OCR Text |
Show and Marketing Administration, Bureau of Agricul- tural Economics, and Extension Service are being integrated with plans being prepared jointly by the Soil Conservation Service and Forest Service. The measures currently being considered in the unified plan for the watersheds include changes in land use, drainage improvements, changes in farm and pas- ture practices, erosion control methods, better for- estry operations, and the like. These land measures are supplemented by engineering devices in smaller brooks and streams to reduce peak flood flows, in- crease ground water supply, and trap sediments. Federal acquisition of submarginal lands, which are flood and silt source areas, is also considered. State and local public ownership is encouraged. The programs of various Federal agricultural agencies in this basin as in other basins are not fully coordinated. Generally speaking these pro- grams have been developed over a period of years, to meet certain specific problems encountered with respect to land utilization and other land treat- ment problems. Authorities so developed have re- sulted in conflicting policies, overlapping pro- cedures, and in some cases, duplication of responsibility. During recent years some of the problems have been solved in part by assigning specific respon- sibilities to individual agencies. This does not, however, provide the complete coordination neces- sary to carry out a unified or comprehensive agri- cultural program in the basin. This is due, in part, to the lack of a specific basin-wide plan to coordi- nate the activities of all interested agencies. Be- cause of the many separate agencies, Federal and State, and specific programs involved, land use programs need careful coordination. The primary purpose of all land use programs is a healthy and prosperous agriculture, capable of providing present and future generations with abundant supplies of food, fiber, and forest prod- ucts. Programs directed toward that goal can also reduce flood and sediment damages, protect and enhance tlie water resources, produce recreation benefits, a.nd increase fish and wildlife resources. A complete conservation program for a farm con- tributes to the attainment of these ends at the same time it increases crop and livestock yields and farm income. Conclusions As soil erosion continues, the accumulated losses of the soil resources become more and more evident and the costs of rehabilitating the depleted areas become increasingly greater. The problems of land treatment and the relationship of such treatment to the water resources development of the Ohio River Basin are closely interrelated and cannot be dealt with as isolated matters. Land treatment should be an integral part of a comprehensive program to develop fully the water and related resources of the basin. Land treatment and remedial measures that will protect and improve soil resources, reduce flash flood runoff, and minimize sediment damage should be applied or installed as rapidly as possible in order to reduce further irreplaceable losses of soil resources and to prevent further increase in rehabilitation costs. Research should be expanded to develop information on the economic and re- source value and effect of measures now recom- mended and to determine improved methods and techniques of solving these problems. Existing land programs are not coordinated to eliminate duplication of effort, or to integrate them with main stream engineering programs or with other economic programs in the basin. Coordina- tion between local, State, and Federal agencies is needed in a program which has common objectives fitted to the needs and potentialities of the basin. The values to be gained from good land manage- ment, both for improved farm yields and farm in- come and for its watershed influence, require that increased emphasis should be placed on such pro- grams. Acceleration of these programs should ac- company coordination of the activities of the sep- arate agencies concerned. 2. Inundation of Lands and Facilities of Established Enterprises The Problem Factors to be considered where proposed reser- voirs will inundate valuable lands or established en- terprise. The Situation Most areas which will be flooded permanently by reservoirs in the Ohio Basin are partly in farms. Other lands which will be inundated include home sites, transportation routes (see Problem C-4), his- torical and scenic sites (see Problem B-l 1), fish and wildlife areas (see Problem B-8), and various enterprises. The aggregate area at maximum pool elevations 686 |