In recent years several measures have been implemented or proposed to
conserve the water and land resources of the Arkansas River Basin.
Droughts and floods have focused public attention on such conservation.
Less spectacular, but nevertheless important, problems confronting
conservationists include streambank erosion, channel deterioration,
silting, recreational demands for water, and irrigation needs.
Congress has authorized the U. S. Corps of Engineers (by the Flood
Control Act of 1941) to construct six dam and reservoir projects in the
Verdigris watershed. Two of these--Hulah Reservoir in Osage County,
Oklahoma, on Big Caney River, and Fall River Reservoir in Greenwood
County, Kansas--have been completed. Other reservoirs authorized in the
Verdigris watershed include Toronto, Neodesha, and Elk City (Table
Mound) in Kansas and Oologah in Oklahoma. Construction is underway on
the Toronto Reservoir and some planning has been accomplished on the
Neodesha and Elk City projects.
The possibilities of irrigation projects in the Verdigris and Walnut
River basins are under investigation by the United States Bureau of
Reclamation (Foley, _et al._, 1955:F18).
An area of 11 square miles in Chautauqua and Montgomery Counties is
included in the Aiken Creek "Pilot Watershed Project," a co-operative
effort by federal, state, and local agencies to obtain information as to
the effects of an integrated watershed protection program (Foley, _et
al._, 1955:131).