| OCR Text |
Show Appropriations will be made to the constituent agencies, but generally within the framework of the program submitted. The program, once ap- proved, is intended to form the basis for congres- sional action. These river basin programs have the advantage of presenting a reasonably integrated program for the development of the region. They are able to relate the various functions such as navi- gation, irrigation, flood control, industrial water supply, power development, watershed manage- ment, and recreation to each other. But they fall short of treating the whole as a single plan for public investment in resources for the achieve- ment of regional and national goals. Yet programs built on regional statements or regional needs, indicating the measures and funds for resources programs required to meet the needs, and finally reconciling all basin pro- grams into a national resources investment pro- gram, are a major requirement of public policy. They are precisely what the public must have in order to decide how much money is needed for particular aspects of resources management, and the merits of alternative development proposals. Formulation of a Program Once the policy decisions have been made to go forward with basin development, using the land and water resources available in a river basin to the greatest possible advantage, it is necessary to set up a budgeting procedure which will enable the people to determine whether goals will be achieved as efficiently and economically as possible. The sunxs required as well as the expected bene- fits will be large. For this reason the most care- ful budgeting of these expenditures is warranted. The people must be able to make sure that all possible benefits will be realized and that waste and duplication of effort will be eliminated as completely as possible. As a first step in planning, a river basin com- mission would be set up for each river basin, in general accordance with the Commission's recom- mendations in chapter 3. Each of these commis- sions would, in constant collaboration with State and local agencies, prepare and present its pro- gram through the cooperative program work of its constituent agencies. Even at this first stage, there would be constant communication with the Board of Review to insure that regional and na- tional objectives, as well as national standards of evaluation, are understood and included in the plans. The basin commission would coordinate the preparation of detailed plans aimed at the full use of the basin resources in increasing the eco- nomic and social opportunities of the region. It would transmit these plans to the Board of Re- view as described in chapter 3. Communication would have occurred at every step of the planning process between the basin agency and the Board of Review, so that the way would have been paved from the start for coordination of all regional programs. The Board of Review would then synthesize all the basin programs into a single national program for the development and use of renewable re- sources. This program would be prepared for submission to the President, Congress, and the public. It would be presented in different ways, to make clear the relationships involved. First, it would show, for each basin, the list of projects needed to complete the basin develop- ment plan and the functions which each would perform. This statement would contain both a capital program and a program for maintenance and operation. Tables 1 and 2 indicate the form which it would take for the Nation as a whole; the basin programs would simply be smaller, more detailed statements of the same kind. Second, it would propose allocations of the total investment, basin by basin, to the construc- tion agencies and to the planning groups. It would provide a picture of the relative amounts going for navigation, power, municipal and in- dustrial water, irrigation, etc., for the Nation as a whole, and would indicate which agency would be charged with the work of construction and operation. A portion of the estimated cost would be allocated for appropriation directly to the ad- ministrative organization of each river basin commission. 90 |
