assignment has been carried out. The Committee wishes also to
thank you for the opportunity of being associated with the work of the
Task Force through our state observers.

As representatives of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia
and the District of Columbia, we shall recommend that our heads of
government, the legislatures, and the state and local agencies accord
the most careful consideration to this report.

Sincerely yours,

[signature]

James J. O'Donnell, Chairman
Potomac River Basin Advisory Committee

Honorable Kenneth Holum
Assistant Secretary
Department of the Interior
Washington, D.C. 20240

[Illustration]

CONTENTS

THE RIVER IN TIME 8
I THE WAY THINGS ARE 15
II TOWARD A MORE USEFUL RIVER 23
III THE CLEANSING OF THE WATERS 39
IV A GOOD PLACE TO BE 65
V COMPLEXITIES AND PRIORITIES 93
VI THE NATION'S RIVER--AN ACTION PLAN 105

+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Transcriber's note: Obvious printer errors have been corrected. All |
|other inconstencies in spelling or punctuation are as in the original.|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+

THE RIVER IN TIME

_Time, abetted by man and nature, has changed the face of the Nation's
River. Nature's rains, snows, ice and floods continually carve the
shores. Man, also, changes the Potomac through man-made fills, walls,
docks, bridges and piers. The arbitrary changes by man and nature have
reached the point where careful planning and consideration must be given
to the river's future in order to preserve its majestic beauty as The
Nation's River._

[Illustration]

[Illustration: 1830]

[Illustration: 1800]

[Illustration: 1872]

[Illustration: 1936 Flood scene]

[Illustration: Civil War Chain Bridge]

[Illustration: Early 1900--canoeists near Seneca, Md.]

[Illustration: 1917 Washington Waterfront]

[Illustration: Washington Waterfront today]

[Illustration: POTOMAC RIVER BASIN]

[Illustration]

I THE WAY THINGS ARE

With good reason, people sometimes claim that the Potomac has been
studied more often and more th