559 of the stream, which is included in the project under consideration, does not benefit materially from the control works. The Bayou Pierre drainage area has a high average annual rainfall and is Due to the inadequacy of the channel, subject to frequent severe rainstorms. This flooding flooding occurs in the highly developed residential areas in Shreveport, which are drained by the bayou during practically every heavy rain. does a great deal of damage to homes, lawns, and shrubbery, blocks streets and highways, and results in unhealthful conditions and depreciation of property values. Flooding of approximately 5,000 acres of fertile agricultural lands along the portion of the improvement below Shreveport results frequently in loss of crops and damage to roads and buildings. This flooding in Shreveport and of the lands along the improved section will be practically eliminated by this project. The Caddo Levee Board and the Department of Public Works, State of Louisiana, have spent approximately $100,000 altogether at various times in improvement of Bayou Pierre, but have never had sufficient funds available to improve the stream sufficiently to eliminate the flooding. Bayou Pierre is really a major drainage problem and thus we can properly call upon the Federal Government for relief under the provisions of section 2 of the Flood Control Act approved December 22, 1944. The department of public works, State of Louisiana, has available the funds necessary for the cash contribution required in the recommendation of the Chief of Engineers, and the Caddo Levee Board, the city of Shreveport, and the police jury of Caddo Parish, will assume the other obligations required. ST. JOHN'S LEVEE DISTRICT, MISSOURI The CHAIRMAN. The next project under consideration is the St. John's project. Representative Zimmerman, a former member of the committee, is here. As I understand it, Representative Zimmerman, you favor that project, having introduced the resolution to provide for the restudy of that matter? STATEMENT OF HON. ORVILLE ZIMMERMAN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF MISSOURI Mr. ZIMMERMAN. I recommend this very highly. I think it is one of the most meritorious projects that it has been my privilege to deal with. The CHAIRMAN. What is the estimated cost of that project? Where is it located, General Crawford? What is your recommendation? General CRAWFORD. The recommendation is favorable. The estimated cost is $1,300,000. The CHAIRMAN. That is in connection with the southeast Missouri floodway? General CRAWFORD. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. That is at the foot of the floodway? General CRAWFORD. It is at the foot of the Bird's Point-New Madrid floodway. The CHAIRMAN. The Government had to condemn something like how many acres of land there for that floodway, Mr. Zimmerman? Mr. ZIMMERMAN, I cannot give the figures. The CHAIRMAN. It is to provide for a supplementing and storing and diversion of the waters, and then they return to the main river down in the vicinity of St. Johns? General CRAWFORD. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. This project is for further protection of that area? The CHAIRMAN. What is the estimated cost? General CRAWFORD. $1,300,000. Mr. ZIMMERMAN. I would appreciate the favorable consideration of this committee of this project. The CHAIRMAN. The next project is in Louisiana. It is in connection with the Bayou Lafourche ? What is the problem there, and what is the recommendation of the Chief of Engineers? Mr. Brooks submitted his statement yesterday. Do you have a further statement now, Mr. Brooks? Mr. BROOKS. Yes, sir. I would like to say, briefly, that my home is in the vicinity of that project. I had on frequent occasions opportunity to inspect the need of some work there, and it is most imperative. I have seen those houses under water completely just year after year. Our people through that whole area, without one single dissent, want to see the project completed at as early a date as possible. Mr. Chairman, we have Mr. Mitchell, the commissioner of the city of Shreveport, here today. He has made a special trip up here, representing the city of Shreveport, on this project. I ask the indulgence of the chairman for him to say just a brief word. The CHAIRMAN. Will you come around and have a seat opposite the reporter? There is no occasion to repeat any facts given us in this report. We are familiar with those. STATEMENT OF H. L. MITCHELL, COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC WORKS FOR THE CITY OF SHREVEPORT, LA. Mr. MITCHELL. My name is H. L. Mitchell. I am commissioner of public works for the city of Shreveport. The CHAIRMAN. What is the population of Shreveport, Mr. Mitchell? Mr. MITCHELL. Approximately 115,000. The CHAIRMAN. Where is this project located with respect to the city? Mr. MITCHELL. The water of the Bayou Pierre originates in the city limits of Shreveport. The CHAIRMAN. This stream flows through the city? Mr. MITCHELL. Flows through the city. The CHAIRMAN. This work will do what? Mr. MITCHELL. That will remedy a very bad health menace. will allow the city to develop the area. It Now, within the city limits, there is approximately $35,000,000 worth of improvements in the basin of Bayou Pierre, which damages quite frequently, sometimes as much as twice a year. The CHAIRMAN. By what? Mr. MITCHELL. By floods. The CHAIRMAN. That is what we are interested in. Mr. MITCHELL. There are about 5,000 acres which flow into this Bayou Pierre Basin. For the past 15 years the local interests of the city of Shreveport, the levee board, and the State of Louisiana have spent $50,000, giving temporary relief. Of course, this temporary relief could go on for year after year unless something is definitely and permanently done. The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Commissioner, you are familiar with the report that has been submitted by the Chief of Engineers? Mr. MITCHELL. