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Show about 33 million dollars annually in their electric bills, compared with what they would pay for the same amount of power under rate schedules pre- vailing in most parts of the country. Average use is about 3,100 kilowatt-hours per home consumer, compared to 1,800 kilowatt-hours for the average home consumer in the Nation. The power system provides about 7.5 billion kilowatt-hours annually to numerous industries at lower average cost than in most of the remainder of the Nation. Through encouragement of manu- facturing- industry, a better balanced economy has evolved in the valley than that of pre-1933 years. The system makes a vital contribution to the de- fense and military needs of the Nation by supply- ing power for the manufacture of heavy chemicals, light metals, atomic weapons, and many other materials. The home-owned and home-managed municipal and cooperative electric systems have accumulated net earnings, after operating expenses, interest, and taxes or tax replacements, amounting to $86,925,- 000. These earnings have been used to retire bonds, expand and improve systems and, in the case of about 35 distributors, have served as a basis for reducing rates to consumers. Service has been extended to about 350,000 farms, 23 times as many as had service in 1933. With expanding use of power per farm, the total use of electricity on farms in the region is 75 times as great as in 1933. Between 1933 and the end of fiscal year 1950, TVA power operations produced 156 million dollars in net income.1 In 1949, estimated savings on transportation charges thorough use of the river were over 6 million dollars. Flood control benefits are estimated at 11.5 million dollars annually, more than half attributable to benefits on the lower Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. As a result of the programs of TVA, the Depart- 1 See the following: Total operating revenues from power______________________$426, 000, 000 Opezrating expenses, including in lieu payments, and interest____ 177,000,000 Depreciation and replacement____ 93, 000, 000 Net income___________________ 156, 000, 000 Net income reinvested in power system____________ 111,000,000 Payment to U. S. Treasury to retire bonds and repay ap- propriations_____________ 45, 000, 000 ment of Agriculture and other public agencies, and an increase in purchasing power, farmers in the valley have increased their use of fertilizers greatly. They also have shifted a million acres from row crops to close-growing crops, have terraced a mil- lion acres, and have established 800,000 acres of improved pastures. Research by TVA, and State and local institu- tions has led to new equipment suited to valley fanning and has aided in the shift toward soil- building agriculture. Research in food processing and development has helped improve the market for agricultural products. More than 200 million tree seedlings have been planted, mostly by private owners, to reclaim more than 169,000 acres of eroding valley land. Malaria, long endemic to the valley, has been almost eliminated in areas along the Tennessee River. Fish have greatly increased in the new lakes, as have wildlife on the lakes and the new preserves. People of the valley have taken advantage of the recreation opportunities, with an investment at the end of 1949 of nearly 41 million dollars in parks, docks, pleasure craft, and other facilities. As an Illustration of the Character of Efficient River Basin Development Probably the most pervading effect of the Ten- nessee experience on water resources programs in the United States has been demonstration of the desirability-even the fundamental need-for inte- grated or unified river basin development. In every region in which water resources planning is going forward some form of coordinated basin program is being proposed, and the principle of multiple-purpose integrated river development finds wide general acceptance. Public appreciation of the value of integrated resource development has clearly been influenced by the pioneering development on the Tennessee. It has been reflected in recent attempts, as by the Federal Inter-Agency River Basin Committee, to bring together the many State and Federal agencies responsible for separate functional phases of water resources development. Public approval of such a program within the Tennessee Basin itself has been particularly marked, an indication of its appeal to those who have experienced it. The following accomplishments in the valley demonstrate achievements possible in an integrated approach to water resources improvement. 796 |
