HUGE RECLAMATION

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 60, Issue 4234, 22 January 1940, Page 3

HUGE RECLAMATION

RESTORING THE RUINED VALLEY. AMERICA’S GREATEST SCHEME

(By

D.L.D.

in Melbourne Age.)

Perhaps the largest project undertaken anywhere in the wprld is the task of reclaiming the 40,000 square miles of the Tennessee valley, and in the operations of the “T.V.A.” there is a lesson from which Australia could profit. Anyone who has travelled in Australia at all knows the problems that are being created by erosion following unwise deforestation. The Mallee was cleared of its scrub, and each time there is “red rain” tons of Mallee topsoil falls on Melbourne. In the Mallee wind erosion did the damage. In Riverina, one of the richest districts in the continent, the process is slower, because it is stream erosion. But anyone who has wandered through the country traversed by the Murrumbidgee knows that the topsoil is slowly but surely floating down to the Murray and on to the sea. Because of the complete clearing of the land the river banks are broken, the river itself is shallower, and consequently more subject to floods, and the slopes around are cut by huge brown gullies and landslips. Similar conditions exist in numerous Australian river valleys. The Tennessee River drops 800 feet in its course from the Allegheny mountains to the Mississippi. Its valley of 40,000 square miles lies in seven States—Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama and Kentucky. One hundred years ago it was in the undisturbed possession of Cherokee and Chickasaw Indians, but 'the whites came, and the destruction of the land began.

Corn was the main crop of the early settlers, and with an initial abundance of land it became the practice to abandon the fields ruined by the corn, and to clear new ones. With almost sub-tropical conditions the valley became known for its agricultural wealth. The big cotton planters ousted the settlers; lumbermen and miners also arrived, stripping the land of its protective covering.

The peak of prosperity was reached in 1910, and then the decline began. Six years ago the river was shallow, sluggish, heavy with brown silt and subject to seasonal flooding. The valley contained America’s poorest farmers, and to eke out an existence they were destroying the useful land that remained as surely as if they had set out to blast away every foot of topsoil. The University of Tennessee estimated 14,000,000 acres had lost 75 to 100 per cent, of their topsoil. It was apparent there were two ways of overcoming the trouble, a permanent dole for the stranded population or rehabilitation. T.V.A. On May 18, 1933, the American Congress chose rehabilitation, and constituted the Tennessee Valley Authority, now known throughout the United States as T.V.A. More than 1000 engineers, architects, agronomists, meteorologists, fcf.esters, geologists and other technicians

are directing a gigantic plant to control the river and keep the remaining soil on the land, to develop.new industries, and make work for the surplus agricultural population. In 1945 the river will have practically disappeared. In its place there will be an almost continuous chain of lakes, held by eleven huge retaining .walls, for more than 600 miles. Locks will enable freight vessels to travel the entire distance. On the land many of the gullies will be gone, and young trees will be beginning the process of rebuilding the soil. Terraces on the hillsides will hold back the water and topsoil. T.V.A. is planning to bring about the unified development of an entire region. The river will be controlled from source to mouth, and floods will be things of the past. In the dry season what would have been winter flood water will be sent down whenever it is wanted for agricultural purposes. Daily reports from rainfall stations will enable dams to be prepared for freshets. During the mosquito-breeding season the reservoir will be lowered a few inches, so that the larvae will be left high in the sun to die, lessening the danger of malaria in the valley, The work of soil conservation can be carried out only with the cooperation of the farmers in the area. Industries cannot be created, only stimulated. Public understanding and co-operative action are indispensable for the success of the plan, and educational and health measures are being included. It is so logical that it ultimately compels collaboration between the most diverse interests because it is to their advantage. THE DAMS. The main programme of T.V.A. is already more than half finished. In the six years since the authority was created three dams have been completed, three more are -approaching completion, and two others are in the early stages of contraction. By 1945 the reconstruction of the river should be completed. Each of the dams has a lock at one end of the retaining wall and a power station at the other. All but two are main river dams on the Tennessee itself, the exceptions being on tributaries. At each completed dam there have been provided recreational facilities and camping parks, the plan eyen extending to the provision of huts for week-enders. Quarries from which the rock for the retaining walls was blasted have been excavated to a plan to provide a deep water harbour for pleasure craft, and already on Norris Dam there are some 1800 small private boats. In 1938 there were over 1,500,000 visitors to the area, which suggests that the tourist industry will provide considerable income for the Tennessee valley people. • POWER AND AFFORESTATION About 6000 miles of rural electric power lines, supplied by the completed power stations, have been constructed, and 84 per cent, go to areas not previously served with electricity. The number of consumers in farms and villages has reached 105,800, and the people of the valley now use 58 per cent, more current than in 1929, compared with an increase of 29 per cent, for the whole of the United States. About 84,000,000 seedlings have been planted on 60,000 acres, some by farmers and some by boys of the Civilian Conservation Corps, an organisation which provides relief work for unemployed men. The nurseries of the authority produce 24,000,000 seedlings annually. At the dam sites the T.V.A. manages houses, dormitories for single men employed on construction, schools, water systems, fire stations, roads and streets. Assistance has also been given in the replanning and rebuilding of existing towns. In the educational sphere courses are given in co-operation with local schools and State universities on subjects ranging from simple vocational training to regional planning and engineering. The basic policy is to train the present personnel to fill technical and executive positions where possible.

The project has directly involved 12,000 to 16,000 people in the work, twice as many farmers and thousands of workers in outside manufacturing centres, where £5,000,000 worth of purchases are made annually. Indirectly it has affected almost the whole of the 2,000,000 who live in the valley and its surrounding territory.

The plan is a tremendous one, and is being carried out at a tremendous cost, but already the results are being felt in a way that is beneficial to the entire nation. It should never have been necessary, however, and would not have been necessary if the planning had been thought out before the damage was done. In some parts of Australia such a plan is needed already, and in other parts reclamation will be necessary if wise planning is not adopted now.