OCR Text |
Show Pollution Abatement The Ohio, once beautiful, is now a dirty river, clear only in some of its small headwater tributaries. Evidence shows that pollution has reached seri- ous proportions. Reduction in the pollution load is a prerequisite to expanding use of the water resources to industrial growth, and to the health and welfare of the basin's population. Pollution abatement can be achieved through construction of sewage treatment plants, reduction of the waste discharged, and through regulation of the river by controlled releases of water from storage reservoirs. Satisfactory methods are known for treating most domestic and industrial wastes, and local groups should proceed with the necessary con- trol works with minimum delay. Among serious pollution problems for which no satisfactory answer has been found, the one of greatest concern is the drainage of acid waters from coal mines. Because the effects of this waste are so destructive, so far-reaching, and so costly to the many residents who must use the contaminated surface waters, a solution jmust be found. This will require the combined efforts of the coal mining industry, all governmental agencies interested in coal or water resources, and the communities along the river and its tributaries who are affected. The plan for the basin calls for prompt treat- ment of domestic and industrial wastes by the con- tributing communities and industries. It calls for the construction of reservoirs, with pollution abate- ment as one of the several purposes involved. By serving these interests, some river regulation will be accomplished that will achieve widespread bene- fits especially in periods of low water flow. The plan also calls for a strong cooperative program of research to find a satisfactory solution to the acid mine drainage problem. Flood Control Floods have created havoc along the Ohio River and its tributaries. Damaging floods occur some- where in the basin every year. Valley lands are occupied by communities, transportation facilities, industries, and farm people. Some of these lands have been reclaimed by levees and walls, but de- spite substantial progress in providing flood control works, extensive flood damages still occur. Flood control should come to mean more to the people of the basin than protection against de- structive water. It should mean converting a source of damage into an asset. Such conversion 698 may be possible through a reservoir system in the main stem as well as in the tributaries, to conserve and store the flood waters for productive use. That flood waters can be stored has been shown in the Muskingum Basin and in other areas. Reservoir storage can reduce flood damages and, at the same time, provide low flow regulation, produce naviga- tion benefits, assist in pollution abatement, provide recreation opportunities, increase domestic and in- dustrial water supply, and produce hydroelectric power. The major elements of the flood control program for the basin, upon which important progress has been made, comprise an integrated system of res- ervoirs on the basin's tributaries, for the impound- ment of flood waters and other important related purposes; a system of local flood protection proj- ects on the main stem and tributaries which, in connection with the reservoir system, will provide protection for areas which cannot be protected adequately by the reservoir system alone; other local flood protection projects for areas not bene- fitted by the reservoir system; and flood plain zon- ing where such measures are demonstrated to be feasible. The objectives of the program are the alleviation of flood damage to the agricultural, in- dustrial, and domestic developments of the basin, prevention of the disruption to the lives of its peo- ple caused by floods, and the maximum practicable beneficial use of impounded flood waters for other purposes. Navigation The Ohio River and its principal tributaries have been developed and used for large-scale water trans- portation for many years. Low-cost water trans- portation has played an important part in estab- lishing and maintaining the diversified economy of the basin. Traffic on the main stream and several of the tributaries has continued to increase in re- cent years. The present navigation system provides for the internal movement of a tremendous volume of coal. It also provides an outlet, via the Missis- sippi River and the interconnected Inland Water- way system, for the basic raw materials and manu- factured products of the basin, including a wide variety of steel products and other commodities, to other great manufacturing and consuming areas. The system also makes possible low-cost movement of petroleum products, chemicals, and other basic materials into the basin from the Gulf of Mexico and the lower Mississippi. |