Multiple-Purpose Reservoirs: A Symposium: Their Relation to Fish and Wildlife

Until recently, few dams could claim to have “multiple purposes” in the present accepted meaning of the term; that is, they were not designed to make complete economic use of every available unit of water, fall, or land. In the past few years, a great movement has begun to develop practically every important river basin in the land, with emphasis on flood control, irrigation, power, navigation, water supply, and silt control. Congress has recognized that the fish and wildlife resources affected by the dams are worth millions of dollars, and has strengthened the laws that give to the Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, the responsibility for conserving these resources. This federal agency was formed in 1940 by consolidation of the former bureaus of Fisheries and of Biological Survey, which had been established in 1871 and 1885, respectively. Under the new status, the service is rapidly formulating policies and building up the machinery necessary to make them effective. It is the purpose of this paper to define these policies and to explain their underlying purposes.