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Show and stable water quality is much to be desired. When flood control and other storages are built on rivers and streams, they do not always aid in protection of water quality. In fact, such reser- voirs may produce large quantities of objection- able algae, or alter river temperatures. Also, outlets are often at great depth, which may make the dissolved oxygen content of the released water so low as to damage fish and wildlife and make the water generally objectionable for long dis- tances downstream. The elevation of rivers and streams may be seriously affected, thereby putting all diverters of water to unnecessary additional expense. The United States Public Health Service, through its quality requirements for drinking water supplied by public carriers in interstate commerce, has established standards of water quality. As part of this program to protect the public utilizing the services of interstate carriers it has published standard methods of water analysis. These standards have been accepted and adopted by all State boards of health, and all waterworks are required to comply with them. The Need for Nation-Wide Reports The 15,400 waterworks, 80 percent munici- pally owned 3 do not report their operation to any single agency. This is unfortunate. The Fed- eral Power Commission collects from all electric and gas utilities, both publicly and privately owned, a large amount of statistical data permit- ting comparisons of the rates and relative operat- ing efficiencies of these essentially noncompetitive utilities. The annual statistical and financial publica- tions of the Federal Power Commission are of great value to the utilities themselves in checking the reasonableness of their costs, and in examin- ing relative desirability of locations for new industrial and commercial establishments. They are, therefore, also of much assistance and value to the military establishment in times of national emergency in the selection of plant sites and awarding contracts for materials and equipment. During World War II there were a number of instances where industrial plants, military can- tonments, and other installations requiring large and dependable water supplies, were located where available water supplies later were dis- covered to be inadequate. In some instances catastrophe was avoided only by the good fortune of high rainfall years; drought conditions might just as likely have occurred. It is essential that all waterworks utilities, both publicly and privately owned, be required to re- port, on a uniform accounting and statistical basis, POPULATION CHANGE 1940-1950* Source: U. S. Census 1950 FIGURE 12. 180 |
