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Show I. Constructed Projects The Legislative Framework The United States has been generously blessed with natural resources, including its river systems and harbor potentialities. The development of the Nation's water resources for navigation, irrigation, water power, flood control, and other benefits has been a vital factor in our progress. From modest beginnings, steady advances have been made. Both private and public funds have financed these improvements that have contributed to the over- all national wealth. Control by the Federal Government over the navigable waters of the United States is derived from the Constitu- tion which provides that Congress shall have power "To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes." The first distinct national legislation for improving navigation was an act of Congress in 1824, which appropriated funds for removing sand bars from the Ohio River and snags from the Mississippi River. Improvement of the natural water- ways expanded from 1826 to 1866, and during that period a large proportion of the inland commerce was carried on inland waterways. While some early navigation canals were constructed by private interests and were subject to tolls, most of the waterway navigation improvements have been made by the Federal Government, and have, except for the Panama Canal, been free of tolls. The Federal improvement of inland waterways has followed a definite plan which has been continuously revised and modified in order to keep pace with the economic growth and general development of the country. Early settlements were located adjacent to the oceans, rivers, and lakes, mainly to be accessible to the water for navigation and water supply. Industrial expansion oc- curred at certain locations, first because of the availability of a favorable site for a mill to grind agricultural products for flour and feed, and later for direct connected turbines to turn machinery. Those developed later into the modern hydroelectric power plant to supply power to interconnected systems. Congress in 1920 passed the Fed- eral Water Power Act enabling the Federal Power Com- mission to issue licenses to develop water power, to pro- vide a safeguard for navigation, and to assist in develop- ment of the Nation's water resources for water power and navigation and other public purposes. As agriculture migrated westward into the semiarid regions, it became dependent upon irrigation. The con- struction of the railroads gave impetus to development of irrigation by giving access to distant markets. Irriga- tion was first developed by private interests but with the passage of the Reclamation Act in 1902, large and suc- cessful irrigation projects have been developed by the Federal Government, with capital investment to be repaid by the water users interest-free. This act, as modified, has been a vital factor in the development of the arid and semiarid West. Congress recognized that control of floods was neces- sary in the interest of navigation, and early improvements along the Mississippi resulted. After the Nation-wide destructive floods of 1936, Congress passed the 1936 Flood Control Act, in which, it was "recognized that de- structive floods upon the rivers of the United States, up- setting orderly processes and causing loss of life and prop- erty, including the erosion of lands, and impairing and obstructing navigation, highways, railroads, and other channels of commerce between the States, constitute a menace to national welfare; that it is the sense of Con- gress that flood control on navigable waters or their tributaries is a proper activity of the Federal Government in cooperation with States, their political subdivisions, and localities thereof; that investigations and improve- ments of rivers and other waterways, including watersheds thereof, for flood-control purposes are in the interest of the general welfare; that the Federal Government should improve or participate in the improvement of navigable waters or their tributaries, including watersheds thereof, for flood-control purposes if the benefits to whomsoever they may accrue are in excess of the estimated costs, and if the Jives and social security of people are otherwise adversely affected." In 1933 Congress passed the TVA Act "To improve the navigability and to provide for the flood control of the Tennessee River; to provide for reforestation and the proper use of marginal lands in the Tennessee Valley; to provide for the agricultural and industrial development of said valley; to provide for the national defense by the creation of a corporation for the operation of Government properties at and near Muscle Shoals in the State of Alabama, and for other purposes." The Soil Conservation %ct of 1935 provides &r F«v.J- eral responsibility in soil onmi¦¦" " ^. i> ties. The Omnibus Fk\* ' oontrol Act ... ±j:36, as subsequently amended and supplemented, establishes Federal policy with relation to flood control and major drainage and authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to cooperate with local agencies on matters related to soil and water conservation including drainage. These acts also authorize the Corps of Engineers to provide channel and major drainage improvements. The interrelated use of the land and water resources has been recognized. Flooding above engineering works and sedimentation in irrigation, navigation, water power, and related works has emphasized the need for retarding run-off in upstream areas and controlling erosion. Con- sequently, following the passage of the Omnibus Flood Control Act of 1936, upstream watershed management programs have been recognized as necessary and com- plementary to engineering works. In 1948 Congress passed the Water Pollution Control Act which provided "that in connection with the exercise of jurisdiction over the waterways of the Nation and in consequence of the benefits resulting to the public health and welfare by the abntrment of stream pollution, it is hereby declared to be the policy of Congress to recognize, preserve, and protect, the primary responsibilities and rights of the States in controlling water pollution, to sup- 388 |
