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Show were used for power, the Federal Power Com- mission estimates that about 391 billion kilowatt- hours could be developed, as against the present 87 billion. This estimate is approximately the amount which could be supplied by 1 million cubic feet of water a second, falling continuously through 600 feet of potential head. Evolution of Flood Management It would be a mistake to think that there is just one way to deal with floods. Actually the man- agement of floods from ancient times has involved both adaptation of man's way of life to the ways of his river and storage of floodwaters for irri- gation. More recently it has involved clearing and maintaining river channels to assure the passage of floods without obstruction, construc- tion of dikes and levees, protection of banks by revetments, construction of detention reservoirs which are held empty between floods, and finally the conservation of storage reservoirs which offer values extending far beyond the single purpose of flood protection. The evolution of Federal interest in flood pro- tection began with the Swamp Land Act of 1849 and 1850, granting unsold swamp and overflowed lands to Louisiana, Arkansas, and other States containing similar lands. The lands were to be sold by the States and the proceeds used for drain- age, reclamation, and flood control projects. Essentially this expressed the Federal Govern- ment's first interest in reclamation by the diking and drainage method long pursued by Holland in its successful effort to hold back the North Sea. This initial reclamation approach was ex- pressed again in 1874, when Congress provided for the appointment of a Commission of Engi- neers to investigate and report a permanent plan for reclamation of that portion of the alluvial basin of the Mississippi River subject to inunda- tion. The resulting report discussed various methods of flood control, such as cut-offs, diver- sion of tributaries, outlets, and levees. It pointed to the fact that the problem of successfully coping with floods transcended State borders. In 1879 Congress established the Mississippi River Commission, but did not provide it with funds for other than navigation improvement until 1890. In fact, until the major floods of 1915 and 1916, Federal appropriations in this field were largely for the relief of flood sufferers. No real Federal flood control policy had begun to develop. The 1916 flood, however, revealed the need for direct expenditures by the Federal Govern- ment to obtain an effective levee system. It was followed by the 1917 act providing for the ex- penditure of 45 million dollars by the Mississippi River Commission on works between Rock Island, 111., and the lower river as well as in the lower reaches of the tributaries. This act also directed that preliminary examinations and surveys be made thereafter by the Army Engineers under the terms of legislation then applying to investiga- tions of proposed river and harbor improvements. Thereafter until the 1930's, appropriations were directed largely to flood protection works in the Mississippi River Basin. And it was not until 1928 that Congress assumed Federal respon- sibility for a large-scale effort, authorizing appro- priations of 325 million dollars for control of floods in the alluvial valley of the Mississippi. In this 1928 act Congress took the first step toward the modern flood management approach to flood control. Although it made immediate provision only for extension of the levee system and diversion floodways, it directed the comple- tion of studies for supplementing the levees by a system of tributary reservoirs. Congress had previously, however, laid the basis for the later multiple-purpose approach by authorizing the Army Engineers to undertake the surveys which resulted in the important "308 Reports," that established a technical background for the tre- mendous expansion in flood control activity which got under way following the 1936 Flood Control Act. The 1928 Boulder Canyon Project Act and the 1933 Tennessee Valley Authority Act both gave recognition to the use of multiple-purpose reser- voirs for flood control. But the 1936 Flood Con- trol Act, which launched the broad flood control 142 |
