A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 355 



During dry periods the flow at the headwaters is well sustained 

 through ground storage. The effect of low water is severely felt in 

 that portion of the drainage area lying in the piedmont upland and 

 the upper portions of the coastal plain." This undoubtedly is a 

 reflection of forest conditions, since the forest occupies perhaps 60 

 percent of the total area in the highland section as contrasted with 

 about 30 percent in the piedmont. It is more than coincidence that 

 most of the power development is in the section where the largest 

 area of forest is located. 



At one time all the major East Gulf drainage streams were much 

 used for navigation. Prior to the time of the railroads the head of 

 navigation for the Apalachicola River was Columbus, Ga., 276 miles 

 upstream. The upper stretches of the Apalachicola are no longer 

 navigable except for the very lightest craft. On the Chattahoochee 

 considerable sums have been spent by the Army Engineers in recent 



?ears to maintain an open channel of 4 feet. The report of the 

 nland Waterways Commission (1908) says of the Pearl: "This river 

 has completely changed its character in the past 50 years; from a 

 slow, clear stream it has become a swift, muddy one and from a good 

 channel with a depth of 5 or 6 feet, it is now shallow and much ob- 

 structed by logs and drifts." In the Pearl River the available low 

 draft for the low^er 104 miles has decreased since 1875 to 2 feet, and in 

 consequence all navigation-maintenance work by the Federal Govern- 

 ment has been dropped. This change, which is common to all the 

 East Gulf streams, reflects to a considerable degree the decrease in 

 forest area and the degradation of the forest itself. It also reflects 

 the decreased absorptive capacity of the soil brought about by 

 agriculture and erosion. 



Floods are not uncommon in this region. For their size they cause 

 surprisingly slight property damage, largely because property values 

 in the flooded areas are low and because the region is without a large 

 urban population. Flood stages have been reached on the Chatta- 

 hoochee River in 16 instances since 1900, and on the Tombigbee in 98 

 instances since 1903. On the average these high-water stages have 

 lasted about 10 days each, but the most disastrous flood, in 1916, 

 lasted 66 days. Nearly $100,000 was spent in aiding the victims of 

 this flood . The average crop losses due to floods in the lowlands have 

 been estimated at $3 per acre per year. 



The floods of March 1929 caused damage estimated by the Weather 

 Bureau to exceed $5,000,000 in the Choctawhatchee Basin, $1,000,000 

 in the Apalachicola, and $1,700,000 in the Alabama, in addition to 

 heavy losses in other river basins. Cities such as Jackson, Miss., 

 West Point, Ga., and Montgomery, Ala., have experienced serious 

 inconvenience if not distress because high water entered the city 

 water supplies, interfered with power and light service, or disrupted 

 transportation systems. 



EROSION 



Under the agricultural practices in effect in the piedmont and upper 

 coastal plain, the top soil has been sluiced from thousands of acres of 

 farm lands. As a result, a large area has lost its productivity. Some 

 lands have been so gullied as to become worthless for agriculture. As 

 in the South Atlantic drainages, a very large part of the agricultural 

 land is being cultivated under a tenant system. In general this 



