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<br /> <br />OOz.~58 <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />2 <br /> <br />events, and, among other things, that period established the need for a new <br />and realistic device for USDA. Something had to give and the result was en- <br />actment of Public Law 566, which placed a whole new light on the role of USDA <br />in the watersheds of River Basins. <br /> <br />During the ten years prior to 1954 that I served as Soil .Conservation Service <br />Chief, Regional Water Conservation Division, for the six northern Rocky Mo\m- <br />tain and Great Plains States, it seemed that this area was a crucible within <br />which many of the elements destined to result in Public Law 566 were being <br />mixed. My guess is that nw Division made more studies and surveys, both by <br />numbers and intensity, to come up with examples of need for and ways to <br />establish watershed developments than were made in any other region in the <br />United States. Further, the first establishment of a watershed program spe- <br />cifically for the protection of irrigation development in the West was prior <br />to the enactmant of P.L, 566. This development is located in northwest Ne- <br />braska near Scottsbluff. I had the privilege of directing the planning of <br />this development and arranging for its establishment, Most of the work I <br />have cited was brought to public attention through the Missouri Basin Inter- <br />Agency Co1llIll:i.ttee. This illustrates, in ll\Y thinking, one important f\mction <br />of Inter-Agency River Basin Co1llIll:i.ttees--that of serving as a pUblic forum-- <br />a sounding board. <br /> <br />I know the Columbia Basin Inter-Agency Committee is well informed about <br />watershed projects \mder P.L. 566. This program is now an accepted and in- <br />creasingly popular part of the water and related land resource development <br />and improvement scene. <br /> <br />I suggest you are less well informed about Special River Basin Studies be- <br />cause in USDA only Section 6 in Public Law 566 provides authority for them. <br />I refer here to Section 6 of the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention <br />Act (Public Law 566, SJrd Congress, as amended). Briefly, it provideS <br />authority for the Secretary of Agriculture to cooperate with other Federal <br />and with State and local agencies in making investigations and surveys of <br />the watersheds of rivers and other waterways as a basis for the development <br />of coordinated programs, <br /> <br />There is a specific and highly important relationship, however, between <br />Section 6 and other sections of P.L. 566. I choose to describe this rela- <br />tionShip in two broad categories: <br /> <br />1. River Basins Studies serve effectively to merge the interests <br />and efforts of Federal, State and local agencies in determin- <br />ing what part of the water and related land resource: prOblems <br />in a River Basin can be solved by developing Watershed Protec- <br />tion and Flood Prevention projects and through other soil and <br />water conservation projects and programs of USDA. <br /> <br />2. River Basins Studies provide a broad basis for the coordination <br />and integration of projects and programs of all interested <br />Federal, State and local interests. <br /> <br />