management plans. Logging contractors, grazing per- 

 mittees, and other "permitted" users will be subject to 

 the performance standards specified. Technical assis- 

 tance and consultation are available from land man- 

 agement agency personnel. 



There is a need for considerable technical and 

 financial assistance to implement best management 

 practices on privately-owned forests and rangelands. 

 The Rural Clean Water Program established under 

 the Clean Water Act and the Cooperative Forestry 

 Assistance Act (P.L. 95-313) both provide for this 

 type of assistance. The Rural Clean Water Program is 

 expected to provide for cost-sharing contracts with 

 individual landowners for instalhng best management 

 practices in accordance with approved "208" plans in 

 1979. This would be the first large-scale appropria- 

 tion earmarked for control of nonpoint source pollu- 

 tion. Work done under this program will be on a 

 priority basis and by project area as identified in the 

 State plans. 



The Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act provides 

 for technical and financial assistance to protect or 

 improve soil fertility on non-Federal f6rest lands, and 

 the quality, quantity, and timing of water yields. 

 Although the guidelines have not yet been prepared 

 for this Act, it is assured that practices to achieve 

 these objectives will first be carried out on high 

 priority areas. 



The cost of significantly reducing all aspects of 

 nonpoint source pollution across the Nation is not 

 known, but the figure is very high. For example, in 

 Iowa, a State program pays at least 75 percent on a 

 cost-sharing basis to implement permanent soil and 

 water conservation practices. Iowa has estimated that 

 it would cost nearly $1.7 bilUon to install necessary 

 soil erosion measures. Other sources of nonpoint 

 pollution would be reduced only incidentally as they 

 are related to sediment. The State of Pennsylvania 

 estimates that 2,021 miles of major streams need 

 rehabihtation because of acid drainage from aban- 

 doned mines, sometimes combined with other pol- 

 lutants. Officials there estimate that $3 bilUon is 

 needed to restore them. Again, other nonpoint source 

 pollutants are only affected incidentally.'' 



Clearly, the best control practice for nonpoint 

 source pollution is to prevent those pollutants from 

 entering a stream or lake. Prevention is also much 

 more cost-effective than restoration. 



Technical and Financial Assistance 



Fifty-five percent, or nearly 860 million acres, of 

 the Nation's forest and range land is in State or 



"The Comptroller General of the United States, op. cit. 

 316 



private ownership. In many watersheds and river 

 basins, especially in the eastern United States, this 

 proportion is significantly greater. By virtue of this 

 proportion alone, these lands have important impli- 

 cations for the management of water and related land 

 resources. The management or mismanagement of 

 these lands can, and does, have a significant impact 

 on water quality and sedimentation of stream chan- 

 nels and reservoirs, and can significantly increase or 

 reduce the productivity and fertility of soils. 



Private landowners have several opportunities to 

 receive technical or financial assistance or both for 

 water and related land resource problems. Local 

 organizations, within authorized watershed projects, 

 need help in planning and installing forestry measures 

 for watershed protection and flood prevention. Assis- 

 tance is also needed by Federal-State-local groups to 

 investigate the conservation, development, and man- 

 agement of water and related resources on a river 

 basin basis. Many rural communities need assistance 

 in improving local economic, environmental, and 

 social situations through the orderly development, 

 improvement, conservation, and use of forest and 

 related resources. Individual owners and municipal- 

 ities need assistance in designing best management 

 practices to reduce nonpoint source pollution and to 

 protect or improve soil fertility and the quality, 

 quantity, and timing of water yields from non-Federal 

 forest lands. These or other natural elements also 

 create a need for emergency planning and treatment 

 to improve or restore the hydrologic condition of 

 impaired watersheds. 



Research 



Research has contributed greatly to the progress 

 and accumulated knowledge related to managing this 

 Nation's water and related land resources. Consider- 

 able information is now available for assessing water 

 supply and distribution, trends in consumptive and 

 nonconsumptive use, seasonality problems, and water 

 quality. Additional research on forest and range 

 lands is needed, however, before methods are devised 

 to alleviate other water-related problems: 



1. Research on techniques to reduce con- 

 sumptive use. A number of approaches 

 can be used, including riparian zone 

 management, more efficient irrigation 

 methods, development of effective and 

 practical evaporation suppressants, and 

 vegetation management to minimize 

 evapotranspiration. For example, cur- 

 rent knowledge is limited on how the 

 composition and density of vegetative 

 cover influence surface runoff. Needed 



