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Show 316 Land Acts of 1849 and 1850, came the beginning of federal in- terest.2 Under this legislation, responsibility was still local in character. For the Acts granted swamp and overflowed lands to certain states and merely provided that the proceeds, whether from sale or by direct appropriation in kind, be applied "exclusively, as far as necessary, to the purpose of reclaiming said lands by means of levees and drains.' "3 For some time thereafter, Congressional attention to drainage continued to be irregular and localized.4 Army Engineers.-The Flood Control Act of 1936, as we earlier noted, marked the undertaking of federal responsibility on a Nation-wide basis for control of floods.5 And in 1944, Congress provided that the words "flood control," as used in the declaration of policy in the 1936 statute, shall be construed to include "channel and major drainage improvements." 8 So defined, this function automatically came within the flood- control jurisdiction of the Army Engineers.7 Soil Conservation Service.-Other jurisdiction over federal drainage responsibilities is vested in the Soil Conservation Service. Legislating for the prevention of soil erosion, Con- gress in 1935 declared its policy to provide permanently for the control and prevention of erosion, thereby to:8 preserve natural resources, control floods, prevent im- pairment of reservoirs, and maintain the navigability of rivers and harbors, protect public health, public lands, and relieve unemployment. At the same time, it authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct investigations and research concerning soil erosion, and 2 See supra, p. 127. 8 Act of September 28, 1850, § 2, 9 Stat. 519, see 43 U. S. C. 983. 4 See, e. g., Act of March 12, 1860, 12 Stat. 3, see 43 U. S. 0. 988; Act of March 3, 1891, § 18, 26 Stat. 1095, 1101, as amended, 43 U. S. C. 946. See also Drainage op Agricultural Lands, Sixteenth Census of the United, States (1940). 6 See supra, pp. 130-131. 6 Act of December 22,1944, § 2, 58 Stat. 887, 889, 33 U. S. C. 701a-l. T Act of June 22, 1936, § 2, 49 Stat. 1570, as amended, 33 U. S. O. 701b. 8 Act of April 27,1935, § 1, 49 Stat. 163,16 U. S. O. 590a. |
