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Show as "to cooperate with national, State, district and county experimental stations or demonstration farms, with farmers, land owners * * *." 10 TVA's statutory injunctions gave it broad re- gional development duties which included the duty to consider all related resources problems. This is the only case in which one Federal agency has been charged with planning the development of water, land, and minerals together to improve the economy of a given region. The major water development tasks of the TVA were to harness the Tennessee and its tribu- taries so as to (1) create a 9-foot navigation channel from Knoxville to the Ohio, (2) furnish flood protection for both the Tennessee Valley and the Mississippi drainage, and (3) develop incidental hydroelectric energy. To these were added water control to prevent or reduce malaria, to increase recreational opportunities, to reduce pollution, and to improve the habitat for fish and wildlife. Discarding the methods of starting projects fol- lowed by the Army Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation, the TVA Act authorized a basin- wide system of structures for water control, but required a report in 1936 of a general plan for unified river development. This report, entitled "The Unified Development of the Tennessee River System," was made. It recommended nine main stream dams (including those already be- gun) and three tributary reservoirs. Subse- quently because of the onset of war and the urgent need for greater hydroelectric facilities, the 1936 program was expanded. The river control sys- tem now comprises 28 dams, including one ac- quired from a private power company, one under construction, and five small tributary dams of the Aluminum Company of America, which, by agreement, are operated by TVA to the mutual advantage of the company and the public.11 TVA has not had to go through the customary long process to obtain congressional authoriza- tion. It has been able to work out a system-wide 10 Act of May 18, 1933, § 5 (c), 48 Stat. 58, 61, 16 U. S. C. 831d. u In addition there are eight minor power dams-three owned by TVA and five by the Aluminum Company-but operated integrally as parts of the power system. plan, establish project priorities and careful tim- ing, and then go to Congress for appropriations for specific dams or projects. The Tennessee now is effectively managed for all water uses. Foremost among them has been flood control. After the inundation of the valley bottom by reservoirs, one of the remaining major problems has been to get the floods past the in- dustrial city of Chattanooga. This is done by coordinated and synchronized operation of the system reservoirs-headwaters and main stem- to hold the river from rising over the flood stage and at the same time to obtain as much for power generation as is feasible. The successful performance of this task has required intensive coverage of the watershed with rain and stream gages, nearly complete topographic mapping, careful studies of the rate and volumes of runoff of every main and most subwatersheds, and other collections of basic data not customarily available with such completeness in other river basins. The reservoirs not only control the river against floods and for navigation and power, but also> play an important role in public health and rec- reation. Because of increased shore line and veg- etation breeding grounds for the malaria-trans- mitting mosquito, a complex program of preven- tion is required. Not only must reservoir levels be varied to strand debris and check bank vege- tation to prevent or kill larvae, but the shore line must be sprayed and low places blocked off. A program of public education has been equally important. Predictions of the end of fish life resulting from the reservoir program have changed to high praise. Fish growth has been so accelerated tha.t closed seasons in Tennessee have been abolished to balance the "take" with fish production. But this unlooked-for bounty is assisted by careful reservoir operations which are accurately timed and adjusted in depth to afford the necessary shallow water for fish during the spawning sea- son. Reservoir fishing has become one of thie great recreations in the valley. The development of recreational parks is an- other water use byproduct. The purchase of large portions of the watershed above Norris Dam made feasible the inauguration of two developed 33 |