FIOOD CONTROL, OTHER PROJECTS THAN THOSE NAMED SATURDAY, APRIL 6, 1940 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Washington, D. C. The committee met at 10:15 a. m., Hon. Will M. Whittington (chairman) presiding. The CHAIRMAN. The committee will be in order. Under the schedule, as announced and furnished we have under consideration today other projects than those named on the streams on which reports were considered and hearings conducted in the previous days of the hearing. The first project that was brought to our attention, on which hearings were requested, was by Representative Hobbs, of Alabama. He is attending the funeral of a friend and will come in later during the morning. The second project that has been submitted to the committee is the report in House Document No. 674, Seventy-sixth Congress, third session, fostered by Representative Tarver and other Representatives and Senators from Georgia, and Senators and Representatives from Alabama, as I understand, and there are a number of witnesses who have come for statements today. The third matter we have under consideration is a statement by some constituents and Representatives from Oklahoma, Mr. Disney being the sponsor. The fourth is the statement of the State engineer of California with respect to the Sacramento situation generally, by Representative Lea. Then we are to hear representatives of the railway companies. We will reach you just as soon and as fast as we can; we will take them up in the order in which they were presented to the committee. The first project under consideration, therefore, on which sponsors or opponents are present, is the Allatoona Reservoir on the Etowah River, Ga., Document No. 674, Seventy-sixth Congress, third session. Under the procedure of the committee, we will first have a general statement from the Corps of Engineers, including the district engineer, division engineer, and representatives of the Chief of Engineers; but this morning we have with us Senators George and Hill and probably other Senators. You gentlemen, I understand, have some engagements, and if you would like to make a statement at this time we would be delighted to have you do so, and let it be understood that when the Senators and Representatives make their statements today, with respect to projects under consideration, you may use your own good pleasure and take such time as you like, and if you desire to supplement your statements you may do so next Tuesday when Senators and Representatives are to be heard generally. Senator George. 229579-40 -46 713 STATEMENT OF HON. WALTER F. GEORGE, UNITED STATES SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF GEORGIA Senator GEORGE. Mr. Chairman, I will be pleased to avail myself of the opportunity to return next Tuesday, and will content myself now with just this statement, that I am, of course, deeply interested in the Allatoona Reservoir project-the one you are now considering—and I am speaking on behalf not alone of myself, but of Senator Russell, who is unavoidably away today because he is in the State of Georgia. And without trespassing upon your otherwise full morning, I am contenting myself with this statement of my special interest in this particular project, at this time, and will avail myself of the opportunity to return next week. The CHAIRMAN. We will be delighted to have you return and to have any statement you care to make. Now, Senator Hill, of Alabama. STATEMENT OF HON. LISTER HILL, UNITED STATES SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF ALABAMA Senator HILL. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you for this courtesy and, like Senator George, I will return on next Tuesday, which is the day set aside for Members of Congress, and will make a more extended statement at that time. I have come this morning in order that you and the members of your committee might know my deep and very sincere and earnest interest in this Allatoona project. And I wonder if I might say this: I happen to be a member of the Senate Committee on Commerce and, as your chairman knows, we had before us the rivers and harbors bill which contained a great many flood-control items. We struck those items out of the bill. The CHAIRMAN. Without meaning to interrupt you, you mean your committee inserted those items? Senator HILL. No; there were some flood-control items in the bill that came over from the House. The CHAIRMAN. We did not know about it. That comes from the Committee on Rivers and Harbors? Senator HILL. We struck those flood-control items out of the river and harbor bill-our committee did-feeling that flood-control matters ought to be, as far as the House is concerned, in the jurisdiction of this committee; and if we kept items in the bill dealing with flood control, and it went to conference, it would go to a conference, so far as the House was concerned, with members of the Rivers and Harbors Committee, and we did not want to do that. We thought we ought to do all we could to sustain and maintain this committee's jurisdiction in the matter of flood-control projects. The CHAIRMAN. We would be glad to be relieved. Senator HILL. And we are hoping this committee will send in a flood-control bill in which we can put flood-control projects. I want to thank you. The CHAIRMAN. We are glad to have your statement, and to have any further statement you want to make on next Tuesday. We are glad to have you at any time. Are there any other Senators here? If not, we will hear the Representatives presently and you gentlemen who have other engagements. General Robins, is the district engineer present? General ROBINS. He is, sir. The CHAIRMAN. We will be glad to have him come forward. STATEMENT OF COL. RICHARD PARK, DISTRICT ENGINEER AT MOBILE, ALA. Colonel PARK. Col. Richard Park, district engineer at Mobile. The CHAIRMAN. And your assignment is in the district, and your headquarters are at Mobile? Colonel PARK. