Statement by the President on Requesting the Water Resources Council To Take Steps To Meet the Northeastern Drought.

CONCERN is growing over the continuing drought in the Eastern United States. Rainfall in the Middle Atlantic and southern New England States has been between 35 and 45 inches short of normal precipitation over the past 4 years. Stream flows have been greatly reduced, water tables are lowered, and the major reservoirs are only partly filled. The Delaware River Basin Commission has recently taken emergency measures to deal with the problems in its region.

I come from a part of America where droughts are depressingly familiar. I know the anxiety they bring. I also know our water requirements will grow at an incredible rate in the years ahead, at the stimulus of expanding populations and new industries.

We must do whatever we can to help the people of the eastern seaboard in their plight.

Federal agencies are working with the States and local interests in attempting to devise measures for meeting the water shortage problems. These efforts will continue. However, I have requested the Secretary of the Interior, as Chairman of the Ad Hoc Water Resources Council, immediately to Convene its members, together with other Federal agencies involved with water resources, to assess what further actions might be taken to assist the States in meeting the problems now confronting the New England and Middle Atlantic region.

The Council will obtain the views of the Delaware River Basin Commission. I have asked for a report to be submitted to me within a week, specifying how we can best mobilize the resources of the Federal Government to assist the States and local governments in meeting this urgent water problem.

It is going to require imaginative planning, a willingness to cooperate all along the line, and indeed some sacrifices on the part of all of us if we are to make the best use of our water resources. We must move quickly and firmly to preserve what we have and what we receive. An abundance of water is critical for the present generation of Americans and a vital legacy for the next.