WATER AND WATERFRONTS 149 



shores of all types of bodies of water. It is interesting to note that 

 the 24 metropolitan areas with populations of a million or more are 

 located on rivers, lakes, and oceans. Water frontage is by far our 

 most expensive and most sought after real estate and it is in short 

 supply. 



Water is a vital element; not only is it essential to human life, 

 but it provides the aesthetic and recreational needs of our people. 

 It helps create, and is an important part of, our environment. 



Yet it has been the most abused of our resources. We dump into 

 it everything we do not want. Cities and towns use it as part of 

 their sewage systems. Industry fills our rivers and lakes with waste 

 materials, chemicals, and refuse. We destroy the natural watersheds 

 with bulldozers. In many cases the Federal Government has created 

 graveyards for ships in some of the most scenic sections of our rivers. 



We allow commercial developments and residential communities 

 to be constructed on natural flood plains and then expend untold 

 millions of dollars on flood disaster relief. 



We permit private exploitation of coastal barrier sand dunes 

 only to have homes and towns washed away, along with what is 

 left of the coastal barrier sand dunes. Then, following storms, we 

 expend millions trying to reclaim the sand dunes and provide relief 

 for those who were responsible for their destruction. 



These are the conditions. While there is an awakening and a 

 growing awareness of the problem, no adequate solution has yet 

 been developed. 



I realize research must go on in these things, but there are certain 

 steps we must take right now and I have four suggestions to make. 



I propose : 



1. That a pollution abatement tax of 1 mill be levied on every 

 gallon of contaminated water that is dumped into our streams, rivers, 

 lakes, bays, and oceans; that 75 percent of the funds that result be 

 set aside for research and the cleaning up of our waters and prevent- 

 ing further pollution. This should produce several billion dollars 

 a year. Matched in part by State and local funds from bond issues, 

 backed perhaps by a similar tax, this measure would go a long way 

 toward pollution abatement over a period of ten years. 



2. That 25 percent of the above pollution abatement tax money be 

 used to purchase rights that would prevent undesirable uses of flood 

 plains and barrier dunes and would provide access rights to 10 percent 

 of our shores. This would include streams, rivers, lakes, bays, and 



