§702j Projects Relating to Tributary Streams; Report to Congress; Appropriation

Summary

Require the Army, through the Corps of Engineers, to quickly make and send to Congress flood-control plans for the Mississippi’s main tributaries: the Red, Yazoo, White, Saint Francis, Arkansas, Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois rivers and their tributaries. The reports must look at using reservoirs to control floodwaters and how that would affect the lower Mississippi. They must also cover benefits to navigation and farming from less erosion and silt, the ability of local soils to hold reservoir water, possible income from selling stored water, how stored water could be used by the public or private parties, and whether water returned to the soil will help steady stream flow and reduce erosion and silt. Before going to Congress, the plans must be shown to the Mississippi River Commission and its advice sent with the Army’s report. Up to $5,000,000 is authorized from the appropriation in section 702a, in addition to amounts from the 1927 Act, to prepare these projects under the Secretary of the Army and the Chief of Engineers. The surveys must be done at the same time as the flood-control work covered in sections 702a, 702b through 702m, and 704. The President must also have the Secretary of Agriculture and other agencies study how forestry practices can help control floods.