434 



The criteria used by the committee in selecting projects were (in 

 paraphrase) : 



(1) Projects yielding infonnation on which later expanded 

 programs could be based; 



(2^ Projects for whicli adequate data were already available; 

 (3)' Projects with highest ratio of benefits to costs; 



(4) "Multiple-purpose projects having relativel}^ high social 

 values for comparatively large numbers of people;" 



(5) Urgent projects; 



(6) Projects presenting no legal or other complications to 

 prompt initiation; 



(7) Projects probably compatible with future comprehensive 

 plans ; 



(8) Projects already authorized by the Congress. 

 However, the committee admitted that these criteria led to contradic- 

 tory guidance. It was not jDracticable — ^^indeed, it was "undesirable" — 

 to ^'assign absolute priorities to projects for the country as a whole, 

 for regional groups of drainage basins, or even for individual basins." 

 Moreover, "in the final analysis much depends on the judgment of 

 the investigators * * *." ^^ 



The National Resources Committee said it had been hampered by 

 the sparseness of data regarding river basins. Fortunately, however. 

 a growing body of information had been accumulatinof since 1927 on 

 the rivers of the United States. These were the "308 Reports" of the 

 Corps of Engineers, responsive to specifications in House Document 

 308, 69th Congress;, first session, and authorized in the Rivers and 

 Harbors Act of 1927." According to Theodore M. Schad, these were 

 "the first reports of a compreliensive nature on most of the rivers of 

 the United States and * * * have formed the foundation for a great 

 deal of multiple-purpose river basin development in the United 

 States." 15 



During the early months of "World "War II, long-range water project 

 planning was suspended. Projects already under construction were 

 halted or accelerated, depending on tlieir relevance for war production. 

 (TVA's Fontana Dam v\as completed in record time during this pe- 

 riod.) But as the war neared its close, several countervailing themes 

 became dominant with reference to water resources policy. On the one 

 hand, there was a reaction, especially in the Congress, to the centraliza- 

 tion of Government functions resulting from depression and war: this 

 Avas expressed in a move to transfer resources planning functions, polit- 

 ical decisionmaking, and control to the States. On the other hand, there 

 was a recognition of the national obligation to avert future depressions 

 by sustaining employment at a high level; capital construction was 

 generally regarded as an important feature of programs for this pur- 

 pose. "Water development in particular was firmly established as an 

 important function of the Federal Government, with basin-wide 

 programs of multipurpose projects generally favored. Agency respon- 

 sibilities remain vested: in the Corps of Engineers for flood control 



13 Ibid., p. 34. 



" Act of Jan. 21. 1927. 44 Stat. 1010. 



« Theodore M. Schad. Current Perspective on National Water Resources Planning. Feb. 21, 

 1962 Paper prepared for presentation to hydraulics division, American Society of Civil 

 Engineers, Houston, Tex. (mimeo. 1962), 48 pages. 



