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Show port and aid technical research to devise and perfect methods of treatment of industrial wastes which are not susceptible to known effective methods of treatment, and to provide Federal technical services to State and inter- state agencies and to industries, and financial aid to State and interstate agencies and to municipalities, in the for- mulation and execution of their stream pollution abate- ment programs. To this end, the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service (under the supervision and direc- tion of the Federal Security Administrator) and the Fed- eral Works Administrator shall have the responsibilities and authority relating to water pollution control vested in them respectively by the Act." With the increasing density of population in urban centers, domestic and industrial water supplies along with pollution abatement have become acute problems. Plan- ners of water control projects for flood control, water power, navigation, and irrigation have recognized that water supply and pollution abatement can be successfully combined with the other purposes in many cases. Bene- fits to domestic and industrial water supplies along with pollution abatement by dilution are often considered in order that the full potentialities of available sites may be realized. They have also found that the rivers and water- ways have important values for the fish and wildlife re- source and in providing healthful environments for recreation. The modern multiple-purpose developments of our rivers, along with coordinated development of land and water resources, have evolved out of the pressure of popu- lation to take full advantage of our natural resources. The Experience Framework Existing projects studied accomplished the purposes for which they were designed. Some were relatively more successful than others. The pioneer developments in the various fields were the laboratories in many cases. They were the proving grounds in which unforeseen problems were encountered. In them, procedures were worked out to eliminate comparable mistakes in successive similar projects. As the economy of the country expanded, many original projects became obsolete. Some were abandoned, others were modified and improved to meet changing conditions. The existing water resource projects have been pre- ceded by many failures. Some failures grew out of the lack of sufficient data and competent investigation. Some resulted from poor design, poor construction or lack of maintenance. Dams and canals failed due to unfore- seen floods. Others have failed for lack of sufficient finances. From the lessons learned in these early failures, mostly privately financed ventures, present procedures have been evolved which provide adequate water control structures and safeguard the public. One of the first ventures in navigation outside of tidal waters was the construction of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. That private venture was started in colonial days under the leadership of George Washington. The com- pany succeeded in constructing 74 locks, combining canals with open river reaches to provide small barge navigation along the Potomac River for a distance of 184 miles be- tween Washington and Cumberland, Md. The barges carried coal downstream from the mines and provided one of the first gateways to the West. The project was dis- rupted a number of times by high water and finally failed after the flood of 1884. The first privately financed locks and dams on the Monongahela River in Pennsylvania were rock-filled timber cribs with hand operated gates. These have been gradually improved and replaced and now federally fi- nanced and operated concrete dams and locks, with elec- trically operated machinery and steel gates, permit the easy manipulation of heavy barges to haul coal and other bulk commodities economically. The Erie Canal, linking the Great Lakes with the Atlantic via the Hudson River, was first started in 1817. After many improvements, it is still in operation as the New York State Barge Canal. The first irrigation works were privately financed. First only crude brush, rock, and log diversion works were built. Most failed because of drought and floods. Later storage dams were built to hold excess water over from 1 year to the next. Techniques of design and construction im- proved. Many of the early well conceived projects are still in existence and extremely successful. Modern irri- gation works now include the largest dams in the world, some of the longest tunnels and lined canals, and the greatest water power plants. Modern privately financed water power projects evolved from modest beginnings, through small run-of-river de- velopments, to a series of head developments with stream fluctuations ironed out by upstream storage reservoirs. The first flood-control projects were agricultural levees, some built with slave labor. Most of these have been destroyed by floods. Modern well designed and expertly constructed levees and flood walls, with adequate interior drainage facilities, now provide protection to many im- portant rural and urban areas. Such local flood-protection works are now jointly financed by the Federal Govern- ment and local interests. Other recent flood-control works were provided by upstream dams of the detention and re- tention type, often coordinated in basin operation with downstream channel improvements, local flood-protection works, and power developments. Some of these were financed by local conservancy districts, but since 1938 the flood-control reservoirs have been financed by the Fed- eral Government. Many of the first flood-control dams were single-purpose projects but recent basin-wide flood- control programs have incorporated multiple-purpose res- ervoir projects in order to insure development of other potential water resources. Large cities have developed along the banks of rivers and tidal estuaries, depending entirely upon the waterways to carry away domestic and industrial wastes. Pollution is now gradually being cleaned up by sewage and industrial waste treatment plants. In some cases, it has been found that aggravated pollution conditions can be abated most economically by primary sewage treatment plants aug- mented by increased low flow of rivers with upstream storage reservoirs to increase the low flow of rivers. An example of this is the Tygart Reservoir on a tributary of the Monongahela River that flows past the highly in- dustralized Pittsburgh area. Modern drainage programs have evolved from indi- vidual farm programs, through relatively small privately financed reclamation programs, to large comprehensive drainage works, integrated with flood control and irri- gation programs. 389 |