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Show be made to assist another. Each river system, from its headwaters in the forest to its mouth on the coast, is a single unit and should be treated as such. In the same letter President Roosevelt recog- nized that it was not "possible to deal with a river system as a single problem" because waterways were dealt with through agencies scattered through four Federal departments. He called attention to the report's observation that national policy had previously been one of "almost unre- stricted disposition and waste of natural re- sources," and that it emphasized "the funda- mental necessity for conserving these resources upon which our present and future success as a Nation primarily rest." The report of the Conservation Commission, issued in 1909, laid down a policy which can be merely amplified, not improved, in the breadth of its understanding of basic principles. It said: Broad plans should be adopted providing for a system of waterway improvement extending to all uses of the waters and benefits to be derived from their control, including the clarification of the water and abatement of floods for the benefit of naviga- tion; the extension of irrigation; the development and application of power; the prevention of soil wash; the purification of streams for water supply; and the drainage and utilization of the waters of swamp and overflow lands. To promote and perfect these plans scientific investigations, surveys, and measurements should be continued and extended, especially the more ac- curate determination of rainfall and evaporation, the investigation and measurement of ground water, the gaging of streams and determination of sediment, and topographic surveys of catchment areas and sites available for control of the waters for navigation and related purposes. The report of the Conservation Commission was promptly approved by a Joint Conservation Conference, including governors of 20 States and Territories, and representatives of 22 State con- servation agencies, of 60 national organizations, of Federal agencies, and of the Conservation Commission itself. But it was not until 1933, more than 20 years later, that Congress authorized a large-scale ef- fort to treat river basins as units for purposes of development. This has developed the conflicts and confusion which always attend the effort to put new wine into old bottles. With the excep- tion of the TVA Act, the legislative and admin- istrative set-up has not been conducive to full development of the unified basin programs which these early conservationists contemplated. Need for Reappraisal Meanwhile, as new needs developed and with them our understanding of the interrelationships of all aspects of land and water management, the necessity to consider whole river basins with their tributaries, including the many brooks, ponds, lakes, and basins of their little waters, has become increasingly apparent. The ideas of conserva- tion, and of multiple-purpose projects, began to pose new problems of coordination, if wastes and cross-purposes were to be avoided. Irrigation and drainage, navigation and flood control, the maintenance of underground water levels, the control of stream pollution resulting from human, animal, and industrial wastes, the generation of electric power, the protection of sal- mon and other fish resources, the provision of ample domestic water supply-all these purposes have legitimate claims within any one basin; but if one is developed without regard for its effect on the others, conflicts and losses will result. Comprehensive, long-range plans must be worked out within each river basin. But a river basin is still not the final unit in an adequate use and conservation plan. The Federal Govern- ment has a substantial investment in existing water resources improvements; it will spend in 1951 another 1.2 billion dollars; it has authoriza- tions amounting to 12 billion dollars in the years just ahead. These expenditures will be made for the good of the Nation as a whole; and nothing less than the whole country can be the unit considered in the formulation of Federal policies. It is for these reasons that the President of the United States appointed this Commission on Water Resources Policy and asked for recom- mendations for a comprehensive policy of water |
