The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1953-02-05
Proper Forest Practice
Raises Water Level
Says Supervisor
Future Water Supply
Will Be Determined
BY Todoy's Practices

WIN OS ASNSuuuuuuuSO
BY Todoy's Practices
'The available water supply in
the State of Mississippi can be
increase through proper forest g.
agricultural practices. Water, be-
ing a by-product of good forest
management, is subject to good
management and will respond to
good land management practices"
was the gist Of an interview with
E. R. Silvia, Supervisor Of the
Mississippi National Forests Wed
nesday.
In Mississippi we associate our
available water supply with rain
fall. and this is truly q part of
the entire story. Our raindrops
falling upon land which is not
ready to accept them create ero-
sion problems like those which
we have in North Central Mis-
sissippi. In much of that hill farm
area the protective mantle of the
forest has been removed and the
rainfall descends directly upon
soil. In many areas water runs off
the land into the valleys as fast
as it falls. The associative ma.
of the forest floor has disappeared
and is no longer present to inter-
cept the rain and to allow the
slow percolation of this rainfall
into the soil.
We cannot increase our total
amount of annual rainfall, but we
can increase the volume of re-
coverable water which goes into
underground storage. We can in
crease this volume of water by
simply providing a protective alb.
sentative mat for our soil, this
permitting the collected and i'm
peded water to slowly percolate
into the underground storage
areas. The volume Of water stored
underground can be maintained
through the good management Of
our soil and forests.
Water is one of the natural re-
sources of the forest, and its de-
gree of importance varies with its
location in the United States. We
know that the industrial and
agricultural development of Cali
fornia will eventually be curtail-
ed by the luck of good water. II
is likewise true that the water
level at Savannah, Georgia, ha:
dropped to the extent that sal
.. water has intruded upon the av'
ailable fresh water supply. SINH
lar situations exist in other parts
of the United States. In Mississip'
ri the effects Of a lowering water
table has been noted by many
farmers and industrial users OF
water.
In North Central Mississippi
there are parts Of 10 counties in
cluded in the ooTallahatchie
flood prevention project. This is
project originally initiated by
Congress under the Flood Con-
troll Acts of 1896 which provided
for Flood Control Surveys.
In 1912 and 1914 Congress
passed laws which permitted re-
medal practices. These laws
charged the Department of Agri-
culture with the responsibility of
carrying out flood prevention
Service and the United States
practices. The Soil Conservation
Forest Service were ordered to
carry out an action program to
improve ground conditions for
runoff and water flow control &
prevention of soil erosion to aid
flood control. This cooperative eff.
fort is accomplished through the
Soil Conservation District Com
missioners.
The Production and Marketing
Administration has contributed to
this flood prevention operation
by incentive payments to farm
ers who perform tree planting,
timber stand improvement, and
other soil conservation practices.
During the present forest plant
ing season, Is million pine seed
lings will be planted on the Yo-
ZOO allahatchie flood prevention
project from Federal funds. This
planting is being done on pri-
vately-owned lands and repre-
sents an area of approximately rs
thousand acres.