WSP10906 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

-. 00'2371 f1~;~j ?;~e~" -5- * * * -Ii , *' * * The- Soviets have undertaken a complete re'Constt"clction job, and by 1965 plan to have a waterway with capacity equal to the Stalin Canal and the Volga-Don. When it is finished, the Soviets will have an Inland waterway system linking the Black, the Caspian, the Baltic, and the Arctic, and capable of carrying smaller types .of sea-g.oing vessels, including submarines. . * * * * * * * After naming several navigation pr.ojects now under constructi.on., Gen. Itsclmer 'safd, "These are only a few .of the main projects. They atone, when completed, will provide approximately double the mileage of 9-foot or better waterway than we have in the' United States." * * * * * * * IRRIGATION' When it comes to irrigation, Soviet 'Claims are more vague and less well substantiated than for power or inland water transport. For instance, the Soviets claim to have nearly trebled the area under irrigation in the USSR, but they provide no detailed information on where and whe~ this irrigation took place. , ,Furthermore, it is quite difficult to interpret the Soviet frrig'ation statistics. I have a table--Table VI--which duplicates material fOund 'in the December 20 report to. the Interior and Insular Affairs Connnittee already referred to, but expresses it in acres rather than hectares'. These data are in 'Ctose accord with figures on the same subject available to Army Engineer Intelligence, The table shows Soviet irrigated. acreages for selected years from 1913 -t'o- 1956. D1.\ring the period 19'51 to 1955, inclusive, the area under irrigation' in the USSR appears to have increased by about 6,000,000 a'Cres, or-24.S percent; This- compares with an increase in the United States during the same period of aoout 5,500,000 acres, or 21.6 percent. Much of the U. S. increase consists of sprinkler or' other methods in areas outside the 17 western states. . However, we' may expect the'rate of increase in the USSR to accelerate considerably, fot" it is their practice to bring the irrigation pat-tions of multiple-purpose projects along more slowly than other functions, and consequently the land reclamation benefits of some of their big undertakings are probably only now beginning to appear. Some Soviet irrigation developments far outstrip the biggest American projects, at least as far as claimed acreage is concerned. One will provide water for 3% million acres; another, for 4% million; another, for almost 5 million; another, for almost 5% million, and one in the South Ukraine is expected to make possible the irrigation of 8% million acres. The biggest American projects cover about a million acres. However, there is a question as to whether the acreage figures provide an accurate comparison as to the amount of water made available. The Soviets lay much stress on what we would call supplemental irrigation-- that is, prajects which provide only sufficient water to prevent crop failures in years of subnormal rainfall, and for supplementary watering in normal years. Many such marginal sub-humid areas are in the Caucasus Mountains and the sauthern part of European USSR. In truly arid parts of the country, chiefly in Soviet Central Asia, most of the effort has been devoted to extending and intensifying cultivation in previously developed irrigated areas.