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. It is a favorable report. Do you, on behalf of the city of Shreveport and the people in that area, approve or oppose the project? Mr. MITCHELL. We approve it. The CHAIRMAN. You know there is a definite flood hazard? Mr. MITCHELL. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. And the benefits will exceed the costs? Mr. MITCHELL. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. We are delighted to have had your statement. And now, gentlemen, we will return to Bayou Lafourche. What is the problem there and what is the proposed solution of it? BAYOU LAFOURCHE, LA. General CRAWFORD. Bayou Lafourche is an auxiliary right bank channel of the Boeuf River in northeast Louisiana. Excluding Bastrop Ridge, all lands in the basin, 385,000 acres, are subject to local flooding due to direct rainfall and inadequate drainage. Of this area, about 185,000 acres are embraced in the Red River backwater area below the elevation of level backwater of the Mississippi River project flood. The plan contemplates the improvement of Bayou Lafourche as the main drainage outlet for the basin and presupposes concurrent construction of effective interior drainage facilities by non-Federal public agencies. Work required for the outlet channel comprises clearing Boeuf River from its mouth to mile 32; excavation of a diversion channel about 4 miles long to Bayou Lafourche, mile 13; and thence realinement and enlargement of the bayou to Lake Lafourche. The CHAIRMAN. What is the requirement of the local interests? General CRAWFORD. It will be drainage. The CHAIRMAN. Are the local people required to furnish the rightsof-way? Are they required to do the same thing as in the case of the Tensas, Macon, and other similar projects in that area? General CRAWFORD. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. What is the estimated cost to the Government? General CRAWFORD. The estimated cost is $5,913,000. In the light of our increased costs it is $7,100,000. The CHAIRMAN. And protects an area with a drainage basin of how many acres, would you say, and what is the character of the territory within the area with respect to cultivation? General CRAWFORD. Flood damages sustained on overflow lands in the basin have an inconsequential effect because agricultural use thereof has been precluded. Increase in crop production rather than flood damage prevented on the basis of assumed recurrence of a flood cycle indicates the benefits to be expected from the proposed improvement. Surveys of croplands in the basin by personnel of the Department of Agriculture in 1939, and of similar areas in the lower alluvial valley having effective drainage systems such as that in East Caroll Parish, by commission personnel in 1944, indicate that average crop distributions and yields for similar alluvial lands with and without effective drainage The CHAIRMAN. What about the benefits as compared to the cost? General CRAWFORD. Based on these factors, and following it through, it is a ratio of 1 to 2.7. The CHAIRMAN. Any questions by Mr. Allen? Mr. ALLEN. General, this represents a new proposition. As I understand it, this is part of a general plan to improve drainage in northeast Louisiana, is that correct? General CRAWFORD. That is correct. Mr. ALLEN. And that great Mississippi Delta area extending to Monroe, La., a distance of approximately 100 miles? General CRAWFORD. That is correct. Mr. ALLEN. And this project is necessary to complete the plan of drainage of that entire area in northeast Louisiana? General CRAWFORD. That is correct. It is really a part of the entire project. Mr. ALLEN. That is all. (The following letter was received by the chairman from the Honorable Charles E. McKenzie, Representative in Congress from the State of Louisiana :) HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Hon. WILLIAM M. WHITTINGTON, Chairman, Flood Control Committee, Washington, D. C. DEAR MR. WHITTINGTON: Herewith I enclose a resolution from the Police Jury Association of Louisiana favoring the Bayou Lafourche drainage project. I will appreciate your having the resolution included in the report of the hearings on this subject. Sincerely yours, C. E. MCKENZIE, M. C. RESOLUTION Be it resolved by the Police Jury Association of Louisiana in regular session convened, That the Flood Control Committee of the United States Congress, now in session, be memorialized to give approval to the Lafourche Bayou