world's largest and highest masonry dam-409 feet high. For many years, India's specialists and those of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation have exchanged ideas and technical information on water resource developments. Some Reclamation employees have advised on the plans and been at the site of Nagarjunasagar Dam. Like Reclamation's dams, it is constructed for multiple-water resource purposes. On Turbulent Krishna Being built to harness the turbulent Krishna River, the dam will store water to initially irrigate 600,000 acres of land, eventually expanding to 3.6 million acres. It is estimated that this irrigation will permit an increase for India of 1.2 million more tons of food grains a year, and 50,000 more tons of sugar. Its powerplant will generate 400 megawatts of electricity for the benefit of the Nation. The massive dam, including the earth and rockfill sections on both sides, is 3 miles long. The masonry portion, which rises 409 feet high above the deepest foundation, is approximately a mile long. Forty-five thousand people are employed at the dam and about 80,000 more are engaged in constructing the vast network of canals. Because of this large human labor force only a few cranes are used to lift mortar and some granite blocks to the topmost parts. The photograph showing the man breaking a stone with a heavy hammer is of a stone cutter who has worked there since construction started in 1956. Beginning at 3 a.m., he works 8 hours for 53 cents a day. But he actually earns more because he also works overtime, getting a higher rate. The 80-year-old lady often comes and sits to watch construction. Her 35-year-old daughter has a job there. Cement is in short supply in the country. But the Indians are ingeniously using "surki," burnt clay crushed into powder, to supplement cement. The viewer might readily agree that the spectacle at Nagarjunasager is dramatic. It is attracting 35,000 tourist a month. Many of the tourists visit the museum that has been built to house Buddhist relics uncovered in the area of the dam-preserving the heritage of a proud Nation. Nagarjunasager is expected to be completed within the next 5 years. # # # The dam is named after Acharya Nagarjuna, a great Buddhist who started a university in the second or third century A.D. This 80-year-old lady of the Lambada Tribe admires the construction activities at the dam. Workers carrying stone, cement, and sand move up bamboo ramps which zigzag to the top of the dam. Photos by A. I. D. World Water Map is reproduced through the courtesy of theAssociated Press. HE publications program on world water supply problems for the International Conference on Water for Peace is well underway. It is apparent that members of the Bureau of Reclamation will be making important contributions to the success of the historic conference which will be held in Washington, D.C., from May 23 to 31. Approximately 125 papers will be given orally and 375 additional papers are to be distributed at the conference. Reclamation Commissioner Floyd E. Dominy has submitted the abstract of a paper which will relate to the world water supply situation. Several other abstracts of papers have been received from veteran Reclamation employees of the Washington, D.C., office including: Assistant Commissioner N. B. Bennett, Jr. Assistant Commissioner G. G. Stamm Maurice N. Langley, Chief, Division of Irrigation and Land Use Val G. Killin, Chief, Division of Foreign Activities Daniel V. McCarthy, Chief, Division of Project Development William H. Keating, Chief, Division of Power Important abstracts also have been prepared by employees of the regional and field offices of the Bureau including, for example, Chief Engineer B. P. Bellport and Emil V. Lindseth, General Since announcement of the conference by President Johnson on September 6, 1966, over a score of national associations with water interests have endorsed the conference. Industrial and academic support has been strong. Governors from Massachusetts to California have indicated their support and have named representatives from their States. Overseas, response to conference planning has been equally as good. Some 33 nations have formed national committees to screen the contributions of their countries to the program content. For example, Great Britain has indicated it may present 45 papers for consideration by conference executives. Even the smaller nations, such as Jamaica, have indicated they would like to have a place on the program. In the many letters received from throughout the world, one student organization interested in water resource development summed up world response by stating: "Our initial interest in Water for Peace has been heightened by its organizers' apparent determination to elevate (the conference) from a scholarly meeting of scientists and technical experts to a conceivably more effective gathering of both technical and political executives." # # # Getting a Bit More Beauty by JOYCE HOFF, Sacramento, Calif. A BIT more beautification has been woven into the West. From nature's "basket of ideas," the Bureau of Reclamation has been able to weave a pleasing new look around many water resource developments from enhancing the look of a surge tank above a large underground water pipe, to replanting forests. The accent on natural beauty efforts at Reclamation structures was stepped up as a result of the White House Conference on Natural Beauty in May 1965. Projects of beautification got underway then in the Reclamation region of central and northern California and Nevada and parts of southern Oregon. From its headquarters in Sacramento, Calif., the Bureau's region has worked on its own projects and completed others in cooperation with local, State and other Federal groups. One project was to change the color of the surge tank in the bluffs above Redding, Calif. It had a primer coat of red lead, but it has been painted three shades of blue-blending into the sky and giving a more pleasing view to the