Water resources

“ Subtitle F—Secure Water SEC. 9501. FINDINGS. Congress finds that— (1) adequate and safe supplies of water are fundamental to the health, economy, security, and ecology of the United States; (2) systematic data-gathering with respect to, and research and development of, the water resources of the United States will help ensure the continued existence of sufficient quantities of water to support— (A) increasing populations; (B) economic growth; (C) irrigated agriculture; (D) energy production ”

“ The economy of the water is not confined to its artificial distribution over arid fields, but includes also the exploitation of the mineral and animal resources of the vast world of waters, whether the production of salt from the sea, salt lakes and brine springs, the cultivation of oyster beds, or the whole range of pelagic fisheries. The animal life of the water is important to man owing not only to its great abundance, but also to its distribution over the coldest regions of the globe. ”

“ The natural water supply—the stream flowing from the distant moor, pure and limpid till it reaches the first large village or town upon its banks—is fouled by dyes and sewerage and abominations of every kind, and flows on to be rendered ever more and more foul by every town it passes till it reaches the sea. Meanwhile the dwellers in the towns must seek elsewhere for the supply of pure water, so essential to their life, and often they are driven far-a-field in their search. ”

“ That in time of flood a large proportion, both of the suspended and dissolved filth, is conveyed down to the intakes, and in ordinary weather considerable portion of soluble organic matter makes its way to the pumping works, and is still present in the water distributed to the consumers. ”

“ In the case of deep-seated wells, the probable yield of water must depend, primarily, upon the area of permeable strata likely to affect the supply, and upon the facilities those strata may offer for the passage of water ”

“ Such a deep supply must, however, be protected from the superficial supply by a water-tight wall extending to the surface of the deep supply, otherwise the water from the upper layers will simply drain into the well. ”

“ Water, for ordinary purposes, on the banks of rivers or lakes, may be regarded as of unlimited abundance; but if required for irrigation, it may even there be insufficient to supply all wants, while in places which depend for their consumption on cisterns or tanks, or on wells which are not copious, or are liable to fail, water takes its place among things the quantity of which is most strictly limited. ”

“ Chapters three and four deal with the artificial and natural purification of water. These are the most important portions of the book to the engineer and taxpayer, taking up the question of water supply in its economic and commercial aspects, both as regards the general town supply and also in reference to individual household filtration. The physical forces and forms with which we have to reckon are next considered under Rain, Ice, Snow, and River and Stream Water. ”

“ From the foregoing it is seen that the question of water supply has engaged the energies of man from pre-historic times. These great irrigating works are found, however, in regions of sterility, or light rainfall, from the rude irrigating canals of ancient Peru and Arizona to the marvellous accomplishments of the hydraulic engineer in India and Egypt. ”

“ Where water itself is plentiful, yet water-power, i.e. a fall of water applicable by its mechanical force to the service of industry, may be exceedingly limited, compared with the use which would be made of it if it were more abundant. Coal, metallic ores, and other useful substances found in the earth, are still more limited than land. ”

“ The conservation of water upon the farm remains for our consideration; but, if we may be permitted to draw a conclusion at this stage, it is this:—Whether we deal with head-water reservoirs for the regulation of stream flow, with water-power development and the incident pools, with reclamation or irrigation projects, with the dredging and damming for navigation purposes, or with stream pollution by any means, we find a vital relation to fishery problems and to fish-cultural operations. ”

“ Thus, by this simple agency of evaporation, the vast quantities of water that are constantly flowing, in all the rivers of the earth, into the sea, are brought back again to the land, and so the great system of circulation is maintained throughout the ages. ”

“ Pipes run under the streets from the river to all the buildings of the town. There are big pumping stations on the river bank to pump the water out of the river through pipes to the houses. Millions of gallons of water are pumped each day into the homes, schools, mills and factories. For what is this water used?
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Plants need more than good soil to make them grow. They will wither and die unless they have plenty of rain to keep the earth soft and moist. There are many places in the world where no trees, nor grass, nor plants of any kind can grow. ”

“ Where these can not be had, and springs or streams are not at hand, wells and pumps must be provided, in as much convenience as the circumstances of the case will admit. Water is absolutely necessary, and that in quantity, for stock uses; and every good manager will exercise his best judgment to obtain it. ”

“ This productiveness of the soil must be considered, in a great measure, as owing to the industry of the inhabitants and their skill in irrigating the land, the effects of which, where a constant supply of water can be procured, proves highly beneficial. The common mode, practised here, consists in digging small channels from the higher parts of the stream, and conducting them across the plain, which is thus divided into square compartments according to the general practice adopted in India. ”

“ Americans are thankful for the amount of water with which our country is blessed-for our more than two million miles of streams, our more than 30 million acres of lakes and reservoirs, our other surface waters, and our subterranean reserves known as aquifers. We also appreciate our public water systems, whose complex processes provide us with some 12 billion gallons of generally inexpensive and high-quality drinking water daily. ”

“ Effluents from maximum standard treatment processes, for instance, can be injected into underground strata as recharge water for aquifers—a process mentioned earlier as one alternative in the emerging package of water supply techniques—or may be spread over the surface of large areas of rural land [Pg 54a] where they serve as irrigation water and fertilizer combined, as well as soaking down into underlying aquifers. ”

“ If there be no natural lake available in the district for storage and supply, or if the engineer cannot draw upon some stream of sufficient size, he must form artificial Water supply. reservoirs in suitable situations, and the conditions which must be attended to in selecting the positions of these and in constructing them are the same as those for drinking-water supply, except that the purity of the water is not a matter of moment. ”

