Evening star., 1936-07-10
ASKCONSERVAT|0N
DISTRICT IN RIVER
CONTROL REPORT
National Resource Officials
Repeat Suggestion in
Draft to Roosevelt.
PROGRAM WOULD CUT
OVERLAPPING OF WORK
Plan, if Adopted, Would Include
Flood and Pollution Control
in Potomac.

Repeating the suggestion that q
Potomac River conservation district
should be set up to serve as demon
stration and research unit, the Ma
tional Resources Committee today
made public a progress report, which
1t submitted to President Roosevelt
urging extension of cooperative en-
deayor to lessen administrative dupli'
cation.
The committee of 10, which includes
s cabinet members, pointed out that IL
most cases the engineering works fol
river control should be designed fol
the whole drainage basin Of the river
''as most Of the problems take shape
In terms of the river basin as whole
The studies which would be made
In the Potomac River district If the
plan were adopted would include fooo
control, pollution control. land use, in
dustries, towns and cities, health anc
recreation. 1t was pointed out that
any design for water use must be
changed from year to year to keep UP
with new and unforeseen develop
ments. It also was pointed out that
scientific records of surface and ground
water behavior are not complete.
Need for Cooperation.
The report shows that American
public affairs are managed by approxi-
mately 175,000 separate Federal, State
and local governments, and that there
Is urgent need for cooperation to re-
duce duplication and waste. The COM
mittee pointed out that many of these
Government bodies also have sepa-
rate departments. working more or
less independently on difference public
services.
In summarizing its work during the
past year and outlining its present ac-
tivities, the committee pointed out that
1t. in cooperation with the regional
and State planning agencies and afil-
lated local bodies, ARE organized to
assist in cooperative endeavors and
have already made start in that
direction"
The work of the committee, it was
pointed out, has developed along the
lines of Federal and local cooperation,
and it is making continuing studies of
public works programs and of the
ALLEGATION of costs of public works, of
the use Of land and water resources,
of the basic mineral resources of the
country and of such fundamental work
as the topographic mapping and
stream-fiow measurements programs.
It has provided State consultants to
confer with State and local govern
ments on the work of their own or
ganizations for the formulation Of
State and local problems, as result
Of which boards have been set up in
46 States.
Fair Progress Reported.
State and Federal Governments, +"
1t was reported, have long been strug-
Cling with the problems Of land use,
and since the recent droughts and
floods awakened popular interest, they
have been able to make fair progress
along many lines. The general feeling
Of the committee Is one Of encourage
ment. There will be no serious danger
of national disaster from soil erosion
II a comprehensive program of erosion
control can be in full swing within 10
years and if the soil can be under
control in 20 years"
The committee recommended fur
ther purchases of land on a large scale
to protect lands that cannot be made
commercially profitable "if used in
ways consistent with the public inter-
est" 1t also recommended further
coming by States and counties and "a
resolute pushing OF soil conservation. {"
Restudy of reclamation problems by
the Departments of Agriculture and
the Interior was advocated. A CO.
ordinated, unified national water policy
also was held to be needed.
Plans have been made for a large
scale survey to obtain accurate data
on consumer habits. The committee
also recommended that a permanent
co-ordinating agency be created by
Congress to study the policies of gov
ernment and suggest ways to avoid
overlapping and waste. The work OF
the present committee is carried on
under temporary order of the
President.