66o 



CONSERVATION 



tors of the great flood at Pittsburg in 

 March, 1907." 



No one will question but that it is 

 for the best interest of the state that 

 hereafter any obstruction to a navigable 

 stream must first be approved by the 

 Commission. 



Upon no part of its field of inquiry 

 does the Commission lay greater em- 

 phasis than the relation of forested 

 watersheds to stream flow. An entire 

 chapter is given to this subject and 

 considerable original data is presented 

 for several Pennsylvania streams. How 

 thoroughly the Commission is convinced 

 of the fundamental importance of for- 

 ests to stream flow is shown by the fol- 

 lowing statement which occurs in the 

 introductory part of the report: 



"One of the causes which lessens the avail- 

 able water supply is deforestation, and the 

 results of the work of this Commission show 

 that stream flow is more irregular than 

 formerly, and the value of the streams to 

 the Commonwealth greatly decreased for 

 this reason. The investigations of the Corn- 

 mission on this subject demonstrate that, in 

 order to preserve the present value of our 

 streams, active steps must be continued to 

 protect and preserve the existing forest lands 

 of the state, as well as to reforest those dis- 

 tricts which have been denuded of the tim- 

 ber land. 



"The effects of floods upon the streams of 

 this state have been given careful considera- 

 tion by this Commission, and wherever pos- 

 sible flood conditions have been carefully 

 studied. The control of floods is closely al- 

 lied with and interdependent upon the de- 

 velopment of water power, and the results of 

 the investigations of this Commission on 

 these subjects are set forth in detail in the 

 following pages. Flood influences may be 

 ameliorated by reforestation of the denuded 

 forest areas of the state, by the construction 

 of extensive storage reservoirs for excess 

 waters, and by the straightening, widening, 

 and deepening of the channels of streams. 



The interest recently taken in inland navi- 

 gation, to effect which would necessitate the 

 erection of numerous dams, and the revival 

 of the use of water as power, may aid in 

 protecting the streams of this state against 

 flood. Through whatever means such re- 

 sults are accomplished the effect will be both 

 a decrease in the damage to property and 

 also an increase in the available water supply. 

 The larger streams of this state may not 

 yet have reached the condition where conser- 

 vation of the water in reservoirs for supply 

 purposes is necessary, but provision must be 

 made by meaos of reforestation and recla- 

 mation of streams which are now undesira- 

 ble for use, to keep the supply at its present 

 capacity." 



The Commission does not stop with 

 the mere statement that deforestation 

 is bad. It says in effect that the con- 

 dition is so bad that it must be reme- 

 died and that it must be done through 

 the protection or renewal. of the forest. 

 It heartily endorses the work of the 

 State Forestry Reservation Commis- 

 sion in establishing state forest reser- 

 vations on the headwaters of streams 

 to the extent of over 750,000 acres, 

 and in introducing scientific methods of 

 lumbering and forest culture. It fa- 

 vors the legislation now pending in the 

 Federal Congress, providing for Na- 

 tional Forests in the Appalachian 

 Mountains, extending over the head- 

 waters of the Monongahela River. 



Working in accord with the Forest 

 Reservation Commission as it is doing, 

 the possibilities of usefulness of the 

 Water Supply Commission to the great 

 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania can 

 scarcely be overestimated. Its results 

 should attract the notice of other states 

 where the need of a similar body of 

 authority on water supply is equally 

 great. 



