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Show 377 such. Instead, the Secretary in 1938 announced that prefer- ence would "be given to areas located within soil conservation districts already established and functioning" and that after July 1, 1939, such work would be undertaken "only in States which have adopted suitable legislation" along the lines of the model soil conservation districts law.145 Within the Department of Agriculture, flood-control re- sponsibilities are divided between two agencies, the Forest Service and the Soil Conservation Service.146 Activities thus far authorized include not only land-treatment work and some supplemental structural measures, but also the acquisition of forest lands which are managed much as are those acquired under the Weeks Law.147 Water Facilities Act In 1937, Congress declared its policy "to assist in providing facilities for water storage and utilization in the arid and semi- arid areas of the United States.148 In so doing, it recognized that the:149 wastage and inadequate utilization of water resources on farm, grazing, and forest lands in the arid and semi- arid areas of the United States resulting from inade- quate facilities for water storage and utilization con- tribute to the destruction of natural resources, injuries to public health and public lands, droughts, periodic floods, 145 Unpublished memorandum of the Secretary of Agriculture, entitled "Statement Concerning State Legislation for State and Local Cooperation with the Flood Control Program of the Department of Agriculture," Octo- ber 29,1938. 148 Secretary of Agriculture Memorandum No. 1166, June 27, 1946. See also Administrative Regulations of the Department of Agriculture, title 1, ch. 7, § 1, ch. 395 (1947), directing the Soil Conservation Service and the Forest Service to consult with Bureau of Agricultural Economics and Pro- duction and Marketing Administration concerning proposed flood-control programs. U1 See, e. g., H. Doc. No. 892, 77th Cong., 2d sess., pp. 48-49 (1942) and Act of December 22,1944, § 13, 58 Stat. 887, 905. 148 Act of August 28,1937, § 1, 50 Stat. 869,16 U- S. C. 590i>-590x. • 148 Id. |