appropriated for the improvements to the Washington, D. C, flood protection works or for advancement of the Waynesboro, Va., project. A combined project for navigation and local flood protection on the Anacostia River, Maryland, and District of Columbia, was approved in the Flood Control Act of 1950.1 A project for reclamation of the Anacostia River and Flats in the District of Columbia has been in a semicompleted state since 1942. A program for expansion of the water sup- ply facilities for the District of Columbia is under way. Except for minor possible improvements for navigation, the existing approved project, which has not been completed to its limits, will provide for immediate and prospective requirements reason- ably well. A limited program of land management to reduce floods and sedimentation has been inaugurated in portions of the watershed by the Department of Agriculture, pursuant to the Flood Control Act of 1944.2 The Department recently has been re- quested by the Congress to review that program for possible modification. In view of the diversity of opinions and interests concerning the comprehensive development of the Potomac, especially with regard to the problems of correlating the recreational values in the vicinity of Washington, and problems of land inundation, it will be necessary to review these aspects in previ- ously prepared plans with a determined effort by all affected interests to reach a practicable solution. Stages in Attaining Full Development Existing Development The Potomac River Basin is undeveloped today when considered from the standpoint of compre- hensive basin-wide water and associated resource uses. Only a beginning has been made in water- shed management and sediment control measures. Local flood protection works for Washington and some isolated localities are in progress but presently incomplete. No major reservoirs having flood con- % Act of May 17,1950, § 204, 64 Stat. 163. * Act of December 22, 1944, § 13, 58 Stat. 887, 905. trol as one of the primary purposes are in existence today. Incidental flood control will be obtained with the completion of the Savage River Dam. The navigation project can be considered as virtually completed. No appreciable use has been made of the water resources for hydroelectric power develop- ment, only two installations having a capacity as much as 2,500 kilowatts each and aggregating about 6,000 kilowatts being in existence out of a total basin potentiality of about 800,000 kilowatts. Water supplies are almost keeping pace with needs and considerable progress has been made in the related field of pollution abatement by the State agencies and the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin. Federal and State agencies adminis- ter 14 recreation areas within the basin (except in the Washington metropolitan area)3 and other fa- cilities are in existence or under way. However, recreational facilities are far from adequate to meet some needs and are inadequate when measured in terms of population in the Washington area. Procedures and programs which are necessary in stepping from today's incomplete development to the desirable ultimate development of the water re- sources of the Potomac Basin are suggested below. Stage I-For Initial Development The initial stage of development would encom- pass the completion of the relatively few projects within this basin which are under construction or authorized by the Federal Government. These are listed in the tabulation on the following page. The estimated construction cost to the Federal Government for these listed improvements aggre- gates about 35.7 million with non-Federal expendi- tures amounting to about 77 million dollars. About 68 million dollars of the non-Federal costs is for the expansion program for an adequate future water supply in the District of Columbia and metropolitan area (Washington Aqueduct). A project recommended but presently lacking authorization is for local flood protection works at Hyndman, Pa., costing about 1.4 million dollars. It has been recommended by the Division Engineer. Works now under way or projected for near fu- ture construction to implement plans for pollution control would be completed with assistance from the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River 3 The National Capital Parks System includes 769 parks, monuments, memorials, historic sites, etc. 621 |
