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Show Chapter 3 Water Development Needs, Programs, Costs, and Benefits The waters of the Potomac River system have been brought under control only in small part. Navigation in the tidewater section is the single adequately developed potential. The hydroelectric power potential of the basin is almost completely unused at present. Floods generally are uncon- trolled; protection has been provided only at some very critical damage points. Conservation storage is practically nonexistent. Pollution damages the fishery resources and adds to the costs of water supply and navigation maintenance. Only a small part of the recreational potentialities of the basin have been realized. The watersheds have de- teriorated and the process is continuing. On the whole, the large potentialities of the basin for serv- ing human needs generally are being allowed to go unused. Watershed Control and Land Programs Present Situation Watershed conditions of the Potomac Basin have deteriorated progressively since colonial times. This has resulted from failure to follow conserva- tional management of the crop, pasture, and forest lands. It is estimated that three-fourths of the approximately 2.7 million acres of cropland is sub- ject to a serious or critical rate of erosion. One- third of the 1.5 million acres of grassland is likewise suffering from severe erosion. Approximately half of the watershed is in forest, but not more than one-third of this forest is contributing adequately to the protection of the Potomac watershed. Fortunately, there is increasing interest by land- owners, farm operators, and other local people in correcting abuses of the watershed. Twenty soil conservation districts, encompassing substantially all nonurban lands of the basin, have been organ- ized. Progress toward the land use adjustments and land treatment practices necessary thus should proceed faster. Although Federal and State agen- cies can help, little progress can be made until soil and water conservation and proper land use is accepted as a program of the people who own or use the land. There are signs of awakening among the rural people of the basin. Present Programs and Program Needs Various watershed management activities are under way in the Potomac Basin. These are under- takings of the Department of Agriculture, the States, and local agencies, in some instances separately, but generally in cooperation. One of the first essentials to proper management of forest lands is fire protection. A fair fire pro- tection system exists in most forest areas of the basin, but improvements are needed to make it ade- quate. The national forests are administered according to proper timber management and water- shed protection principles insofar as funds are avail- able. However, more attention needs to be given to timber stand improvement, access roads, small structures to stabilize and control water channels and sediment, and the enhancement of the wild- life and recreational potentials of the forests. In order to remove them from the area of continued neglect and to facilitate their management and im- provement some 782,000 acres of depleted forest lands in the mountainous headwater areas should be acquired and added to the national forests. Special attention needs to be given to the forest lands destined to stay in private ownership. In 583 |