project at the earliest possible moment, that the parishes of Caldwell, Franklin, Morehouse, Richland, and Ouachita might be spared further ravages from floods, and that. The above parishes are voting bonds for drainage of the streams within the parishes and are asking the Federal Government to appropriate funds at the earliest possible moment for the Lafourche project in order that the abovementioned parishes might obtain maximum benefits from money expended. Attest: A true copy. R. EDDIE EVANS, Secretary, Police Jury Association of Louisiana, STATEMENT OF JUSTIFICATION FOR IMPROVEMENT OF BAYOU LAFOURCHE, LA. (Prepared by Department of Public Works, State of Louisiana-Leo M. Odom, chief engineer; DeWitt L. Pyburn, director) Bayou Lafourche, in northeast Louisiana, runs through the lowest part of the area between Boeuf River and Ouachita River. In the alluvial portions of Louisiana the country was built up from the Gulf bottom deposits from streams which formerly flowed into the Gulf of Mexico. When the soil built up above the water level of the Gulf, streams were formed in its surface. As the lower end of these streams extended outward by the deposit of additional material, these streams continued building along the upper reaches by overflowing their banks and depositing the soil which they carried. The greatest amount of deposits were made nearest the banks of the streams and the areas between streams were built up less rapidly. The larger deposition along the streams resulted in the formation of natural levees which gradually confined the flows to greater heights as the deposits built up. Frequently the flood flows would break through these natural levees as they sometimes do artificial levees. The Ouachita River and the Boeuf River, both of which are interstate streams, have served as "builders" of this Delta section. Their banks are, therefore, much higher than the middle of the area lying between them. Bayou Lafourche has resulted from a crevasse in the west natural levee of the Boeuf River and flows out of Boeuf River for 75 miles through the back-swamp area to rejoin the Boeuf through another opening in its natural levee. At the present time Bayou Lafourche, because of the lower elevation through which it runs, carries the major portion of the flow of the Boeuf for its entire length. Besides this flow, its also serves as the main drainage artery for the higher lands along both the Ouachita and Boeuf Rivers. It is along these high banks, which do not drain into the streams themselves, but back into Bayou Lafourche, that the major portion of the developed agricultural lands, as well as the towns and cities of the area, are located. The largest city in the area is Monroe, La., with a population of 40,000. Located on the Ouachita River, all of the drainage of Monroe goes into Bayou Lafourche. The channel of Bayou Lafourche is small and obstructed with trees and debris. The great amount of water which it must now handle results in frequent overflow of its banks and the covering of a large area by water. This water moves out very slowly and continued rains raise the elevation of water in this basin until it covers roads and even the lower parts of the farms along the banks of the Ouachita and Boeuf. In 1944, a project was authorized by Congress for the improvement of Beouf River above the head of Bayou Lafourche. While that project will be of great benefit to the people of Arkansas and Louisiana above the head of Bayou Lafourche, it would be disastrous to the Bayou Lafourche Basin unless that stream is also improved. The project for improvement of Bayou Lafourche, which is recommended by the Chief of Engineers, will be a great boon to the Lafourche Basin, to Louisiana, and to the Nation. It will not only eliminate the flooding of fertile cultivated lands in the basin under present conditions, but it will also provide capacity for the additional flow which the bayou will receive from the proposed improvement of the upper Boeuf River. It will also permit putting into cultivation hundreds of thousands of acres of fertile alluvial land which is now flooded too often to be farmed at all. The Department of Public Works of the State of Louisiana and the parishes in the Lafourche Basin are planning to spend $1,500,000 on interior drainage as soon as this main outfall is improved. Of this amount, $1,000,000 is already available. The Department of Public Works of the State of Louisiana has sufficient funds on hand to take care of all of the costs which the Chief of Engineers has recommended to be borne by local interests. MEMPHIS HARBOR PROJECT, TENNESSEE The CHAIRMAN. We now have before us the matter of a report in connection with Memphis, Tenn. General, for the benefit of the committee, we will be glad to have you make a general statement covering that project. Mr. Davis will then present any witnesses he has and make any statement he desires. General CRAWFORD. The map on the board behind you shows the location of the project. The CHAIRMAN. This report has been submitted under a resolution for a review of the projects along the lower Mississippi, passed by the Committee on Commerce; is that correct? General CRAWFORD. That is correct. |