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Show power marketing area, the similarity in agricultural problems, and the presence of both basins in the same two States favor a closely coordinated opera- tion of the two. If it is in the public interest to continue to develop the Cumberland intensively in the near future, de- velopment integrated with the Tennessee would seem an efficient manner of achieving that end, in view of the present lack of a coordinated govern- mental organization for full basin development on the Ohio. A great need for power in the TVA power marketing area at the present time may be considered one reason for rapid development of the Cumberland. 3. Federal Agency Relations The Problem The relation of various Federal agencies to the Tennessee Valley Authority, and the responsibili- ties of those agencies in the development of the water and related land resources of the basin (except watershed management). The Situation Responsibility for coordination.-The title of the Tennessee Valley Authority Act of May 18, 1933, passed by the Congress after long discussion, is "To improve the navigability and to provide for the flood control of the Tennessee River; to provide for reforestation and the proper use of marginal lands in the Tennessee Valley; to provide for the agricul- tural and industrial development of said valley; to provide for the national defense by the creation of a corporation for the operation of Government prop- erties at and near Muscle Shoals in the State of Alabama, and for other purposes." Under this act, the TVA, through its Board of Directors appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, conducts activities in the develop- ment of water and related land resources of the Tennessee watershed. The Authority, although established as an arm of the Federal Government, has a regional character in that its primary purpose is to develop the Tennessee Basin. In the Tennessee Basin a single agency, the TVA, is authorized to perform a number of functions which other agencies of the Federal Government are authorized to carry out throughout the Nation. The problems of interagency relations in the basin differ, therefore, in certain respects from those in other basins. Coordination of the traditional func- tional programs in any area is on a voluntary basis with the several agencies held accountable for their respective programs. During recent years this co- ordination has been effected in some basins through the Federal Inter-Agency River Basin Committee. But in the Tennessee Basin the regional agency has been given responsibility for certain functions (the construction and operation of river works and the development and sale of electric power in particu- lar) while some other functions are performed under Nation-wide programs (such as the national program under which incentive payments are offered to encourage the adoption of soil conserving practices). Pre-TVA planning in the basin; relations with the Corps of Engineers.-Federal improvements for navigation on parts of the Tennessee River and some of its tributaries were initiated in 1828 by the Corps of Engineers. Among the improvements constructed by that agency is Wilson Dam, a multiple-purpose project for navigation and power. The Corps of Engineers prepared a report present- ing a plan for the development of water resources of the basin.5 That report analyzed the potentialities of the basin's water resources and considered the prac- ticability of their development for navigation, flood control, irrigation, water supply, hydroelectric power, and other purposes. The most comprehen- sive plan for development of the basin's water re- sources was presented therein, including a 9-foot navigation channel to Knoxville, a large number of hydroelectric power developments with a total in- stalled capacity of about 3 million kilowatts, and provision for flood control. The report contem- plated improvement of the main stream by construc- tion either of seven high dams for navigation, flood control and power, or of 32 low dams for navigation only. The immediate effect of enactment of the Ten- nessee Valley Authority Act of 1933 was the trans- fer of the primary responsibility for constructing water development projects in the basin for navi- gation, flood control, and other purposes from the Corps of Engineers to the Tennessee Valley Authority. Since assuming control of the development of the Tennessee River Basin, the Tennessee Valley Au- thority has completed the improvement of the main • H. Doc. 328, 71st Cong., 2d sess. 751 |
