The CHAIRMAN. That is 38 miles above Waco?

Colonel BESSON. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. And then going on up the river?

Colonel BESSON. You come to Mineral Wells and Possum Kingdom. The CHAIRMAN. And this is Possum Kingdom Dam here [indicating]? Colonel BESSON. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. That has been constructed?

Colonel BESSON. It is nearly finished,

The CHAIRMAN. Under what authority?

Colonel BESSON. The Brazos River Conservation and Reclamation District is building the dam.

The CHAIRMAN. What is the character of that?

Colonel BESSON. It is an Ambursen-type dam.

The CHAIRMAN. For what purpose?

Colonel BESSON. Power and flood control. It regulates the flow of the river to about 527 second-feet.

The CHAIRMAN. What is the extent and character and size of that Possum Kingdom Dam?

Colonel BESSON. It is supposed to be about a seven-and-a-halfmillion-dollar job.

The CHAIRMAN. A W. P. A. job?

Colonel BESSON. Well, they got about $4,500,000 from the W. P. A., the local authority did.

The CHAIRMAN. What is the name of that local authority?

Colonel BESSON. Brazos River Conservation and Reclamation District.

The CHAIRMAN. And for what purpose is the dam utilized? Colonel BESSON. Principally for the production of power, as I understand it. There will be a small incidental value for flood contol. The CHAIRMAN. Yes; but is power being developed?

Colonel BESSON. Not yet; no, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Provision is being made for the development of power?

Colonel BESSON. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Very well, sir. In addition to power, what other provisions are made there either for conseravtion or for flood control or for irrigation?

Colonel BESSON. Flood control will be slight, of course, but there will be some flood control even with the power development. It is primarily a power development. It will regulate the flow of the river somewhat for the benefit of irrigation.

The CHAIRMAN. At Possum Kingdom Dam and above the dam along the river, is there a gorge or is it a wide valley?

Colonel BESSON. No, sir; it is a wide valley from Mineral Wells to Abilene, which is about 90 miles.

The CHAIRMAN. Abilene is west of that point?

Colonel BESSON. Abilene is southwest of Mineral Wells.

The CHAIRMAN. How far is Possum Kingdom Dam from the city of Mineral Wells?

Colonel BESSON. About 25 miles.

The CHAIRMAN. Up the river?

Colonel BESSON. Up the river, yes, sir; via the highway.

The CHAIRMAN. Now, generally, what is the character of the land that is in the reservoir of Possum Kingdom Dam?

Colonel BESSON. Range land. The rainfall is slight up there.
They only have about 27 inches. It is range land.

The CHAIRMAN. Now, between Mineral Wells and Waco has there been any local protective works constructed?

Colonel BESSON. Not that I know of.

The CHAIRMAN. None that you know of?
Colonel BESSON. No, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Will you give us a general description of the project at the dam above Waco?

Colonel BESSON. It is a multiple-use reservoir with a total contributing drainage area above the dam of 17,401 square miles. The drainage area between Whitney Reservoir and Possum Kingdom Dam comprises 3,603 square miles. The maximum water surface above mean sea level is 537 feet. The upper limit of dead storage above mean sea level is 490 feet. The tail water elevation above mean sea level is 430 feet. The water surface area at an elevation of 537 feet is 26,300 acres. The controlled flood storage at an elevation of 536 feet is 491,000 acre-feet, and the total storage is 721,000 acre-feet. The earth-dam section has a top elevation of 544 feet. Its width is 25 feet, and the maximum height above the valley floor is about 60 feet.

Do you want the cost, sir?

The CHAIRMAN. Yes; we would like to know the estimated cost. Colonel BESSON. The first cost, total for the dam proper, is $8,350,000. The total for the power plant is $1,800,000. The total first cost is $10,150,000, and the annual maintenance and operation cost is $70,000.

The CHAIRMAN. We have your report, Colonel, in evidence, and what I want to do, for the record, is to get a general statement from you. This is an earthen dam.

Colonel BESSON. It is a concrete spillway with earthen dam on the side, yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. And it is a multiple purpose dam?

Colonel BESSON. It is a multiple purpose dam, power and control of flood waters for Waco and the lower Brazos River Valley. The CHAIRMAN. And what else?

