Management of Missouri Basin Projects

of the major internal problems facing the nation today is the need to determine the best long-range plan for the management of its great river basins. Literally hundreds of pamphlets, papers, brochures, and books have been written on this subject. Publicity through newspaper and magazine articles, particularly after the major flood in 1951, brought the matter before the public more forcibly than ever in the past. Proponents of an all-powerful central government have used the geographical immensity of the basins as a reason to further their cause ; they have been opposed energetically by those who defend the rights of the sovereign states. Powerful departments of the federal government have vied for basin control to such an extent that Congress itself has, on occasion, been required to act practically as an arbitrator. Billions of tax funds have been spent. Through it all, the American public has been a somewhat confused witness.