residents. Also in the Redding area, over 96,000 ponderosa and sugar-pine seedlings were planted on some 150 acres of the burnt area by an 80-man crew from the Bureau's Lewiston Job Corps Conservation Center. Other parts of Region 2 also are benefiting from the new emphasis on appearance. Landscape architect George B. Medlicott has been developing the region's beautification program. Natural beauty coordinators have been appointed in each field division. Grassed Area In the Granite Bay area, east of Sacramento, recreationists prefer the newly grassed area. Millions now flock to this area each year. With picnickers now dotting the lawn so much of the time on sunny days, maintenance men have found it difficult to schedule a mowing time, and sprinkling has to be done at night after the recreation area is closed. This is how a large water tank painted three shades of blue looks against the sky. A well-designed visitor overlook at Whiskeytown Lake, built with the cooperation of the Bureau of Reclamation and the National Park Service, adds to the beauty of the area. Not nearly as many people go to the adjacent dirt areas. Something pleasant also greets visitors at the entrance to the office at Folsom Dam. On the dam's right abutment, a giant replica of the Department of the Interior's buffalo emblem has been artistically inlaid at ground level. Surrounded by a low retaining wall, the 16-foot buffalo is of brown lava stone against a white background. Beside the emblem, white stone letters 12-feet high spell "Folsom Dam" on a background of attractive red stone. John Paavola, a utility man at the Folsom Field Division, constructed a rock wall near the road leading to the top of the dam. To further improve the setting, junipers and ground cover were planted behind the wall. Considerable other landscaping is underway at various offices, dams, powerplants, visitor centers, and Job Corps centers. And for the future, plans are underway to plant shrubs and trees along riding, hiking and bicycling trails which will parallel Folsom South Canal, soon to go under construction. Eyesore Vanished In Nevada, local groups who live near Lahontan Dam and Reservoir recently caused an unsightly dump to vanish. The old unpleasant smelling dumping grounds were not only near a reservoir beach area but they also were visible from U.S. Highway 50. After selecting an unobstrusive sight for dumping, the old dump heap was bulldozed into a trench and the sight restored to its natural beauty. In another drive to clean up trash, Job Corps men from the Toyon Conservation Center in California volunteered two Saturdays last summer to cleanup along 10 miles of State highway. An agreement between Reclamation and the Forest Service has been worked out for FS to plant grass and low-growing shrubs and bushes on the right-of-way that has been cleared for constructing a section of transmission line of the Pacific Northwest-Pacific Southwest Intertie. This beautification effort also will control erosion of the soil and provide natural food for wildlife. The Tracy Field Division office has cooperated with many residents adjacent to the huge Contra Costa Canal by allowing the planting of flowers, shrubs and trees along Bureau right-of-way where the improvements will beautify the area and yet will not interfere with operation and maintenance of the canal. Trees also have been planted at intersections where highways cross the large canals. Livermore Sea Scouts, assisted by employees of the Tracy Field Division planted trees and shrubs on the right-of-way at the Tracy fish collecting facilities. A desirable appearance can sometimes be achieved by using properties which also perform a service. This was the case at Prosser Creek Dam, Nevada, when native boulders were hauled in to form an attractive traffic barrier at the dam's vista point. In the meantime, the visitor rest at Friant Dam has been "spruced up" and others in the region carefully checked. The walls atop Monticello Dam have needed painting-sometimes as often as once a day-when they are defaced by vandals. The outdoors is not the only place that housekeeping has been underway. The Shasta Visitor Center-which received about 354,000 visitors in 1965-recently was remodeled and its visual and display of the operation of Central Valley project of water resource development was updated. A Scenic Lake Some beautification projects require longrange planning and special designing. One such prospect is the scenic Upper Klamath Lake in Oregon. Recreational use could be significantly increased at this lake if there could be removal of the heavy algae growth which has colored the water and created an unpleasant odor. The Bureau's search for a solution to the pollution problem is in cooperation with the Federal Water Pollution Control Administration. To avoid disturbing the amenities of a recreational area in Nevada, changes are being proposed for the location of two powerlines so they will be separated from the recreation area by natural screening. These transmission powerlines pass in the vicinity of Reclamation's Stampede Dam, now in early stages of construction on the California side of the border. In a contract witht the Nevada State Park System, plans for enhancement of a recreational area are underway for the Rye Patch and Lahonton Reservoir areas. The Bureau is negotiating with the Bella Vista Water District in northern California for development of about 5 acres of land into a park around the Wintu pumping plant. The plant is on the bank of the Sacramento River near Redding. Some progress has been made to transfer approximately 300 acres of land near the Bureau's Red Bluff division dam to the California Division of Beaches and Parks for development with park and recreational facilities. The Bureau of Reclamation is not only concerned with the conservation and wise use of our water supplies, but also with doing something about preserving our irreplaceable heritage of natural beauty around vital water developments. |