corded in 1943. The Mississippi River at St. Louis crested at a stage of only 2.2 feet below the crest of the historic flood of 1844 and 0.2 foot above the crest recorded in the severe flood of 1943. The St. Croix River in Wisconsin, the Skunk and De Moines Rivers in Iowa, the Elkhorn River in Nebraska, and the Sabine and Neches Rivers in Texas set new records of high stages during the year 1944.

The first major flood in 1945 came about February 1 and was caused by a succession of very heavy rains in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Basins in California. Approximately 272,000 acres of land were inundated, 29 breaks occurred in levees built by local interests and the direct damages have been estimated at $3,000,000; the indirect damages were about $1,00,0000. It is estimated that had the authorized projects in this area been constructed and in operation; these damages would have been reduced by 87 percent.

The flood on the Ohio River in February and March of 1945, was the result of rainfall centered over the Ohio Valley and concentrated close to the main river. The flood was therefore more severe on the main stream than on the tributaries, none of which was in extreme flood. However, highway and railway traffic throughout the entire valley was virtually suspended for several days and severely handicapped for weeks. This flood was unusual for its prolonged and steady crest. Important freight had to be rerouted far to the north, 188 important industrial plants were shut down completely and the production of 93 other plants was seriously curtailed. Damage, however, was considerably mitigated by reason of emergency protection, by the reduction in flood stages accomplished by the reservoirs completed previously in the upper part of the basin, and by completed and partially built local flood-protection projects. Nevertheless, direct damages in the Ohio Basin amounted to over $34,000,000. The flood-control works prevented additional damages of about $29,400,000. Twenty-four lives were lost in this area.

The lower Mississippi rose in flood through March and April of 1945, owing to the combination of high-volume flow on the Ohio, excessive run-off in the upper Mississippi Basin, and severe floods in the Arkansas-Oklahoma-Missouri-Kansas area.

The storm of April 12 to 14, 1945, produced heavy rains in Oklahoma, Missouri, and Kansas. The maximum rainfall reported, was at Seminole, Okla., which had 12.1 inches in 24 hours. The general storm resulted in floods on all rivers in this area, among them the Arkansas, Verdigris, Neosho, White, Black, and Sabine, and it caused the inundation of over 8,000,000 acres, property damage of about $51,000,000 and the loss of 21 lives. Fourteen of these casualties occurred in the Arkansas Basin. In that same basin the property damage was over 184 million dollars, and the flooding covered 2,000,000 acres.

The maximum flood of record occurred on the Red River at Alexandria, La., on April 17 and 18, 1945. This flood exceeded by 1.6 feet the previously recorded maximum which occurred in 1932. Inundation of 4,500,000 acres and property losses of $12,600,000 occurred. In the 2-month period, February 12 to April 12, a total of 1,720,000 acre-feet of water was stored in the Denison Reservoir. If Denison Dam had not been in operation and this water had been allowed to flow freely, the crest at Fulton, Ark., and for some distance downstream would have been at least 2 feet higher, and the area flooded

and losses suffered would have been correspondingly greater. It is also probable that the loss of 13 lives would have been greater. Although Denison Dam was holding back a sizable flood, the rains which fell below the dam were so heavy as to cause the greatest flood yet recorded on the Red River.

There were many "flash floods" throughout the summer of 1945 in widely scattered areas in Vermont, Connecticut, Michigan, West Virginia, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Colorado.

My department has compiled records which indicate that between January 1 and August 1, 1945, 15,800,000 acres had been inundated, damages had totaled $103,800,000, and 58 lives had been lost.

Thus far in 1946 the widespread floods of the last few years have not been repeated, although some regions have again suffered heavily. A very serious flood struck the Willamette River Basin in late December and early January and caused damages estimated at about $6,000,000 and inundated about 360,000 acres. The damage was primarily to winter crops and orchards. The reduction in damages credited to the operation of the completed Cottage Grove and Fern Ridge Reservoirs is estimated at $1,200,000. The total damage would have been reduced by an additional $3,000,000 had the Dorena, Lookout Point, and Detroit Reservoirs been in operation.

