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Show The navigation system has been extended and improved from time to time, to keep pace with traffic demands. It is suffering somewhat today from insufficient modernization to meet increased use. The navigation features of a comprehensive plan would continue present programs for waterway im- provement, including more modern equipment, in- creasingly greater navigation depths, and other fa- cilities to meet the increasing demands for inter- state water-borne commerce. It would also in- clude consideration of the use of releases from new multiple-purpose reservoirs to improve low-water navigation depths, and to reduce the pollution which affects shipping facilities adversely. Power In the area extending north of the Tennessee Valley Authority system to the Great Lakes and including the Ohio Valley, electric energy is sup- plied largely from steam-electric plants using coal as fuel. Generating plants in this area have about 22 percent of the total installed electric capacity in the United States. The use of power in this area, based on a peace time economy, will be nearly doubled in the next 20 years. To meet this foreseeable demand, private utility companies are planning and building large steam-electric plants at sites along the Ohio River where both coal and cooling water are readily avail- able. The potential hydroelectric power on the main stem and tributaries of the Ohio amounts to 6,500,- 000 kilowatts capacity, about one-half of the amount of needed power capacity anticipated by 1970. A comprehensive plan for full control and use of the water resources of the Ohio River Basin calls for the development of hydroelectric power to meet part of the over-all power demands. The hydro- electric power must be coordinated with the output from thermal plants to permit maximum use of all energy resources. Reservoirs are necessary in this plan. They can be for power alone but, to obtain maximum use of the water, they should be multiple-purpose reservoirs with power generation an important feature. At some time in the future, consideration should be given to the combined values to be obtained by constructing high lift locks and dams on the main stem of the Ohio to provide deep, slack-water navi- gation and to develop increased quantities of hydro- electric power. Domestic Water Supply Domestic water supplies now hold and must re- tain the highest priority of all water uses in the basin. A comprehensive program for the develop- ment of the water resources must make provision for supplying all domestic water needs in adequate quantities and proper quality. Water consumption for domestic purposes may be expected to increase as the standard of living increases. These antici- pated needs should be considered in plans for water resources programs. Surface waters must be depended upon to meet the public water supply needs of many important centers of population. Some of these are operat- ing their own watershed areas to insure the quality and quantity of the product. However, ground water sources require protection against contami- nation and regulation of withdrawal compatible with the recharge capacities of the aquifers. Con- sideration should be given to recharging ground water supplies with excess surface waters where this can be economically undertaken. Bacterial pollution and certain industrial wastes, particularly phenolic compounds which cause ob- noxious tastes and odors in public water supplies, are placing undue loads on municipal water treat- ment works and are jeopardizing these supplies. Pollution abatement will reclaim many surface waters now unsatisfactory as sources of public water supply and will increase potential domestic water supply resources in the basin. Industrial Water Supply The outstanding place of manufacturing in the Ohio River Basin and the rapid and continued expansion of that activity renders the question of the industrial water requirements of great impor- tance. Data concerning the industrial use of both surface and ground water, by types and location of industry, must be obtained to permit intelligent planning for the full use of water resources in this important manufacturing region. Water is used extensively by industry directly as a commodity, in processing and treating, and in cooling and humidification. Much of this water is obtained from wells rather than from public water systems because of its lower cost, lower temperature, and greater uniformity. If a manufacturing plant 911610-51- 699 |
