OCR Text |
Show structural mapping, to be completed within 30 years. 7. Land surveys and investigations should be continued and extended. Nation-wide soil sur- vey and mapping should be completed within 30 years. Agencies which collect soil data and the users of such data should continue to cooperate in developing standard specifications and nomen- clature to meet agricultural and engineering re- quirements. Investigations should be made to determine effects of land management on water- shed hydrology. Special attention should be given to critical river basins, and provision should be made for interagency cooperation in planning new experimental work, standardizing methods of analyzing and publishing data, and facilitating free interchange of the most recently collected data. Basic data used in land classification, re- quired for specifying measures of land conserva- tion under possible uses, should be collected and integrated in the field. The survey of the pub- lic domain of the United States and publicly and privately held land in Alaska, with necessary resurveys, should be completed within the next 10 years. Forest and range surveys should be com- pleted in 15 years, with periodic rechecks every 10 years thereafter. 8. Collection of data on fish and wildlife, in- cluding information on population, density and trends for various species, should be accelerated. 9. Social and economic data to meet the re- quirements of river basin planning should be assured by (a) gathering information on popu- lation, occupations, transportation, markets, power, production; (b) encouraging State and local units to make population estimates for years between censuses, and adjusting State and local data to Federal data; (c) obtaining neces- sary data on agriculture by adding appropriate questions to the census of agriculture, and on man- ufacturing by adding questions to the census of manufacturers; (d) investigating tourism and recreational aspects of water development at early stages of project planning; (e) continuing and enlarging the annual canvass of the Federal Power Commission on power and energy require- ments of manufacturing and mining establish- ments and other markets; and (f) continued col- lection of data on the amounts and effects of flood damage, domestic and industrial water supply, and water pollution. 10. Comprehensive surveys of ground waters throughout the United States should be accel- erated, including intensive surveys in basins where acute need exists, with sufficient observation wells to gage ground water supplies and estimate safe yields. This is discussed more fully in chapter 8. 11. Research should be undertaken including, where indicated, pilot plant operation to (a) ascertain feasibility of extracting fresh water from sea water, and (b) determine full possibilities of rain-making and artificial control of precipita- tion. 12. The present procedure of the Bureau of the Budget in collaborating with the basic data collection agencies and the resources development agencies in the preparation of programs of data collection should be continued. 108 |