Evening star., 1940-05-26
By Joseph S. Edeerton.


the Tennessee River to Knoxville, Tenn.
Uncontrolled, the Tennessee River con-
tributed as much as Is per cent to the
crest of floods on the lower Ohio River,
Practically all Of this flow can be re-
tainedfo several days when the T. v. A.
dams have been completed, reducing
flood crests at Cairo and on the lower
Mississippi by from 2 to 3 feet. While
this may not seem important at first
glance, 1t is the water which the Tennes-
see adds to food which often deter
mines whether or not the levees on the
Mississippi near and below Cairo will be
overtopped and whether plugs" in the
levees must be blown out, flooding thou
sands of acres of valuable lands, to avoid
greater damage farther down the river.
Tremendous Savings.
1t has been estimated that reduction
OF 2 feet from Cairo to the mouth of the
Arkansas, such as the Tennessee River
control will make possible, will benefit di-
rectly 6,000,000 acres, as we'll as cities and
towns along the Mississippi River. The
increase In land values in this area and
the savings in costs of raising railroads
and highways, benefits to cities and
towns and reduction in annual flood
damages have been estimated to total
approximately $4,000 900.
Many Of the dams VIII produce electric
power in such abundance that revenues
from its sale are expected to repay the
ct trYyrf
OF the improvement properly chargeable
to power and great part of the whole
river channel development as well. AS q
result of agreements made between pri-
vate utilities in the area and the au-
thority ard municipalities which pur-
chased the private power properties, a
market has been provided for all of the
Authority's electric energy at an esti-
mated annual revenue to the T. v. A. of
nearly $15,000,000 Nearly 1000 miles of
rural lines "a per cent of them into areas
not previously served, and 1900 miles of
high voltage lines serve nearly 10000
domestic consumers, about one-third of
them on farms or in villages. Valley
people now use 58 per cent more current
than in 1929, compared with % per cent
increase for the Nation as whole. More
than $4,000 customers now are served.
Model for Industry.
The supply of cheap current has made
possible great industrial growth in the
Tennessee Valley and surrounding coun-
try. The planned industrial city of
Kingsport, designed from the ground up
as closely integrated, efficient unit in
dustrially and socially, Is regarded as a
world model.
The munitions plants at Wilson Dam
have been converted to the production
OF highly concentrated phosphate fer
tilizers now being used by more than
25,O00 farmers in 20 States and for soil
and water conservation work. The value
OF these plants in case of war would be
inestimable, since phosphorus, essential
In the manufacture Of munitions, never
was available in sufficient quantities
during the World War.
Through the last planting season ap-
proximately S5,00o;0 900 seeding trees had
been planted on $4,000 acres Of quilted.
abandoned land and the T. v. A. nur-
series alone are producing 100000
seedlings annually. This Is part Of the
program of reforestation and erosion
control essential to prevent sitting Of
the Tennessee River and its tributaries
which in time would destroy the effec-
tiveness of the dams.
At Norris Lake alone, for example, the
T. v. A. owns 100000 acres of land sur
rounding the lake and tributary streams
on which complete soil erosion control is
being undertaken. It is estimated that
as result Of this control the life Of
Norris Dam has been increased from so
years to perhaps as much as 1000 years.
This means that from now on very little,
1t any, topsoil will be displaced In this
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