“ Certainly the scarcity of water was not an unmixed curse, for it gave employment to many who would otherwise have been hard put to it to gain a living. Dam-makers, well-sinkers, water-carters, tinsmiths, condenser-fitters, wood-cutters, employees on condensing plants, water-bag makers, caretakers at Government wells, dams, and soaks, engineers, and many more, all found employment either directly or indirectly in connection with water supply. ”

“ With the exception of the vicinity of the Great Lakes, the world’s largest reservoir of pure fresh water, cities must have water supplies from available drainage or watershed areas. These can be devoted to forestry with advantage from a sanitary point of view, and also with profit when the trees begin to mature. ”

“ In considering the principles of well supplies it is important to bear the following facts in mind. The crust of the earth, so far as it is permeable and above the sea-level, receives from rainfall its supply of fresh water. That supply, so far as it is not evaporated or absorbed by vegetation, passes away by the streams or rivers, or sinks into the ground. If the strata were uniformly porous the water would lie in the rock at different depths below the surface according to the previous quantity and distribution of the rainfall. ”

“ A reservoir so proportioned to the stream-flow with a proper addition to avoid drawing off the bottom water, would probably be safe in Great Britain in any year for a uniform demand equal to the cumulative stream-flow ”

“ It seems rather incongruous that while so many evidences of real progress abound in this city, water, the prime necessity of life, should be peddled about the streets by the bucketful. Now is the time to perfect a system of drainage, and to introduce an adequate supply of good water, from easily available sources. ”

“ Again, the value of springs or running streams of water is generally limited and of little account. But when, through direct labor, or the results of labor, the water is collected in reservoirs and made the instrumentality of imparting power to machinery, or conducted through conduits to centers of population which otherwise could not obtain it, it becomes extremely valuable, and capable of being sold in large or small quantities. ”

“ Irrigation Interests.—A great industry like that of agriculture demands that in all regions where irrigation is carried on the source of the water supply be protected. The future existence of the farms, and to a large extent of the States themselves, depends upon the conservation of the water supply. The forest areas are largely the reservoirs in which the waters are controlled and given out to the adjacent irrigable districts. ”

“ The minimum flow of water in the river where the dam is constructed, has been stated to be twenty-seven millions of gallons for every twenty-four hours. This would be a sufficient supply for one million of inhabitants, and should the population of the city increase to one million and a half, this supply, together with the quantity in store, will probably be sufficient during any season of drought. ”

“ The former part of the volume is occupied with discussion of the laws that govern stream-flow, rainfall, evaporation, ground storage, surface storage, and surface or flood flows. Gauging flows and the method of computing them are next considered. The local water systems are then described. The latter part of the book is devoted to generalizations as to water supply, chemical analyses, public water supplies, water power, evaporation, ground storage, effects of vegetation, and stream-flow; and a list of the developed water powers and the drainage systems is given in the appendix. ”

“ Where the surface soil and underlying drift possess sufficient porous qualities for absorption of a large portion of the rain-fall, together with the natural benefits of the impervious stratum beneath, having a proper axis of inclination favorable for conducting the infiltration of adjoining water-sheds, a large supply of water may be secured by the construction of dug wells for intercepting the subterraneous water. ”

“ But the surface water which comes over the surface of higher ground in the vicinity, should be allowed every opportunity, which is consistent with good husbandry, to work its slow course over our soil,—not to run in such streams as will cut away the surface, nor in such quantities as to make the ground inconveniently wet, but to spread itself in beneficent irrigation, and to deposit the fertilizing matters which it contains, then to descend through a well-drained subsoil, to a free outlet. ”

“ Water-Works, a system of pipes and conduits connected with reservoirs or pumping-stations for the supply of water to communities. The ordinary supply of water to communities where the population is scattered is from shallow wells, but in crowded cities such wells become very dangerous on account of the contamination of the water by impurities from the soil. The water-supply of large cities often forms a very difficult problem, and large reservoirs and long conduits often have to be built to get an ample supply of pure water. ”

“ It is certainly of great importance to the old States, to inquire into these matters, and set proper bounds to the use of streams for water-powers. The associated wealth and influence of manufacturers, is always more powerful than the individual efforts of the land-owners. ”

“ Yet the hilly parts of the last-named country are rich in magnificent sites at sufficient altitudes for the supply of any parts by gravitation, and capable, if properly laid out, of affording a volume of water, throughout the driest seasons, far in excess of the probable demand for a long future. ”

“ There is not the slightest question in my mind but that this should be used as the source of water supply, and not only that, but that it will be used as a water supply in a very short time independently of whether this project is adopted or not. ”

“ It means a totally new style of agriculture. Nothing but constant experiment and constant watchfulness will enable the engineers to distribute the water to the best advantage. The best methods of reclaiming new land, and of preventing the deterioration of the old, the maintenance and improvement of existing locks, weirs, regulators, barrages, and other masonry, the care of canals and drains—these and an infinity of other matters fill the life of the irrigation engineer, so that, always interesting, it is also at times even exciting. ”

“ Very careful attention was given to the study and classification of all areas suitable for arable, pastoral, or mining purposes, and materials were secured for a detailed economic map of the area surveyed, showing the different classes of land by a series of colors. Much attention was given to the measurement of the volume of water in the more important streams for the purposes of irrigation, also to the accumulation of water in reservoirs and the sinking of artesian wells. ”