The Yazoo River has been visited twice this year by floods which closely approached the all-time records for that stream. It should be pointed out that only two of the four reservoirs authorized for headwater protection in the Yazoo Basin have been completed, and that the benefits from the two completed reservoirs were substantial. It is contemplated that the two reservoirs remaining to be constructed in the Yazoo Basin will be placed under way this summer. When all four reservoirs are completed and in operation, the frequent floods in the Yazoo Basin will be controlled so as to eliminate substantially all of the damages now suffered with distressing regularity.

Now, may I turn from discussion of floods to a few remarks on flood control, particularly the authorized flood-control program?

Beginning with the Flood Control Act of June 22, 1936, which marked the start of general flood control throughout the United States, and including the authorizations contained in the acts of 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941, and 1944, the total of authorizations for general flood control amount to $1,680,400,000. Appropriations made against these authorizations total $788,434,000, including the $159,513,000 appropriated in the War Department Civil Functions Appropriation Act for fiscal year 1947 as passed by the Senate. The unappropriated balance of authorization, therefore, amounts to $891,966,000.

At first glance, this figure of $891,966,000 would seem to constitute a very sizable backlog of authorization, and it might appear that further authorization at this time is unwarranted. I should like, therefore, to analyze this situation in a little more detail.

The costs already incurred for work in place plus the present estimated cost of completing projects now in progress or included in the pending appropriation bill for 1947 fully commit all of the available authorization.

In the cases of the approved comprehensive plans for flood control and other beneficial water uses in our large river basins, the situation is more acute. As you know, this committee recommended and the

Congress has approved these comprehensive basin-wide plans, but the authorizations thus far granted in the Flood Control Acts have provided only for the initiation and partial accomplishment thereof. These money authorization ceilings are a great deal less than the total estimated costs of the approved plans.

I have here a tabulation summarizing the present status of these comprehensive plans which I should like to present to the committee at this point:

The CHAIRMAN. I don't want to interject into your prepared statement, but the members of the committee will perceive thus far that this statement is most helpful and constructive, and with all deference I suggest I know nothing better than to carry this statement to their offices, because I have frequent inquiries for material, not only by members of this committee but by other Members of Congress in connection with flood-control requests and addresses, and this would be what I would term an excellent textbook.

You may proceed.

General WHEELER. I shall not read this table, but it shows that for these important river basins the uncommitted balances of authorization are extremely low; in some places entirely exhausted. For instance, in the Ohio River Basin projects already completed or now under way will use all of the available authority; increase in money authorization is required for badly needed local flood protection projects where the flood hazard is serious and for the large reservoirs so important to the successful control of Ohio River floods. Projects in the Missouri Basin plan for which appropriations have already been made will cost to complete somewhat more than the money authorization now available. Expeditious progress on all of these basin-wide plans throughout the country is the backbone of the flood-control

program.

The Flood Control Acts of 1941 and 1944 contain the following item:

Provided, That after the authorization for any flood-control project heretofore or herein adopted requiring local cooperation shall expire five years from the date on which local interests are notified in writing by the War Department of the requirements of local cooperation, unless said interests shall within said time furnish assurances satisfactory to the Secretary of War that the required cooperation will be furnished.

Shortly after the enactment of the 1941 act it became apparent that the construction program on flood-control projects would have to stop

because of the war, and the Department therefore withheld the formal notification contemplated by this proviso, since it was clearly improper that local interests should be required to give assurances for projects for which no prediction as to probable construction date could be given. Now that construction is again under way, we have taken steps to activate the provisions of this item. It is, however, still too soon to know fully what the results will be.

During the war years the Congress was quite liberal with appropriations for the advanced planning of authorized flood-control projects, in order that there would be a sizable shelf of projects all ready for prompt initiation at the end of the war. The foresight of Congress in providing for a backlog of projects has paid large dividends in that we have been able to resume our program on a large scale without loss of time or the inefficiency attendant on the opening up of a large program of this type prior to full engineering preparations.

