457 



Several other points, beyond those presented above, might be men- 

 tioned. Nothing effective will happen in developing the proposed na- 

 tional oceanographic program without adequate funding. Oceanog- 

 raphy is in a fund squeeze. We must maintain an effective balance of 

 basic and applied — definitions vary — research in the marine environ- 

 ment and to do so will require money. 



Where funds are short, priorities are necessary. Therefore, projects 

 should be chosen with care. It is my firm belief that realistic priorities 

 can be set and objectives attained. You remember that the Commis- 

 sion's report suggested certain national oceanographic projects and I 

 would suggest that any of those that are going to be considered for 

 funding sliould be selected in terms of the general need of the United 

 States and of its important marine activities and selected with care, 

 with attention to the long-range and short-range goals or needs of the 

 States and the United States. 



Some of these can be identified quite clearly. Preservation of en- 

 vironmental quality and preservation and enhancement of the fisheries 

 are among those. 



In developing its suggested budget the COMSER report pointed 

 out that ships for high seas work are costly and accordingly recom- 

 mended a sizable amount for same in its equipment list for deep sea 

 programs. 



In the budget for scientific facilities for the coastal zone laboratories, 

 costs of major equipment figured rather lower. I believe that this dif- 

 ferential likely is not justified because the coastal zone laboratories 

 and coastal zone management programs will require extensive and 

 expensive hydraulic scale models, computer systems, automated mon- 

 itoring and research data acquisition arrays, special vessels and highly 

 specialized physiological laboratories and ecological research devices. 



These I am sure will equal or surpass in cost the cost of high seas 

 vessels. In fact, I would expect that needs for funds for the coastal 

 zone research activities would be as high, even higher, than those for 

 deep sea work, in the aggregate, and this would be due to the greater 

 total activity in the coastal zone and the need for more scientific 

 information in a shorter period of time. 



A word about an important project. I must confess that I am not 

 unbiased but I do want to indicate to the conmiittee a potential nation- 

 al project, one which is already authorized by Congress and one which 

 wants only adequate money and time to see it accomplished reasonably 

 soon. 



That is the Chesapeake Bay hydraulic model and associated tech- 

 nical center that some of your members have been urging for some 

 time. It has been authorized for the Corps of Engineers to carry out 

 in consonance with the States. 



Major emphasis in the COMSER report and in congressional actions 

 for the last 5 years has been placed on the "coastal zone" and its estu- 

 aries. Model systems — working combinations of hydraulic and mathe- 

 matical models — and that is what the Chesapeake Bay hydraulic 

 model and teclinical center would provide — are essential to effective 

 science, engineering and management of major estuarine systems. 



Given this emphasis on the "coastal zone," the national importance 

 of the Chesapeake Bay system, the proximity to Washington and the 

 spreading edge of Megalopolis — unspoiled enough to be worth atten- 



26-563— 69— pt. 1 30 



