WASHINGTON, D. C.

June 28, 1965

I am delighted to be a part of this session to discuss proposed develop-
ment of the Potomac River Basin. This gathering represents the first
time to my recollection that the governors of the states of the Basin,
and a member of the Board of Commissioners of the District of
Columbia, together with the congressional representatives of the Po-
tomac River Basin states, have assembled to discuss these problems.

Similarly, to the best of my knowledge, the April 19th meeting of
the governors and Commissioner Tobriner was also the first time that
the chief executives of the respective jurisdictions assembled together
to discuss the Potomac. That meeting resulted in the creation of the
Potomac River Basin Advisory Committee on which each of the states
and the District of Columbia has three representatives working to-
gether to coordinate their respective views on the Basin development.

As I am sure all in this room know, the federal government and
the states too, have for many years looked at the growing problems
of the Potomac River Basin with increasing concern and expressed
hopes. Now, after many studies and much speculation, we are at a
point where constructive and implementing action is called for, and I
sense Secretary Udall's awareness of and interest in this point of view
from his letter of May 7th, inviting the governors of the basin and the
Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia
to this meeting. In that letter the Secretary said—"it is our desire to
produce the broadest possible basin-wide concensus on the use of the
resources of the Potomac. This, of course, will require the fullest kind
of cooperation by the federal agencies, the District of Columbia and the
four states of the Basin. " In response to Secretary Udall's letter, I
replied that "Maryland has much at stake in the Potomac River Basin
and is vitally interested in actions proposed for solution to the Potomac
problem. " I further indicated that "Maryland will supply to the
fullest extent possible the cooperation necessary. " I am certain that
this is the dedicated intention of all of us here today.

Of course, it is a matter of common knowledge that the Potomac
River Basin problems are not simple, nor can they be isolated dis-
tinctively one from the others. The diversity of problems in Maryland
alone includes three major divisions: those of the estuary; of the
Metropolitan Washington area; and of the up-stream reaches of the

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