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Show through storage of better quality water. Proper treatment of water-yielding lands will aid in im- proving both water quality and regularity of stream flow. There is need to consider fully water supply requirements in connection with the planning and accomplishment of river development projects. It is important that local, State, and Federal interests recognize and anticipate water supply needs so that water supply features can be incorporated in proj- ects planned for other purposes. In this thickly populated basin, with a few nat- ural lakes and with many streams polluted to a high degree, local, State, and Federal agencies have been providing recreation opportunities in recent years, either by measures undertaken directly for that purpose or incidental to other water re- sources projects. However, there is a great need for additional facilities in many areas, and the po- tentialities for meeting this need, inherent in a com- prehensive water and related land resources pro- gram, should continue to be recognized through coordinated planning of local, State, and Federal interests. The planning should fully recognize the need and opportunities to protect and enhance fish and wildlife resources. Reduction of the se- rious pollution conditions, supplemented by low flow increases, the judicious provision of additional water areas, and die application of practical fish and game management programs, will help to re- store once abundant fish and wildlife resources of the basin. With all phases of the water and related land re- sources program, and particularly in connection with major impoundments, attention must be given to closely coordinated planning and equitable exe- cution of relocations of highways, railways, and other utilities. Conclusions Present plans for navigation, flood control, hy- droelectric power, and pollution control in the Ohio River Basin are well advanced. Major progress has been made in constructing navigation and flood- control works which serve the related phases of im- proved flow regulation, recreation, and fish and wildlife conservation. Federal development of hy- droelectric power to date has been confined almost entirely to the Cumberland Basin. The foremost need at present is the implementation of plans al- ready made and being made for. pollution abate- ment, the implementation of present plans and the formulation of new plans for use of the full hydro- electric power possibilities of the basin, the plan- ning and accomplishment of land treatment and watershed management programs, continued prog- ress on the navigation and flood control phases, and adequate consideration to public and industrial water supply, recreation, and fish and wildlife problems. A comprehensive program for best use of the water and related resources of the Ohio River Basin requires that planning for all functions be integrated into a program in which the objectives of each func- tion find their fullest expression. Any comprehensive plan developed at a given time cannot be regarded as final or fixed with re- spect to details or over-all scope. Adjustment and extensions of such a plan must be anticipated to meet changing economic and technological condi- tions. For continuing consideration of remaining and future water and land resources problems in the basin, it is essential that study and planning con- tinue at local, State, interstate, and Federal levels on a thoroughly coordinated, comprehensive basis. Toward this end it is recommended that a river basin commission be established for the Ohio River Basin. Such a commission would follow the gen- eral pattern recommended by this Commission.1 3. Interrelations Between the Ohio River and Adjacent Basins The Problem Extent and nature of the interrelation between the Ohio River Basin and adjacent basins. The Situation The Ohio River joins the Mississippi at Cairo, 111., 1,000 river miles above the Gulf of Mexico. Here is the greatest concentration of water in North America, with the Ohio River providing 60 percent of the average 460,000 cubic feet per second flow of the two rivers at Cairo. The last 200 miles of the Ohio Valley is a broad flood plain extending well up the valleys of the Green, Wabash, Cumberland, and Tennessee Rivers. Here the rivers overflow bottom lands each year in winter and early spring, and the Ohio River flow is cushioned and retarded by the natural valley storage. Here the sudden inrush of the Ohio tributaries is checked and steadied before it continues downstream between the Mississippi levees. 1 See volume 1 of this report. 663 |