WSP11627 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

'WI' .. . <:':) ,:) lo-4 C) ('I) .- . . . '. " 1 January 1952 AWRBIAC PROCEDURE GUillE State that some. of the power from the ,st. Lawrence project would be 'wed in New Englund. It may well be that some of the power sites to be developed in New England should be interconnected with the St. Lawrence or other northeastern power sites 10 the interest of more power at lower cost for the whole region. But the .present act does not even require that this possibility beinvest~gated. . Thie piecemeal approach is obviously inadequate. I strongly urge the Congress to authorize a full-scale investigation of multiple-purpose resource development, with appropriate participation by all the Federal agencies and the States concerned, such as would be accomplished by the lIew York-New England Resources Survey Commission I have previously rec- ommended . In.the meantime, although I consider it an inadequate remedy, I .shall issue instructions to the appropriate Federal agencies to work together and with the States in .preparing as m~h of a combined resource devslopment plan for this area as existing law will permit. A third serious defect in this act concerns the Pacific Northwest. Nearly 3 years ago, I directed the Departments of the Army and the Interior to .prepare a joint plan for their'further work in the Columbia River Basin. The;}' did so, and, among other things, recommended an integrated schedule of projects to be constructed, and a basin account to permit unified physical and financial operation of the several Federal projects to be constructed in the basin. Instead of authorizing this series of projects and the basin account, the present act merely authorized those projects which were included in the joint plan for construction by the Army Department. It omits all the projects which were jointly recommended for construction by the Interior . Department--some of which should be constructed earlier than a .number of Army. projects which are authorized in this act. The present act also omits the basin .account, without which the various Federal projects to be constructed in the Columbia River Basin cannot be combined in a sensi- ble and practical operating system.. I urge that the Congress recons.ider this matter at. the earliest opportunity, and authorize the missing pieces of the Army-Interior ColUI:Jbia Basin plan. As I have said a number of times, the Army-Interior joint plan is no substitute for the truly comprehensive resource develop- ment which would be made possible by the establishment of a Columbia Valley Administration, but the joint plan would be clearly superior to the partial and inadequate authorizations contained in this act. Aside from the defects I have already noted, there are. two other.. points on which I wish to comment. One provision in the act might be construed to vest in the Depart- ment of the Army exclusive jurisdiction over the develol'ment and iml'rove- !Dent of rivers and other water resources in Alaska. Alaska should not be denied the services of other Federal agencies which would normally contribute to the preparation of plans for the development of its ll-7