The Deficiency Appropriation Act approved December 28, 1945, made available $96,859,000 for construction of general flood-control projects and the project in the alluvial valley of the Mississippi River. I am happy to state that this appropriation provides for the resumption. of work on 58 flood-control projects suspended during the war, and also provides for the initiation of 58 additional projects. Our appropriation bill for the fiscal year 1947, as passed by the Senate on March 19, provides the amount of $199,613,500 for continuation of these projects and the initiation of construction of 36 additional new ones.

We are placing this work under contract just as rapidly as feasible, and I am pleased to tell you that we already have a number of projects under way. We had been somewhat apprehensive that the unsettled labor, material, and cost situation at the present time might make it difficult to obtain competition among contractors, and that bid prices would be unduly high. Our experience, however, is very favorable. Of course, prices are above prewar estimates, but we are happily surprised that for the projects on which bids have been taken, they are not as high as was expected. I shall discuss this subject in more detail a little later in my statement.

In the alluvial valley of the lower Mississippi River the project for flood control and for improvement of the Mississippi River between Cape Girardeau, Mo., and the Head of Passes is being prosecuted in accordance with the act of May 15, 1928, as amended and supplemented by subsequent flood-control acts. The total authorization for this project is $864,934,000, of which the balance remaining to be appropriated after the fiscal year 1947 is about $315,000,000. Although flood control and navigation work, throughout the United States generally, was suspended during the war emergency, the work on the main stem of the lower Mississippi River and on maintenance projects off the main stem was permitted to proceed. The Congress and the War Production Board recognized the great importance to the war effort and to the security of the Nation of continuing maintenance and main river work on this project.

With the recent removal of wartime restrictions it has been possible to resume construction off the main stem of the river and to set up work along the main river with a view to making better progress toward the completion of the adopted project. The most recent modification of the adopted project on the lower Mississippi River is that made in

the Flood Control Act of 1944, which authorizes a navigation channel 12 feet deep and 300 feet wide between Cairo, Ill., and Baton Rouge, La., and the execution in the interest of navigation and flood control of a channel improvement and stabilization program at an estimated cost of $200,000,000.

The present status and prospective progress on the lower Mississippi River project will be covered in detail by the President of the Mississippi River Commission on the day of these hearings scheduled for this project. However, there are two points that I would like to mention briefly in this statement. The first is that a reasonable rate of progress on the channel stabilization work involved in the 1944 authorization plus continuation of satisfactory progress on the construction and maintenance of features adopted prior to 1944 will require establishment of an annual program almost double that undertaken in recent years. The second matter is that there are several small projects located within the physical limits of the alluvial valley of the Mississippi River that are individually authorized under the so-called general floodcontrol legislation. It may be appropriate at this time to make these items a part of the comprehensive project for the alluvial valley of the lower Mississippi River.

A few moments ago I spoke of the wisdom of Congress in providing for a large backlog of fully planned projects. It is prudent to continue the practice of having plans ready for prompt initiation of a large-scale public-works program. Our own staffs of experienced people are returning from the armed services and from other wartime activities, and our district and division offices are now better prepared than they have been for many months to pursue this planning work and also to undertake on short notice any sized public-works program desired by Congress.

Another matter which I mentioned earlier and would now like to discuss with you in greater detail has to do with the changes in costs of projects subsequent to submission of our formal survey reports and authorization of the improvements by Congress. A considerable amount of attention has been focused on this subject in recent months, and the suggestion has been made that if costs exceed project document estimates by more than a fixed percentage, the projects should be reconsidered by the legislative committees before appropriations are granted to initiate the work.

Changing costs are the result of many factors, among which are three of particular importance. One of these is the fluctuating level of prices and values in general. The present level of construction costs is at least 25 or 30 percent higher than the corresponding costs in the immediate prewar years, which was the latest period of fairly steady prices. It is impossible to forecast where price levels will be 2 or 5 years or even 6 months from now, but it is probable that they will not be materially less in the next few years. However, not only have prices of new construction risen, but increased values of property protected have paralleled rising prices of construction, thus compensating for higher costs and tending to maintain the favorable ratios of benefit to costs on which the projects were authorized.

The CHAIRMAN. There isn't an unnecessary word there. We know what has been said during the deficiency appropriation bill as well as during the pending appropriation bill with respect to the increased