Colonel BESSON. That is all, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. How much storage have you for the development of power? Substantially how much? Colonel BESSON. 129,000 acre-feet. It will regulate the flow to about 701 second-feet cubic feet per second, including the 527 regulation from Possum Kingdom.

The CHAIRMAN. With what benefits?

Colonel BESSON. Low-water flow regulation. The upstream power development will regulate the flow and we get the benefit of that down at Whitney.

The CHAIRMAN. Now, then at Whitney you have there for the development of power-what sort of power will you develop there? Colonel BESSON. Electric power.

The CHAIRMAN. Firm or secondary?

Colonel BESSON. We count it firm.

The CHAIRMAN. And how much firm power, substantially?

Colonel BESSON. Eleven thousand four hundred and fifty kilowatts at a 25 percent load factor or about 30,000 kilowatts at a 10 percent load factor.

The CHAIRMAN. What do you mean by "25 percent load factor"? Colonel BESSON. Well, if you operate throughout the entire day at a continuous output that is 100 percent load factor. If you operate and store water three quarters of the day and operate on a peak load a quarter of the day, then you are operating at a 25 percent load factor. That is about the best explanation I can give you.

The CHAIRMAN. That is a fairly good explanation. Does that mean you get a constant head there, a constant development of power for that amount

Colonel BESSON. For three quarters of the day you store water and then you draw it down during one quarter of the day so it would not be a constant head, exactly.

The CHAIRMAN. What else would be necessary in order to give a constant power there?

Colonel BESSON. You would have constant power during that quarter of the day. Of course, you would be working on a peak. The power would be constant in the sense that it would be available every day for meeting the peak load. This is called firm power.

The CHAIRMAN. Under the project recommended how much flood control have you? What is your storage there for flood control? Colonel BESSON. Four hundred and ninety-one thousand acre-feet. The CHAIRMAN. Now, your flood storage is above your constant head there, is it?

Colonel BESSON. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. What would be the height of that dam for power purposes alone if you did not provide any flood control?

Colonel BESSON. The top of the dam could be lowered about 25 feet. The CHAIRMAN. And what is the height that you recommend? Colonel BESSON. Sixty feet above the valley floor for the earth dike section.

The CHAIRMAN. And if it were for power alone what would it be? Colonel BESSON. I would say about 35 feet for the earth dike section.

The CHAIRMAN. Now, will this dam give to the city of Waco and to the intervening territory between Waco and the dam site at Whitney, as well as the territory below Waco, complete protection against the largest predicted flood?

Colonel BESSON. No, sir; but it will give it a justifiable percentage of protection.

The CHAIRMAN. It will give how much?

Colonel BESSON. It is difficult to say in percentage how much that would be.

The CHAIRMAN. Well, will it protect the largest maximum flood of record at Waco? What has been the largest maximum flood and when?

Colonel BESSON. The maximum flood of record at Waco occurred in September 1936. The peak discharge during that flood was 246,000 second-feet. Our estimates indicate that this flood could not have been controlled to channel capacity by the Whitney Dam because the discharge from the watershed below the dam was in excess of the channel capacity. However, the dam would have considerably reduced the peak of this flood.

The CHAIRMAN. What is the assessed valuation of the property that will be protected and what is the area of land that will be protected by this Whitney Dam from floods?

Colonel BESSON. The valuation of property in the flood plain below the Whitney Dam is about $75,000,000.

The CHAIRMAN. All right, just give us generally the acreage or square miles that will be protected above and below the city of Waco? Colonel BESSON. 1,122,000 acres.

The CHAIRMAN. How many people reside along and in that area? Colonel BESSON. There are about 100,000, including 60,000 in Waco.

The CHAIRMAN. Very well, sir. Generally the value of the property in the area, including Waco, is what?

Colonel BESSON. The agricultural property would amount to $27,482,593; rural public property, $245,150; rural industrial property, $12,831,000; transportation facilities, $21,444,539; utilities, $5,651,862, and urban property, including residential, commercial, and industrial, $6,948,740; State prison farms, $837,671; making a total of $75,441,555. The CHAIRMAN. Will this dam necessitate the reconstruction or relocation of any highways or railroads?

Colonel BESSON. Yes, sir. There will be a damage to pipe lines, transmission lines, and utilities of $750,000.

