THE JOINT CONSERVATION CONFERENCE 



(Concluded from January Number) 

 Section of Waters 



SUMMARY OF SECTION REPORT 



THE annual stream flow — by which is 

 meant the volume of water annually 

 passing into the sea — is approximately 

 70,000,000,000,000 cubic feet, for continental 

 United States. Of this, less than one per 

 cent is restrained and utilized for municipal 

 and community supply and related purposes ; 

 less than two per cent (or about ten per cent 

 of that in the arid and semi-arid regions) is 

 used for irrigation ; about five per cent is 

 currently used for navigation, and less than 

 five per cent is utilized for the production of 

 power. From eighty-five to ninety-five per 

 cent of the total volume of water is wasted 

 in floods. The mainland United States has 

 282 streams that may be navigated for an 

 ageregate of 26,115 miles, and as much more 

 might be navigated with proper improve- 

 ment. There are also forty-five canals, with 

 an aggregate mileage of 2,189.05 miles. On 

 lake and sound routes there is large traffic, 

 but river navigation is too small for definite 

 record. The cost of water carriage aver- 

 ages about one-fourth the cost of rail car- 

 riage. As our rail freightage reached 217,- 

 000,000,000 ton-miles during 1906, at an aver- 

 age rate of 0.77 cent, the shipping of one- 

 fifth of our freight by water would have 

 saved to producers and consumers over $250,- 

 000,000. The theoretical power of the streams 

 of mainland United States is over 230,000,000 

 horsepower; the amount actually in use is 

 5,250,000 horsepower. The amount available 

 at a cost comparable to that of steam instal- 

 lation is estimated at 37,000,000 horsepower; 

 this thirty-seven million horsepower exceeds 

 our entire mechanical power now in use, and 

 would operate every mill, drive every spindle, 

 propel every train and boat, and light every 

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city, town and village in the country. The 

 direct yearly damage by floods since 1900 has 

 increased steadily from $45,000,000 to $238,- 

 000,000; the indirect loss, through deprecia- 

 tion of property, is still greater ; while the 

 largest loss is that arising from the impedi- 

 ment to navigation and terminal transfers. 

 The soil matter annually carried into the 

 lower rivers and harbors during freshets 

 reaches the quantity of 783.000,000 tons. Its 

 removal seriously impairs the productivity of 

 upland farms, while it also increases channel- 

 cutting and bar-building. It is estimated that 

 the annual damage to farms through such 

 erosive action of flood waters is not less than 

 $500,000,000. We should adopt at once a 

 broad plan of waterways improvement ex- 

 tending to all the uses of the waters and the 

 benefits to be derived from their control, in- 

 cluding the clarification of the water and the 

 abatement of floods for the benefit of naviga- 

 tion, the extension of irrigation, the develop- 

 ment and application of power, the preven- 

 tion of soil-wash, the purification of streams 

 for water supply, and the drainage and utili- 

 zation of the waters of swamp and overflow 

 lands. Rough estimates of the cost of such 

 practical improvement place the figure _ at 

 $50,000,000 annually, the conclusion being 

 reached that the work could be done in ten 

 years. If this work were to be done at the 

 cost of the people, the additional tax burden 

 would be GiYz cents per year per capita, or 

 $6.25 in all. Estimates of the total benefits 

 resulting from such improvements place the 

 figures at one billion dollars, or $i2.t;o per 

 capita, annually; that is. twenty times the 

 cost. 



