Statement by the President Upon Transmitting to Congress Plans for Small Watershed Protection Projects in 15 States.
THE SMALL Watershed Program has been lagging. More than 1,400 communities have applied for assistance under this legislation but only 303 projects have been authorized for operations. Today's action is tangible evidence that this Administration is determined to move ahead vigorously on badly needed natural resource programs that are in the public interest.
Note: This statement was part of a White House release announcing that the President had transmitted to the Congress for approval work plans for 20 small watershed protection and flood prevention projects in 15 States, the largest number of such projects presented to Congress at one time since the Small Watershed Program was authorized in 1954 (Watershed Protection and Hood Prevention Act, Public Law 566, 83d Congress, 68 Stat. 666). The release stated that small watershed projects were an integral part of the Nation's soil and water conservation program, that they were initiated by local people and financed cooperatively with local governments, and that it was expected that they would stimulate the economy of the communities affected.
On July 12 and August 14 the White House announced the transmittal to Congress of work plans for 34 additional projects, making a total of 54 projects to be located in 30 States and in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
John F. Kennedy, Statement by the President Upon Transmitting to Congress Plans for Small Watershed Protection Projects in 15 States. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/235003