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Show Chapter 8 Elements of a Plan for Full Development of Columbia Basin Water Resources The elements of a plan for full development of the water resources of the Columbia Basin, or of any other river basin, must take account of both the ultimate objectives of such development and the desirable rate of development. In both respects, a plan should meet certain general tests. Those tests may be summarized as follows: 1. The development should contribute toward augmentation of national food, fiber, fuel and power, and industrial material supplies, insofar as increase is needed in any given period. 2. Effective development of facilities for cushion- ing predictable environment catastrophes should be envisaged. 3. Plans also should include effective develop- ment of facilities for arresting deterioration of the physical environment in the region. However, "effective development of facilities" is taken to mean construction or conservation meas- ures only in those instances where they are the most efficient means of action. 4. The development should contribute toward established needs for servicing national defense fa- cilities and defense preparations at any given period. These will include, for example, the development of submarginal mineral deposits considered critically limited from a strategic point of view, and the devel- opment of water transportation routes which will make important contributions to national defense. It should provide for the dispersal of industry. 5. The development undertaken should be proven economically feasible, except in those proj- ects where noneconomic considerations, like na- tional defense, are paramount. 6. Development should contribute toward in- creasing business and employment opportunities as well as total and per capita income within the region to the point where they at least approach national averages. 7. Development should contribute to an expan- sion of employment opportunities for the Nation as a whole. 8. Social values, such as unique scenic assets, should be preserved. 9. Actions should be so undertaken that benefits therefrom have the widest possible distribution among the people within the area. 10. Development should be directed toward pro- viding, as nearly as possible, balanced opportunities for the selection of rural or urban living by people within the region or likely to settle there. 11. Opportunity should be provided, in the pro- gram's realization, for appropriate participation by both Federal and non-Federal agencies or interests. 12. Insofar as Federal Government action is part of the plan for development, full development of the water resources of the Columbia Basin in its broad phases should be part of a single national pro- gram of coordinated water resources development. With these tests in mind, the ultimate objectives for full development of the Columbia are those of contributing a full share of the region's unused re- sources to the national economy. They concern almost every phase of land and water improve- ment. Ultimate Objectives of Development The following elements are suggested for con- sideration in a Columbia plan which specifically contributes to national defense needs, minimizes natural handicaps of the region, efficiently increases food, material, and power production, increases the 69 |