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<br /> <br />o <br />f~-' <br />~ <br />(~ <br />-.J <br />W <br /> <br />Watershed management is the analysis, protection, development, <br />operation, or maintenance of the land, vegetation, and water resources <br />of a drainage basin for the conservation of all its resources for the <br />benefit of man. This process is complicated in the Region because of <br />the complex land ownership and administration pattern. Major problems <br />involved in the protection and management of the Region's watershed <br />lands include erosion, inadequate water yield, upstream floodwater and <br />sediment d$.mage, degrading water quality, wildfire damage, water supply <br />deficiency, and those environmental quality problems directly related <br />to land use and management of land resources. <br /> <br />Watershed protection problems and needs are projected on the basis <br />of expected development and growth with no additional protection or <br />improvement measures installed after 1965. Average annual upstream <br />floodwater and sediment, erosion, and wildfire damages are $28.9 million, <br />$6.7 million, and $5.7 million, respectively, based on 1965 conditions; <br />a total damage of $41.3 million. These damages are projected to <br />increase to about $272.0 million by 2020. <br /> <br />Over the past several years, significant advances have been made <br />in watershed management practices and techniques by landowners and <br />public land managers. The goal has been to minimize the effects of <br />changes in the ecological balance that man's first activities had dis- <br />rupted, and to modify it to create greater benefits for man. <br /> <br />Althou$h most land has had some treatment, there is no accurate <br />method for determining what portion of the total area had received <br />adequate land treatment and management by 1965. On an equivalent acre <br />basis, using present standards, sufficient measures had been installed <br />to adequately treat about 37 percent of the irrigated cropland in the <br />Region. While most public forest and range lands utilized by domestic <br />livestock are under some form of improved livestock management, only <br />15 percent of these lands benefit from completed management programs. <br />Less than 10 percent of the commercial timberland in the Region has <br />been developed and is being managed for the maximum production of timber <br />products. An estimated 25 percent of the measures and treatment needed <br />for the efficient development and management of urban and other lands <br />have been provided for based upon the 1965 needs of the people. In <br />nearly all cases, the measures and practices meeting the standards in <br />1965 are expected to be inadequate in the near future because of <br />improved tecl;mology and a limited useful life. All will require <br />maintenance and rehabilitation. <br /> <br />Cooperative type projects constructed by 1965 include 17 upstream <br />flood prevention projects and one agricultural water management project. <br />Between 1965 and 1970, four additional upstream flood prevention projects <br />were completed. <br /> <br />iv <br /> <br />