3. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

(a) Weather Bureau.-Keeps records of rainfall and other meteorological data throughout the country; records of water stages on various bodies of water throughout the country for purposes of flood prediction; etc.

(b) Bureau of Agricultural Engineering.-Experimental work concerning the distribution and utilization of water in irrigation and in drainage of agricultural lands; also soil-erosion studies.

(c) Forest Service.-Administration of national forests with watershed protection as a primary objective, recreational and wildlife values of forests and waters correlated with forest and range management, and applications for water-power development in national forests; maintains 11 forest and range experiment stations which conduct studies in influence of forest and range vegetation on stream flow and erosion control, and of better forest and range management to improve watershed protection.

(d) Bureau of Public Roads.-Location and design of roads, culverts, and bridges.

(e) Bureau of Agricultural Economics. Studies of submarginal areas due to water shortage, etc.

(f) Biological Survey.-Investigation, acquisition, and management of wild-life reservations and breeding grounds.

(g) Bureau of Chemistry and Soils.-Soil-erosion studies.

4. AGRICULTURAL ADJUSTMENT ADMINISTRATION

Planning Division.-Study of crop production and control involving submarginal areas.

5. WAR DEPARTMENT

Corps of Engineers.-Studies and data on flow and stages for flood control, river and harbor work, and inland waterways; makes own investigations in many cases; has experiment station for study of special Mississippi River problems; beach-erosion studies.

Through the so-called "308 Reports" (undertaken in pursuance to H.Doc. 308, 69th Cong., 1st sess., Jan. 21, 1927), a vast amount of material on navigation, flood control, power, and reclamation has been assembled by the Corps of Engineers during the last few years.

The Rivers and Harbors Board passes on proposals for river and harbor improvements, which are almost always constructed under the direction of the Army Engineers.

The Mississippi River Commission and Inland Waterways Commission are related to these activities.

6. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

(a) Bureau of Standards-National Hydraulic Laboratory.-Research as to hydraulic phenomena; testing of hydraulic instruments and equipment.

(b) Coast and Geodetic Survey.-Investigations and records as to tides and currents in tidal waters.

(c) Bureau of Fisheries.-Stream flow and quality of water data in connection with hatcheries, etc.

(d) Shipping Board.-Concerned in harbor development and navigation.

7. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

In connection with litigations involving water rights, etc.

8. NAVY DEPARTMENT

(a) Bureau of Yards and Docks.-Water-supply data used for furnishing adequate supplies on naval reservations.

(b) Bureau of Navigation-Hydrographic Office.-Uses data on tides and currents.

9. TREASURY DEPARTMENT

(a) Public Health Service.-Uses data on quality and quantity of water in connection with problems of sanitation, natural purification, pollution, etc.

(b) Bureau of Internal Revenue.-Water-supply data in determining appraisal cases, etc.

10. STATE DEPARTMENT

(a) Uses data on flow and stages of water at or crossing international boundaries in settling controversies with foreign nations.

(b) International Joint Committee.-Flow data on all major streams crossing Canadian boundary west of Great Lakes used in settling international controversies as to water rights, etc.

(c) International Boundary Commission, United States and Mexico.Flood measurements and other data on Rio Grande and Colorado drainage to establish national boundary and prevent damage to Mexican interests due to upstream uses of water in United States.

(d) Negotiation of treaty with Canada for development of St. Lawrence.

11. INDEPENDENT OFFICES

(a) Federal Power Commission.-Licensing of projects and determination of fees under Federal Water Power Act.

(b) Veterans' Administration.—Water supply and sanitation at hospital establishments.

(c) Tennessee Valley Authority.-Development of water resources in Tennessee Valley.

SUMMARY OF STATEMENTS BY AGENCIES

The problems facing these various agencies and their fields of work have been summarized in the following statements:

SOURCES AND RECORDS, OVER AND UNDERSUPPLY OF WATER

(Submitted by the Water Resources Branch, U.S. Geological Survey)

Water is not only a necessity of plant and animal life, but it is required in greater or lesser quantities in connection with many of man's activities. Its recognized highest use is in domestic and public water supplies. In cases of necessity other uses must yield to this highest use. In arid regions where agriculture is dependent on irrigation, in general the limits of development will be determined by the quantity of available water. Water in large quantities is necessary for the

65854-34- -3

development of water power and, although not commonly realized, for the development of steam power. From 500 to 1,000 tons of water (depending on the efficiency of the plant and the temperature of the water) must be passed through the condensers of a steam power plant for each ton of coal consumed. A real river is, therefore, required for the operation of a large steam power plant. Water is also needed for many industrial processes, the quantities required varying with the processes. For many industries the regions for establishment will be determined by the quantity and quality of the available water supplies. Water is also needed for floating ships and other water craft used in transportation, and for such purpose must be present in such quantities and must be so controlled as to furnish navigational depths.

Because of unequal distribution of water with respect to both time and place, problems of flood control, and of the drainage of overflow and swamp lands are important, and the utility of water for many purposes depends upon appropriate structures for its storage and control.

Because of the necessity for water in large quantities in connection with many uses, it becomes a limiting factor in development. Cities go farther and farther afield at rapidly mounting costs for water supplies as their populations increase and ultimately the supplies of water that can be made available will determine the limits of municipal growth. The size and location of power plants are determined by available water supplies, and industries are limited both as to location and size by the availability of water of suitable chemical quality.

Safe and proper development of a region is, therefore, largely dependent upon adequate water supplies, and in this connection it should be noted that no sharp line can be drawn between surface waters and underground waters. All of the low and ordinary flows of the rivers come from the ground, having been drawn from the tributary ground storage. If the ground-water stages are reasonably high, the flow of the rivers will be well maintained. Extreme drought occurs when the ground-water stages are low, and when the groundstorage reservoirs have been drained because of a long continued failure of precipitation. Any adequate study of water supplies and of river discharges that are to be used for any and all purposes would involve therefore a knowledge of the ground-water supplies.

