OCR Text |
Show The lower Ohio River can be only partially con- trolled by adding reservoir storage to its natural valley storage. The concentration of water from the several rivers presents a problem which involves many phases of development. Land use in the flood plain, navigation, flood reduction, augmenta- tion of low flow, sediment control, and generation of power are major objectives. The water resources of the Tennessee River Basin have been developed to a relatively high degree. The authorized plan for the Cumberland River will provide adequate control of its waters when the lower Cumberland Reservoir Project is included. Other large tributaries of the Ohio will be controlled to varying degrees when the many potential reservoirs are added to the 35 projects now built or under construction. This entire develop- ment of tributaries above the Tennessee will control the runoff from about 40 percent of the Ohio River drainage area. There remains the further potential development of the lower Ohio Basin and the coordination of operation of projects in the Ohio Basin in relation to the development and operation of similar works on the Mississippi River. Several variations of a general plan have been tentatively considered for a lower Ohio-Mississippi development during the last 20 years. One plan involves four large reservoirs: Kentucky Reservoir on the Tennessee; a reservoir in the Cumberland above its mouth; a reservoir on the Ohio River just above the mouth of the Cumberland River; and a reservoir on the Mississippi above Cairo. Present studies contemplate the coordinated development of the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers. Similar coordination of the Ohio and Mississippi, if found feasible, would provide opportunity for large stor- age capacity with large flood control and navigation benefits and power potentialities estimated at more than 1 million kilowatts of capacity. Control of the Ohio River by this development would provide the greatest single storage in the Ohio Basin, possibly as much as 25 million acre- feet, and would facilitate the reduction of floods and utilization of the flood water and sediment on flood plain, areas. The chain of slack-water lakes would cut off from 20 to 30 miles from the present navigation route and would reduce the number of locks and dams required upstream and improve navigation on the lower Mississippi River. The lower Ohio development would provide opportun- ity for terminal facilities and desirable industrial sites at this, junction of the several important inland navigation routes. The engineering, economic, and land utilization problems connected with such a development are large and complicated. The inundation of lands as required for this plan is a serious problem. Land required for flood control reservoirs could be culti- vated during the summer as is now done in the Kentucky Reservoir. Consideration should be given to the use of levees to form polders within the reservoir areas so that certain lands in the flood plain can be inundated in winter and cultivated in summer. Careful studies need to be made of all the prob- lems involved and benefits to be gained by a com- bined treatment of these rivers in order to determine whether a practical solution can be found. In view of the national need for coordinated development of power on the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers, immediate study should be undertaken to determine whether a practicable site can be found on the lower Cumberland that will permit coordination with a possible high dam on the Ohio above the Cumber- land River mouth. The large objectives to be achieved from develop- ment of the lower Ohio are regional and national and are not restricted to the basin itself. Increased low flow regulation and flood control would affect the lower Mississippi. Power generated would be coordinated and delivered to parts of the region outside as well as inside the Ohio watershed. Ohio River navigation would become even more impor- tant as a result of extension and improvement of connecting waterways north, south, and west. Conclusions There may be large potentialities for further de- velopment of the water resources of the lower Ohio River in coordination with corresponding further development in the lower Cumberland, lower Ten- nessee, and Mississippi Rivers above Cairo. Bene- fits for navigation, flood control, power, and other purposes extend beyond the basin. Surveys and investigations on a thoroughly coordinated basis are required to determine the practical and rational developments. 4. The Place of State and Local Agency Participa- tion in Planning, Programing, Financing, and Operation . The Problem The extent to which State and local government agencies should participate in the planning, pro- 664 |