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Your district embraces the territory in which the project under consideration will be located or constructed? Colonel PARK. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Prior to your assignment at Mobile-you say you have been there 4 years? Colonel PARK. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. What were your previous assignments generally, and what are your qualifications? Colonel PARK. In command of the Eleventh Engineers in the Canal Zone for 2 years, and prior to that I was district engineer of the Boston engineer district. Prior to that I went through the War College, served 4 years as head of the supply section in the Office of the Chief of Engineers, 1 year each at the Army Industrial College and the Command and General Staff School, 4 years as district engineer in Portland, Oreg., and during the war I commanded Camp A. A. Humphreys, Va., until August 1918, and was executive officer thereafter and then commanded the Fifth Engineers until July 1920, when I went to Portland, Oreg. The CHAIRMAN. I assume you are a graduate of West Point? The CHAIRMAN. What class? Colonel PARK. The class of 1907. The CHAIRMAN. Did you make the report as district engineer for the project under consideration, as embraced in House Document No. 674? Colonel PARK. I did. The CHAIRMAN. For the record, now, I would like for you to point out the rivers and tributaries involved, and their location, with a general description especially of the flood problems in the rivers, giving us the cities, the territory, and generally a description of the territory involved, and particularly the populations and properties to be protected. Colonel PARK. Mr. Chairman, may I use the map to do so? The CHAIRMAN. Yes. Colonel PARK. Now, the location of the dam site is within about 4 miles of Cartersville, Ga. This is an enlargement of United States Geological Survey map pertaining to this area. And, down here, the witnesses present will recognize Acworth [indicating]; the bottom of the map is about 25 miles from Atlanta, and the west extremity of the map is about 15 miles from Rome, Ga. Canton is well up at the head of the reservoir and I am passing my pointer down here along the main thread of the Allatoona Reservation, with the dam site here [indicating]. Allatoona Creek runs from this point and the general direction is shaded by the dark lines. Above Canton, up to approximately the 900-foot contour, the headwaters of the reservoir will extend a little bit off of this meridian here, up to about this point [indicating], which is nearly north of Roswell on the Chattahoochee River. The CHAIRMAN. Will you tell us generally how that water reaches the Gulf or streams that empty into the Gulf and give us, for the record, a general description of the streams involved, with their courses, their sources, and their mouths? Colonel PARK. The stream on which the dam and reservoir are located the prinicpal stream is the Etowah River. The Etowah River joins the Oostanaula River at Rome, Ga. There it forms the Coosa River and from Rome to Wetumpka it is about 286 river miles. The CHAIRMAN. To what place? Colonel PARK. To Wetumpka, Ala., which is near Montgomery, the capital of Alabama. There the Tallapoosa joins the Coosa to form the Alabama River, which flows for approximately 300 miles southwesterly and south to join the Tombigbee River, which flows from the northeast areas of Mississippi southeast and there, 45 miles from Mobile Bay, it joins the Alabama to form the Mobile River, which is about 45 miles long. The CHAIRMAN. Now, are the Mobile River, the Alabama, the Coosa, the Tallapoosa, and the other tributaries navigable and, if so, how far up the river system from its mouth? Colonel PARK. The Mobile River is navigable for 45 miles for a 9-foot depth, to the junction with the Alabama River. The Alabama is navigable with a good 4-foot depth to Selma, and from Selma to a point about 10 miles south of Montgomery which now is practically the head of commercial navigation. The CHAIRMAN. How far is that from Rome, Ga., by river? The CHAIRMAN. No; from where it is navigable, to the point you mentioned south of Montgomery; how far by river. Colonel PARK. Three hundred and thirty-five miles from Mobile. The CHAIRMAN. How far from that point up to Rome, Ga.? Colonel PARK. Three hundred and twenty miles. The CHAIRMAN. Now, then, above that point just south of Montgomery, generally is the river navigable? Colonel PARK. It is not navigable between Montgomery and a point about 115 miles downstream from Rome, Ga. There was an old project constructed many years ago, the abandonment of which has been recommended. It provided for 4-foot navigation from Rome south to a point about 55 miles south of Gadsden, Ala. That project is not now maintained in a navigable condition for thorough navigation. The CHAIRMAN. Now, what does the Mobile River empty into? Colonel PARK. It empties into Mobile Bay, then into the Gulf of Mexico. The CHAIRMAN. Where is the Warrior Barge Line operation in that area-on what streams? |