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Show Surface water in the basin is soft, though often colored and containing organic matter, and is rel- atively well adapted to industrial use, especially in textile and paper mills. Known ground water sup- plies are also relatively soft and of desirable quality. However, details of water quality are generally lack- ing. Data on water quality and on the sediment load carried by streams are fragmentary. Like other large rivers in northeastern United States, the Connecticut River is polluted in its lower reaches with a wide variety of industrial, munici- pal, and domestic wastes. Only a few headwater streams escape entirely from some sort of pollution and these are located in the more rugged and thinly populated regions. Most of the pollution in the main river is derived in the southern part of the watershed, specificially between Holyoke and Long Island Sound, where industrial establishments and population are most numerous. On many of the principal tributaries only the lower reaches show any degree of pollution. There is considerable pol- lution in the Hockanum and in the Mill, Manham, lower Chicopee, and Black Rivers. In several polluted areas the attitude of local industry is considered a deterrent to cleaning of streams for other industries that are sensitive to water quality. Adequate treatment is generally opposed as an impossible financial handicap. Competition with other beneficial uses.-The mountainous rim of the basin provides excellent areas for sport and recreation. Many other locali- ties also have high recreational appeal for the urban population. As a source of income in the basin recreation ranks among important land and water uses. However, a number of sizeable lakes and ponds in the lower basin have been reserved for municipal water supply, excluding full recreational use. Agri- cultural and navigational uses of water do not com- pete with other utilization. Fisheries have long since lost out in the competition. Competition with all other uses thus far has not been to the disadvantage of industrial or municipal use. Conclusions Continued slow economic expansion in the Con- necticut Raver Basin may be expected in manufac- turing, particularly in the lower basin. Continued recreational activity also may be expected. In view of the basic importance of these activities in the region, the following steps should be taken: 508 (1) Initiation of a program for collecting data on surface water quality and sediment load and on ground water quantity and quality in districts other- wise favored for manufacturing. (2) Abatement of those forms of pollution on streams which are a deterrent to significant increases in employment, business, or recreational oppor- tunity. (3) Thorough examination of the reserve water supplies, and action that will put them to the best combination of beneficial uses compatible with domestic use. (4) Coordination of basin-wide plans for all forms of use and control, so as to provide locally combinations of attractions for specific industries. These might, for example, include barge-navigation facilities, water supply of requisite quantity and quality, and opportunities for community recrea- tion facilities. 7. Multiple-Purpose Versus Single-Purpose Devel- opment The Problem The extent to which multiple-purpose projects should be built and the place of single-purpose projects in basin planning. The Situation Water resources developments in the basin are generally single-purpose. They include private hydroelectric power, private and State conservation storage mainly for hydroelectric power purposes, municipal water supply, or Federal flood control projects. The most notable existing multiple-pur- pose projects are Cobble Mountain (Springfield, Mass., water supply) and Quabbin (metropolitan Boston water supply) where hydroelectric power is generated. The Knightsville, Mass., and Tully, Mass., flood control projects have provisions for future power. Most reservoirs, except some having domestic water supply values, include some recrea- tion features. The uncompleted part of the presently author- ized flood control program includes 4 multiple- purpose and 12 single-purpose projects. The multiple-purpose projects include storage princi- pally for hydroelectric power. Some potential dam sites may be found unsuitable for projects with sufficient capacity to include a second major purpose. For example, the author- ized flood control reservoir at Barre Falls includes |