§702j Projects relating to tributary streams; report to Congress; appropriation

Summary

The Secretary of the Army, through the Army Corps of Engineers, must move quickly to prepare and send Congress flood‑control plans for all tributaries of the Mississippi River that suffer destructive floods. The plans must cover the Red, Yazoo, White, Saint Francis, Arkansas, Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois rivers and their tributaries. Reports must explain how holding floodwaters in reservoirs would help control the lower Mississippi, how that would help navigation and farming by reducing erosion and silt, the soils’ ability to hold reservoir water, potential income from selling stored water, how the water could be used by public and private users, and whether water put into soils would return to streams and help stabilize flows and reduce erosion. Before those reports go to Congress, they must be shown to the Mississippi River Commission and its conclusions must be sent to Congress with the Secretary’s report. Up to $5,000,000 is authorized from the funds in section 702a, in addition to amounts from the River and Harbor Act of January 21, 1927, to pay for preparing these projects under the Secretary and the Chief of Engineers. The surveys must be done at the same time as other authorized Mississippi River flood‑control work. The President must also have the Secretary of Agriculture and other agencies study how forestry practices might help control floods in the Mississippi Valley.