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Show shed management. They believe that, first, im- portant work must be done in the headwaters of streams in order to make the construction of reservoirs downstream as effective as possible in water resources management. Secondly, they hold that a small watershed can be a cul- tural unit, as a large one cannot. Experience has shown that one of the most decisive factors in the success or failure of water- shed development work in humid areas is the cooperation of the people living in a watershed. Normally, the active, informed participation of the residents is essential to successful manage- ment. They own the property, control the in- stitutions, originate the traditions, create the cultural atmosphere, determine the goals, and execute the practices of management. They pay directly for some or all of the improvements required. Unless they understand the need for watershed development, and regard themselves as a functioning part of the watershed, little of lasting value is likely to be accomplished. A watershed so large that its inhabitants can- not see their relation to it, or feel responsible for it, is too large to serve as a conservation unit. On the other hand, one so small that even major improvements would benefit only a small group could not command the active support and par- ticipation of the surrounding community. The practical-sized watershed is one on which the residents are willing to spend time, money, and energy because they regard it as their own. It is an area with which they associate their pasts, and particularly their personal futures. It pro- vides a wide range of improvement opportuni- ties, with a correspondingly wide range of potential benefits, both public and private. It has sufficient population, with a diversity of in- terests, to assure effective support for the full range of improvement work. Besides being the unit of watershed manage- ment, the community watershed may be the unit of regional planning. There are cases, of course, where regional plans relate to a single watershed. More often, however, as the concept of compre- hensive basin development gains public under- standing, the community watershed will be rec- ognized as one of a group of small stream basins which together form the kind of river basin as- sumed in this report as the unit for planning. The community watershed will then constitute the focus of local participation in development plans. It will be the area within which people can gain a first-hand understanding of the re- sults, as well as the costs, of a development program. The community watershed also provides the foundation for community activity which could determine, in large part, the direction for basin programing and the driving force behind it. It is the opinion of the Commission that the stim- ulation of practical-sized community watershed activity is an important part of planning and programing. The people within these com- munity watersheds, organized along soil conser- vation district lines, could then cooperate with the river basin commissions in formulating goals of programs which can contribute so much to their welfare. The Land Reservoir Land, in addition to being a productive re- source in itself, is a reservoir that receives, stores, and discharges water. It is a two-storied reser- voir, a plant cover at and above the surface, and a soil and rock mantle at and beneath the surface. These two components, plant and soil, individ- ually and collectively perform many functions in receiving and dispensing water. Moreover, each is subject to change by land use, and these changes have a direct bearing on how much useful water the land reservoir will provide, and what pro- duction can be achieved on the land. In humid areas, the function of the reservoir is to retain the water needed for plant use and to make it available at a regular rate. The various methods by which the storage capacity of the land can be increased are valuable because they im- prove the productivity of the soil and because they have a stabilizing effect on quantity and quality of water, both above and below the surface. In the semiarid and arid regions, the reservoir has two functions which may be incompatible. The retention of water for plant use may conflict 125 |
