May, 1913.] 
Control of Aquatic Resources. 
141 
They could also be used in suitable localities for extensive systems 
of irrigation, and finally for the cultivation of aquatic crops. 
Such crops, although at present problematical, have, I fully 
believe, a most important promise of wealth. 
Considering, then, the quantity and regularity of our water, 
the extent of the utilization it is already 7 given, and the possibilities 
in development for irrigation systems, power, and navigation, and 
especially the possibilities of development for production of im¬ 
portant crops, it is no extravagance to claim that it stands as one 
of our greatest sources of wealth, and merits and demands thorough 
scientific investigation that these resources may be conserved, 
developed and utilized to their fullest extent. 
In summing up these different factors it seems that the greatest 
utility of our water supply and its most effective control may be 
secured with the combination of a number of different methods, 
but not by depending upon any single one. The following may 7 be 
offered as suggestive: 
First, the levee system serving to narrow and raise a river 
channel, can serve only 7 to jeopardize the lives and property of 
the river valley and should be resorted to only in particular 
cases and in connection with other means of flood relief. 
Second, the establishment of as many reservoirs as possible, 
in the head waters of the smaller tributaries to the larger streams 
and the utilization of such reservoirs not only 7 for power and as a 
reserve for water supply, for irrigation and navigation, but also 
as a basis for the growth of aquatic plants and animals, the cul¬ 
tivation of which should be a subject of careful experiment. 
Third, the exhaustive study and development of reforestation 
wherever this can be done to advantage, and especially the pro¬ 
tection of thickets and brush land along the slopes leading to the 
river bed. 
Fourth, the preservation and regulation of all extensive 
swamp areas which can be made to contribute to water retention 
in the head waters of the river tributaries. 
Fifth, the extensive planting of marsh grass, willows, or any 
other plants which flourish in the river bottoms, as a means of 
checking the flow to the streams during periods of excessive 
rain. 
Sixth, the utilization of the river flood plains reached by higher 
floods for crops which are least affected by over-flows of river 
water and which provide an opportunity for the spreading out of 
excessive water and serve also to catch and hold the river silt 
which forms a most important addition to the soil’s fertility 7 . 