The CHAIRMAN. Very well, sir. What is the value of the lands that will be required for the reservoirs--estimated value?

Colonel BESSON. $705,000.

The CHAIRMAN. Generally, what is the break-down of the cost of the $10,000,000 for the dam, if you have it before you?

Colonel BESSON. Yes, sir; I do. The dam and spillway proper, $4,499,841; power plant, $916,000; reservoir, $1,622,400; engineering and contingencies, $1,224,448. The total Federal investment, $8,262,689.

The CHAIRMAN. Then how do you get your $10,000,000 estimate? What are the items that make that up?

Colonel BESSON. Well, that was from the district report. The rivers and harbor board and chief of engineers increased the power plant estimate from $916,000 to $1,800,000 and the contingency item from $1,224,448 to $2,227,759, making a total of $10,150,000.

The CHAIRMAN. Gentlemen, Colonel Besson will be available for questioning a little later on. I thought we might have the benefit of this general picture before we hear the witnesses who came from a distance. If there is no objection the Colonel will step down and we will hear our next witness. We are much obliged to you, sir. You may stand aside for the present.

Mr. Poage, do you have a statement to make?

STATEMENT OF HON W. R. POAGE, REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF TEXAS

Mr. POAGE. Mr. Chairman, and members of the committee, I don't want to take your time in making a statement now myself, but I do want to call several of the gentlemen who are more intimately connected with this work and who have been connected with it for years. I do want to call attention to the members of the committeeColonel Besson has explained it, but maybe I can focus your attention

to this map-simply because it is a little easier to see. It is the same map you have there, but we think that because of the size of this map it may be easier for you to visualize the Brazos River district.

It was first created by the act of 1923, but the actual organization was in 1929, by act of the Texas legislature.

Mr. Lewis tells me they had one in Ohio prior to that time but we still think that we are the first district in the United States to create an entire watershed running from its source to the sea, including every tributary, into one authority or district: The Brazos River Conservation and Reclamation District. It is an agency of the State of Texas and to show that the people are interested in flood control we build levees-we build them at our own expense at Waco, and they built them at the expense of the landowners down the river.

The State of Texas has put $6,000,000 into the project and it is not simply the $4,000,000 that the Colonel told you about the W. P. A. putting up for labor that built the Possum Kingdom Dam. The Brazos River District has used something more than $3,000,000 of State money in the construction of the dam up there and that is what has enabled us to build it.

I cite those things so you gentlemen of the committee may understand that the entire Brazos River project is something in which the people of an entire State are vitally interested and something that was not organized in an effort simply to get some Federal money, because it was organized long before anybody dreamed that the Federal Government might even come to our aid. But we do have a flood problem, a serious flood problem.

Mr. ALLEN. How often do you have floods on the river?

Mr. POAGE. Well, of course, like every other river you cannot say how often. Sometimes we have them 2 years in succession and sometimes we will go 10 or 12 years between a serious flood. Our most serious floods were in 1913, 1921, 1927, 1935, 1936, and 1937. The CHAIRMAN. Do they ordinarily cover the entire basin? Mr. POAGE. I am talking about the more serious ones. Most every year you will have a flood that covers some portion of the basin. The CHAIRMAN. How wide is that basin up and down the stream? Mr. POAGE. There is some confusion, I think, between the Judge's question and the Colonel's answer. The drainage basin of the Brazos River District, that is the drainage area of the Brazos River District, after you come upstream 150 miles will average 100 or 150 miles wide for some two or three hundred miles. The actual alluvial plain of the river

The CHAIRMAN. That is what I am talking about.

Mr. POAGE. Extends only from Waco to the Gulf and some 10 or 12 miles above Waco, but substantially Waco is at the head of the alluvial plain of the river. From Waco north the alluvial plain of the river is nonexistent for practical purposes. I mean as you get up in these hills the river valley will only be a little more than 2 in some places and 4 and 5 miles in other places, but it is not a wide valley after you get north of Waco.

South of Waco the plain spreads out and, of course, merges with the coastal plain where you reach the coast and where you can't tell which is the Brazos and which is Colorado and which is San Jacinto, because it is all flat and all low, very much as you find in your country of Louisiana.