1941: Water Power

Reports received through the United States Geological Survey as to water-power developments in foreign countries, from the Dominion Water and Power Bureau as to developments in Canada, and from the Bureau of Reclamation; the Corps of Engineers, United States Army; the Tennessee Valley Authority; the Public Works Administration; and the district engineers, United States Geological Survey, as to developments in the United States, show an increase made up of capacities not previously reported and capacities reported installed during 1941 of about 2,313,500 h.p. This makes the total reported capacity of installed water wheels in the world nearly 72,000,000 h.p. as of Dec. 31, 1941, on the basis of the most recent report of the United States Geological Survey with respect to world water power.

Many countries have reported no water-power developments within the year 1941, and many others have made no report because of the war situation, the relation of the supply of power to the production of munitions of war, and the requirement that no information be made available which might be of value to the enemy. The reports of water-power installations in 1941 should, therefore, be recognized as incomplete, especially with respect to Europe and Asia, and in a lesser degree to other countries. There is no possibility that complete figures will be available until hostilities have ceased.

On the basis of available reports, it appears that the United States continues to lead the countries of the world both in the total installation of water wheels, about 19,800,000 h.p., and in the increase, 948,000 h.p., during 1941.

See also CONSERVATION.

1940: Water Power

Reports received through the United States Geological Survey with regard to water power developments in foreign countries, from the Dominion Water and Power Bureau on developments in Canada, and from the Bureau of Reclamation, the Corps of Engineers, United States Army, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Public Works Administration, and the district engineers, United States Geological Survey, on developments in the United States, show an increase, made up of capacities reported installed during 1940 and of capacities not previously reported, of about 3,400,000 horsepower, making the total reported capacity of installed water wheels in the world about 69,400,000 horsepower as of Dec. 31, 1940, on the basis of the most recent report by the United States Geological Survey.

No reports have been received from Belgium, Bulgaria, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, Ostmark (Austria), Poland, or Sweden, and several of these did not report last year, doubtless because of war conditions. Both the increase and the total shown above will, therefore, probably be considerably enlarged when the capacities of water wheels installed in those countries during the past two years are made known.

The United States has continued to lead the world in water-power utilization with an increase of 537,650 horsepower during 1940, making about 19,000,000 horsepower in total capacity of installed water wheels.

Several countries have reported extensive developments in progress, notably the United States, which has a total of 8,058,000 horsepower in water-power plants that are now in various stages of construction, largely at governmental expense. The striking differences in the utilization of water power in those countries which have valuable water-power resources, arise from several possible causes — differences in availability of water-power sites, in costs of development, in distances from power sites to power markets, in transportation restrictions whether physical, military or political, in competition with fuel-generated power, in legal restrictions, in climate, in number and character of the citizenry, and in the stage of its development in the sciences and arts. The Kongo basin, Africa, has within its borders more than a quarter of the water-power resources of the world, but relatively little use is made of them because of the low stage of development of the majority of its people and the resulting lack of opportunity for the use of mechanical or electric energy. Although the United States has, in addition to its excellent water-power resources, great supplies of coal, oil and gas that are largely utilized in the generation of energy and with which water-generated energy competes, the development and utilization of hydraulic power continues to increase, in part because of the great development of industries but largely because its utilization is coordinated with that of fuel-generated power by uniting them into great systems of power plants and electric transmission nets in which the peculiar valuable characteristics of the energy derived from each source supplement those of the other. These great power systems tend to promote industrial expansion and to stabilize industrial activities. The utilization of water power in this country appears to accord with both good engineering and sound national policy and to justify the use of public funds in development.

1939: Water Power

Reports received from representatives of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce of the Department of Commerce and from the consular agents of the State Department as to water power developments in foreign countries, from the Dominion Water and Power Bureau as to developments in Canada, and from the Bureau of Reclamation, the Corps of Engineers, United States Army, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and the district engineers, United States Geological Survey as to developments in the United States, show an increase of reported installed capacities during 1939 of about 1,130,000 horsepower, making the total capacity of installed water wheels in the world about 66,000,000 horsepower as of Dec. 31, 1939.

No reports were received from Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Madagascar, Manchukuo, Mexico, Poland, Uruguay, or the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and the above increase and total will ultimately be enlarged by the capacities of water wheels installed in those countries during the year.

The United States has led the world in water power utilization with an increase of 393,000 h.p. during 1939, with the largest installation in a single plant, 1,057,000 h.p. at Boulder Dam on the Colorado River, and with the greatest total capacity of installed water wheels, about 18,350,000 horsepower.

Several countries report extensive developments in progress, notably Chosen (Korea), Japan, and the U.S.S.R. but the rates of progress on these developments have not been reported. The greatest national program is that which is in progress in the United States, with several million horsepower under construction, including many outstanding plants of which the following are especially notable: On the Tennessee River at Gilbertsville, Ky., 220,000 h.p.; at Hiwassee Dam, N. C., 80,000 h.p.; at Chicamauga, Tenn., 108,000 h.p.; at Pickwick Landing, Tenn., 96,000 h.p.; at Watts Bar, Tenn., 126,000 h.p.; on the Santee River, S. C., the Santee-Cooper development, 213,500 h.p.; on the Missouri River at Fort Peck, Mont., 500,000 h.p.; on the Columbia River at Bonneville Dam, Oregon, 148,000 h.p.; at Grand Coulee, Washington, 460,000 h.p.; on the Sacramento River, California, the Central Valley project, 407,000 horsepower. See also CIVIL ENGINEERING.