These floods would cause great damage in the valleys through which they rushed.

The freshets would be followed by periods of water famine.

The streams would then be so low that they could not supply the normal demands.

Farmers would suffer on account of the lack of irrigation water.

Towns and cities that depended on the mountain streams for their water supplies would be handicapped severely.
In a thousand and one ways, a deficient water supply due to forest depletion would cause hardships and suffering in the regions exposed to such misfortune.
The important part which forests play in the development of our country is shown by the fact that from the streams of the National Forests over 700 western cities and towns, with an aggregate population of nearly 2,500,000, obtain their domestic water supply.