A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 333 



the southeastern half of Maine. They exceed 3,000 feet in the Alle- 

 gheny Mountains, 4,000 feet in the Catskills, 5,000 feet in the 

 Adirondacks, and 6,000 feet in the White Mountains. Differences 

 in elevation of 1,000 to 1,500 feet between ridges or plateau tops and 

 the adjacent valleys are common. 



Glacial soils are characteristic of the region as far south as northern 

 Pennsylvania and New Jersey. These include considerable sandy 

 areas. Sands are of course characteristic of the coastal-plain province 

 from the tip of Cape Cod to the shores of Chesapeake Bay. On the 

 whole, however, heavier soils predominate. The soil mantle becomes 

 extremely thin at the higher elevations and there are some areas of 

 practically bare rock, either outcrops or of glacial deposition. 



WATERSHED AND STREAMFLOW PROBLEMS 



There are five major watershed and streamflow problems in the 

 region, in the solution of which the forests of the region may play an 

 important role. These, in their order of importance, are urban water 

 supplies, water power, navigation, erosion, and floods. 



URBAN WATER SUPPLIES 



The problem of obtaining adequate water supplies for municipal 

 use both for domestic and industrial purposes has received much 

 attention in the Northeast, because of heavy concentrations of popu- 

 lation. The metropolitan districts of Massachusetts, Connecticut, 

 Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland 

 contain over 15 million people. Forty percent of the population of 

 the last four of these States is concentrated about the cities of New 

 York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington. The Regional 

 Planning Federation of Philadelphia estimates the present con- 

 sumption of water in Philadelphia and the surrounding territory to 

 be 467 million gallons daily, and that of 50 years hence at 800 million 

 gallons. More than half of this consumption is by industries. 

 Using as a basis the per capita consumption of Philadelphia, 132 gal- 

 lons daily, water requirements for the metropolitan centers of the 

 region may be estimated in excess of 2 billion gallons daily. 



In the Northeast much of the water for urban consumption comes 

 from surface streams. The larger available rivers are for the most 

 part rather heavily polluted, at least in the lower reaches, by mining, 

 pulp, and industrial waste, and by the sewage of scores of communi- 

 ties. Although practically any polluted surface water may be so 

 cleansed as to be clear, palatable, and normally safe, the consequences 

 of a failure in the treating process are so serious, and public prejudice 

 against the use of polluted streams is so great, that a clean raw water 

 supply is preferred by most cities. Largely for this reason, the city 

 of Boston is planning a dam and reservoir 60 miles from the city, 

 and New York City obtains part of its present water supply from a 

 reservoir located 92 miles away. New York City's investment in 

 four dams, behind which 166 billion gallons of water may be stored, 

 exceeds $66,000,000. The communities of northern New Jersey plan 

 a high-level development costing about $45,000,000 exclusive of the 

 distributing systems, and according to the Water Policy Commission 

 of New Jersey even this huge project will not meet the needs of these 

 communities beyond 1960. Philadelphia draws its water supplies 



