WSP09399 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

intercepted. Cutting deep rooted tr,eesand lElavingonly herbaceo)ls plants increases the water availabl~ for: strea;mflowwithoutincreasing flood heights. Experiments in the Southeast ~how that as much as 22 inches of water can be .saved by removal of t~ees and b.rush. Removal of tre.es increased water yield 150/0 in Colora.;to and 290/0 in SOl1thern . California. Contrary to widely quoted opinion, the increase in runoff was not confined to flood periods. ThiS raises the questi.on whether burning of brush, probably the cheapest and:tnost common method, will accelerate erosion. Experiments underway for .more th.an15 years show that erosion and runoff' are not acceler~ted by burning, Moet ex- amples of excessive erosion have dealt with;1ands cleared of vegetation and the soil cultivated. Burning of brush do~s not destroy the roots, which ,!-re the chief. soil stabilizer.. I believe grass is. th~ best cover , for protection of soil against erosion .and it is a low water user. Since 194$ '! when enabling legislation was. passed in California, an active . brusn burning program has been under way.: About half a .million .. acres a year are being burned, with no disastrous results. Certainly consideration should be given to the economic pOBBibilitiell of prod)1cing forage and increasing water supplies by removal of. brush from the vast acreage which has potential possibilities fOl) gral!ling, and substituting grass, . .. * * * * * * * *:* L.IQUID FUEL.S FROM OIL. SHALE C. E. Tonry, ChemicalEngineer,u:. S. Bureau of Mines (Presented with illustrative colored slides). .. k It ,- " The Green River formation covers ~,500square mil,as of north,- western Colorado. The 1,000 square mi~e ar.ea .called the Piceance Creek Basin ha.s been prospected and sampled so that we can predict depths and values of the shal,e beds. . IntlU,s area are 400 billion ba.rrels " -18-