Planning for Water Quality
Control in the Pacific Northwest
W. W. TOWNE, Director
J. L. AGEE, Chief, Engineering Services
and
J. H. DAVIDSON, Chief, Economic Studies
Columbia River Basin Project
Water Supply and Pollution Control Program
Pacific Northwest
U. S. Public Health Service
Region IX
Portland,  Oregon
The Columbia River Basin Project has been designed to provide a comprehensive plan for the water supply quality management aspects of water
resource development in the Pacific Northwest. The study area includes the
U. S. portion of the Columbia River Basin and the coastal areas of Oregon
and Washington. Essentially all of the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho,
and western Montana will be covered.
The Columbia Basin Project deals with water supply requirements for
domestic, municipal and industrial purposes, and with the management of
water quality for all beneficial uses such as water supply, fish and wildlife,
shellfish, recreation, and agricultural water supplies. The comprehensive
plan will cover the requirements of the Pacific Northwest over the next half
century.
The project is one of a series of similar U. S. Public Health Service
projects designed to plan for the improved development and utilization of the
nation's water resources to meet the requirements of future years and to alleviate pressing current problems.
Authority for the project stems from the Public Health Service Act
(P.L. 410, 78th Congress), the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (P. L.
660, 84th Congress) and the 1961 amendments to the Federal Water Pollution
Control Act. In accordance with this authority, the project will be carried
out in cooperation with other federal agencies, with state and interstate agencies, with municipalities and industries, and with other organizations concerned with water and related land resources development in the Pacific
Northwest. Planning of the project was initiated in July 1960 and field operations got under way during the summer of 1961. Completion of the project is
presently scheduled for July 1966.
Two basic concepts in carrying out the project are that water supply and
water quality management are inseparable parts of water resource development and low-flow augmentation should not be considered as a substitute for
waste treatment. In order to meet the water supply and water quality management requirements of the region, it is necessary to consider the availability and adequacy of water resources in terms of both quantity and quality
factors throughout the full length of the region's streams. Essentially, the
water supply requirements of future years must be met by storing and conserving water auring periods of excess flow for later release by reclaiming used
water through restoring its quality in order that it can be used repeatedly as it
flows through the water courses of the Columbia Basin.
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