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Show 7. Sources and process of recharge to and dis- charge from water-bearing formations. 8. Significant physical, chemical (alkalis and boron), bacteriological, and biological criteria covering concentration of pollutants, including wastes of mining and oil wells in relation to each important water use. 9. Bed load and suspended load transporta- tion, including aggradation and degradation. 10. Techniques of estimating sediment pro- duction of watersheds from their physical characteristics. 11. Determination of density and rates of com- paction and consolidation of sediments in bodies of water. 12. Flocculation of sediments. This list is merely representative of the wide range of problems for which solutions are needed. Although some research is under way, many of the problems significant to water and related land resources development have scarcely been touched. Provision should be made for ample inter- change of information on basic research. The 1940 report of the National Resources Planning Board on Deficiencies in Hydrologic Research recommended the establishment of a "clearing house" on hydrologic research, but that recom- mendation has never been fully followed. The annual publication of a bulletin giving concise information on the objectives, work in prog- ress, accomplishments, and reports for individual research projects would be very helpful to all agencies engaged in hydrologic and sedimentation research. Reports on basic research should be prepared and published as promptly as usable information becomes available. Such reports should be cir- culated systematically to all agencies, both public and private, interested in hydrologic and sedi- mentation research. Review of the interrelationships of statistical plans in collecting hydrologic data should be a continuing study, so that deficiencies in current data collection and processing may be more quickly recognized. A most important research need is a technique for carrying research experience from the environ- ment of small, controlled research areas to large operational areas such as river basins. Until such techniques are available!, quantitative applica- tion of research results from small areas to the solution of specific problems in large areas is difficult, and results may at times be misleading. The availability of personnel trained in hy- drology and in sedimentation control lags behind demand. More emphasis should be placed on training personnel both to carry on basic research and to apply its results to specific problems. In general, the curricula of our universities do not provide for adequate hydrologic training. Because of the urgent need for adequate in- formation on water supplies in the Alaskan region that can be economically and quickly developed for industrial, domestic, agricultural, municipal, and military uses, collection of such data should be accelerated. Land Management, Runoff, and Erosion Land management refers to the manipulation of vegetal cover by forest culture, grazing man- agement, and cultivation practices. Evaluation of effects of these practices on peak flows, water yields, ground-water recharge, erosion, and sedi- mentation is a major hydrologic problem, in urgent need of solution as a basis for scientific land management and is one of the major unknowns in the field. The relation of land management to floods, water yield, ground-water recharge, erosion, and sedimentation of reservoirs has been the subject of much discussion but of inadequate study for a number of years. While the net result has been to demonstrate that land management does affect the disposition of precipitation and the incidence of erosion and production of sediment, there is still much to be learned. Evaluation of the effects of land management requires an understanding of the movement of water underground and on land surfaces, and re- quires collection of data on a multiple series of combinations of plant cover (both type and con- dition), cultural practices, soil, slope, drainage 911609-50------9 103 |