UNDERGROUND WATER IN THE UNITED STATES

Underground water contributes a great deal to the welfare of the people of the United States and when it is adequately developed and controlled it will contribute much more. It is estimated that nearly 20,000,000 people in the United States depend on public water supplies derived from wells, and 30,000,000 to 35,000,000 depend on private well supplies. Altogether about 6,500 public water supplies out of a total of about 10,000 are derived from wells. Houston and Memphis are the largest cities that depend entirely on wells, but the largest development for public supply is 100,000,000 gallons a day on Long Island for the city of New York. More than 2,000,000 acres in the United States are irrigated with water obtained from wells. This water is derived from about 66,000 wells with an aggregate capacity of about 47,000,000,000 gallons a day or about 73,000 cubic feet per second.

The largest supplies of underground water in the United States are obtained from formations of sand, sandstone, gravel, extrusive lava rock, and cavernous limestone-notably from the sandstones of the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain, the glacial outwash sands and gravels of the northern part of the United States, and the gravelly fill of the West.

The importance of the underground reservoirs in comprehensive plans for the highest utilization of the water resources of the country and the nature of the problems relating to their utilization have not been generally appreciated. Their advantages are that they are already in existence, that they are accessible over wide areas by means of wells, that they can for the most part be protected from bacterial pollution, and that because of their great capacity and relative protection from evaporation they are available for hold-over storage throughout the cycles of wet and dry years. The great storage capacity of the underground reservoirs tends to give permanence and reliability to the underground-water supplies wherever the safe yield is not exceeded. This was strikingly shown in the drought of 1930, when relatively little difficulty was encountered with the public water supplies derived from wells.

The problems concerning the underground reservoirs relate to both the quantity and the quality of the water. These reservoirs are not inexhaustible, as is often assumed, but in the long run they will yield only as much water as they receive in their intake areas by percolation from the surface. It is essential that their safe yield be determined by scientific methods and that the draft made upon them be accordingly regulated. It is also essential that their supplies be conserved by preventing waste from the wells, either at or below the surface. Where shortage in underground supplies is approaching or already exists, as in several areas of congested population and in certain irrigation districts, remedial measures must be taken, such as developing supplementary supplies from other sources or increasing the percolation in the intake areas by artificial water spreading or other methods. Among the important problems which will have to be met in connection with the improvement of almost all large drainage basins in the United States, is that of the protection of the underground water from bacterial pollution and from encroachment of salt water from salt-water horizons or from the sea. This involves determination of the geologic and hydrologic conditions, with appropriate restriction of use within safe limits; also programs of repairing or sealing defective wells and the proper construction of new wells.

Recently there has been a general decline in the ground-water table throughout much of the Mississippi Valley and some other parts of the country. It is known that this decline is due in part to the prevailing drought conditions, but facts are needed as to the extent and character of the decline and the contributing causes other than drought. On the basis of these facts broad consideration must be given to the development and application of a proper policy with regard to underground water. Any decline in the ground-water levels has various important economic effects. For example, the flow of streams at low stages, which largely controls navigation, irrigation, and the development of power, is derived almost entirely from underground water and is regulated by the ground-water levels. Moreover, in many localities in this region ground water is the only supply available for public, industrial, and farm uses.

Much has been learned regarding the origin and movement of underground water and the extent and quality of the underground supplies, and a technique has been developed for determing the origin, movement, quantity, and salt relations of the water. This has been largely accomplished through research and regional investigations by the Division of Ground Water and the Division of Quality of Water of the United States Geological Survey. During the fiscal year 1933 about 50 investigations were made in 19 States and the Territory of Hawaii, more than half the cost of which was carried by the States. The time is ripe for the application of the most rigid technique available in a thorough quantitative evaluation of the underground water supplies of the country, and the development of a comprehensive policy of utilization and conservation.

RECORDS OF RUN-OFF

Among all of these phases which must be considered in connection with development the necessity for continuing records of run-off is outstanding. Run-off varies widely, of course, from day to day, month to month, year to year, decade to decade. Extremes of high or of low may occur at any time and a break in the records at critical periods represents an irreparable loss. Unless stream-flow records are continuous, records of the extremes will not be available because no one will be on the ground when such extremes occur.

The responsibility for collecting stream-flow records rests with the Geological Survey and that organization cooperates with 40 States and many municipalities. It also cooperates in the collection of stream-flow records with the War Department (Corps of Engineers), State Department (International Joint Commission), Treasury Department (Public Health Service), Department of Agriculture (Weather Bureau), as well as with several bureaus of the Interior Department. Cooperating States contribute about one-half million dollars yearly to this important work.

The records of river flow are important not only in connection with local development for utilizing water in many ways but also with reference to broad State and regional planning having a definite Federal interest. Such Federal interest may be evidenced in matters relating to interstate and international streams, the development and use of power, the administration of the public domain (including national forests, parks, grazing, and agriculture), flood control, navigation, irrigation and drainage, river erosion, highways and bridges, public health and recreation, and fish and wildlife.

Congress has recognized a distinction between base-gaging stations of primary Federal interest and the cooperative group of stations which have both Federal and local interests. The necessity for continuous maintenance and operation of the base stations where records are of paramount Federal interest should be particularly emphasized in order that such stations may be adequately provided for in the Federal program to insure continuity. In connection with appropriations for river-measurement work, therefore, it is of vital importance that the distinction between Federal stations and cooperative stations be fully recognized, in order that both types of stations may be amply provided for. Failure in any year to provide appropriations for either type of work would obviously mean the loss of records which