Arkansas-White-Red Basins Inter-Agency Committee Purpose, Organization and Plan for Public Hearings

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4& Department of Commerce . Federal Power Commission Coast and Geodetic Survey Bureau of Public Roads Weather Bureau Bureau of the Census Civil Aeronautics Administration Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce Federal Security Agency Public Health Service DESCRIPTION OF THE AREA: The three -basin area comprises approximately 1600050,000 acres of and or almost one - eleventh of the area of the United States, with a wide range of topography from the mountainous areas on the west to the coastal plains on the east, and climate varia- tions from the arid high plains to the humid backwater area of the Mississippi River. It is an area great in potential growth and one in which there is an urgent need for the formulation of an integrated and comprehensive plan for the development of the land and water re- sources. GENERAL: The Division Engineer, Southwestern Division, Corps of Engineers, 1114 Commerce Street, Dallas 2, Texas, as chairman of the Arkansas- White- Red Basins Inter - Agency Committee, has established a special office at Tulsa, Oklahoma, located near the geographic center of the three basins, so as to have an office devoted entirely to this study where the other Federal agencies and the States may coordinate their work with that of the Corps of Engineers. Communications to this office should be addressed to: The Officer in Charge, Arkansas -White -Red Office, P. 0. Box 61, Tulsa, Oklahoma. Several of the other Federal agencies have established offices in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Much work is under way, or has already been completed in the Arkansas - White -Red Basins by both State and Federal agencies. Many projects have been authorised for construction and still others are in the report stage awaiting authorisation. This new study will recognize all of this work and will incorporate it in the over -all plan. No work now under way or authorized for construction will be delayed by this study. PURLIC HEARINGS: The Arkansas -White -Red Basins Inter - Agency Committee is organized so as to facilitate close contact between States, between Federal agencies, between the States and Federal agencies, and is de- signed to insure a "grass roots" approach to bring out what the residents of the area themselves desire. The President, in letters to the Secretaries of the Federal Depart- ments, indicated the necessity for insuring that the investigations provide for the needs and desires of the people. Therefore, numerous public hearings will be held throughout the three -river basins.