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Show sites under Federal jurisdiction be regularized and that such development not jeopardize other uses of the river. Accordingly, Congress required as a condition of a license that the project adopted be such as will be best adapted to a "comprehensive plan for improving or developing a waterway" for the use or benefit of commerce, the improvement and utilization of water power development, and other beneficial uses. These licensing provisions do not apply to Federal development. In 1927, the Army Engineers were authorized to make surveys of navigable streams and to formulate general plans for the most effective im- provement of such streams for the purpose of navigation and the prosecution of such improve- ment in combination with the most efficient de- velopment of potential water power, the control of floods, and the needs of irrigation. The "308 Reports" followed. The next year, in legislation providing for Mis- sissippi River flood control, Congress specified that the reports on surveys authorized therein should contain, among other things, information in regard to control of floodwaters in the drainage basins of the tributaries by the establishment of reservoirs, the benefits that would accrue to navi- gation and agriculture from the prevention of erosion and siltage, the capacity of the soils to receive and hold waters from the reservoirs, and the disposal of reservoired waters. Also, Congress in 1928 directed an investiga- tion for the purpose of "formulating a compre- hensive scheme of control and the improvement and utilization of the water of the Colorado River and its tributaries," a study conducted by the Bureau of Reclamation. From the Depression to Date.-The de- pression focused attention on a new aspect of river basin development. Projects were under- taken as a means of putting men to work, as well as to conserve and develop water resources. In- creased emphasis was placed upon the public utilization of the completed projects for the direct benefit of the greatest number of people. Poli- cies directed toward promoting the widespread domestic and rural use of low-cost electric energy were adopted. Farm rehabilitation was fos- tered. Industrial development was encouraged. Health and recreational needs were recognized. As already pointed out, responsibility for carry- ing out particular aspects of river basin develop- ment is assigned by statute to separate agencies without a requirement for integration of efforts under a comprehensive plan. But as the develop- ment of larger river improvement projects was made possible by advances in engineering meth- ods, as populations in river basins increased, as industry expanded, and as our economy grew more complex-increasing legislative recognition has been given to the multiple-purpose utilization of projects constructed by the special-purpose agencies. Steps were also taken to allocate primary re- sponsibility for each of the functions served by any dam or reservoir among the agencies traditionally responsible for various functions, irrespective of which was the constructing agency. For exam- ple, the 1944 Flood Control Act directs the Secre- tary of the Army to prescribe regulations for the use of storage allocated to flood control or naviga- tion at Federal dams. Correspondingly, the Secretary of the Interior is charged with the marketing of electric power. By that act, he is also authorized, under specified conditions, to construct, operate, and maintain irrigation works in connection with dams under Army control. Moreover, Congress has declared its policy to "facilitate the consideration of projects on a basis of comprehensive and coordinated development." Generally, however, the partial implementations of this policy have been in the directions indicated above rather than complete integration of efforts for comprehensive development. Certain re- quirements have been imposed for interagency consultation in planning. But no provision has been made for reconciling conflicts in agency rec- ommendations. Nor has provision been made for eliminating the interagency duplication in under- taking basin surveys. Authority for Interagency Coordination.-Fur- ther steps toward comprehensive development have been effected, within statutory limitations, through executive and administrative action and through interagency agreements directed at se- curing coordination of efforts. Principal among 297 |