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tions. We would rather have it transferred to us. They will give it to us on permit. There is no objection on the part of the Army; it is merely that the Judge Advocate General's Office feels that under the law they cannot transfer it to us.

The CHAIRMAN. At Garrison large expenditures are being made for railways and highways-and what you are saying now is that there as an airfield in the vicinity of one of these reservoirs, the Grenada, and that is presently not being used, and that airfield would be of benefit and could be occupied by the workers on the dam and you would like to have it.

General CRAWFORD. The actual dam is going to be built right on it. The CHAIRMAN. Can you think of anything else?

General CRAWFORD. No, sir. I understand I may submit something on that in our draft.

The CHAIRMAN. We will be glad to have it, sir.

We have been glad to have you and Colonel Sauer attend.
The committee will be in recess for 20 minutes.

(A short recess was taken.)

RED RIVER BELOW DENISON DAM

The CHAIRMAN. The committee will be in order. As I understand, General Crawford, you reported on the Red River project submitted to us, did you not?

STATEMENT OF MAJ. GEN. R. W. CRAWFORD, PRESIDENT OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER COMMISSION AND DIVISION ENGINEER OF THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY DIVISION

General CRAWFORD Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. That report is now before the committee?
General CRAWFORD. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. It covers what part of the Red River?

General CRAWFORD. It covers the Red River below Denison Dam. The CHAIRMAN. How far is that from its mouth?

General CRAWFORD. Around 720 miles.

The CHAIRMAN. And the Red River takes its course in New Mexico, and generally how long is that river?

General CRAWFORD. It must be 1,500 miles, the whole length.

The CHAIRMAN. I think you can make it 1,600 and go along and be fairly safe, and sometimes it is a little longer than that.

When you get down below the Denison reservoir, that reservoir is in construction and operation at Fulton, and from there to the mouth of the river that is under your supervision.

General CRAWFORD. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. And there are local protective works constructed above Shreveport, largely by the local interests, and from Shreveport on down to Alexandria, largely by the local interests, and they consist of levees. We have levees that are high in Bossier Parish, in the vicinity of Shreveport, and levees in Alexandria are higher than those along the Sacramento, and as high as the lower Mississippi River levees in the vicinity of New Orleans not as large or as strong. You are doing some revetment work.

General CRAWFORD. Yes.

The CHAIRMAN. What other projects have you along there at present?

General CRAWFORD. At the present time we are doing revetment work at Shreveport, La., and levee work from Hotwell, down to Moncla.

The CHAIRMAN. As you have already stated one of the largest floods. that ever occurred, by that I mean, overflows, occurred during the year 1945, just a year ago.

General CRAWFORD. Yes.

The CHAIRMAN. By what authority are you submitting the report to which you are directing the attention of the committee at present? General CRAWFORD. The resolution of the Committee of Flood Control of the House of Representatives, adopted on April 19, 1945.

The CHAIRMAN. Submitted, as I recall, by Mr. Allen, and concurred in by Mr. Brooks, and Mr. Allen is interested because he represents a part of it, and our valued colleagues from Louisiana represent Louisiana on this committee generally in that area.

What is the problem under consideration in the proposed solution? General CRAWFORD. The problem is one of protection of the valley from floods.

The report covers only the main stem. It is an interim report, with a comprehensive report covering all tributaries to be submitted some time later this year. We hope by the end of September of this year. The CHAIRMAN. And this is an interim report on the main stem? General CRAWFORD. Yes.

The CHAIRMAN. What do you propose to do?

General CRAWFORD. The proposal is to control floods on that river by a system of six reservoirs and levees.

The CHAIRMAN. Along what streams?

General CRAWFORD. The reservoirs will be located-I will give their names: Boswell Dam on the Boggy River; Hugo Dam on the Kiamichi River; Millwood Dam on the Little River; Texarkana Dam on the Sulphur River; Ferrells Bridge Dam on Cypress Creek; Mooringsport Dam on Cypress Creek.

The CHAIRMAN. How far, General, is the farthest of those from the main stem?

General CRAWFORD. I would say Texarkana was the farthest one away from the main stem. And that would be about 20 miles.

The CHAIRMAN. And the nearest one to the main stem is what? General CRAWFORD. The nearest would be Millwood, I believe. The CHAIRMAN. Where is the Denison Reservoir?

General CRAWFORD. The blue in the upper left-hand corner.

The CHAIRMAN. And all these reservoirs are indicated there in green, are they?

General CRAWFORD. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. How many are there?

General CRAWFORD. Six proposed reservoirs.

The CHAIRMAN. And what else besides reservoirs do you propose? General CRAWFORD. Levees, as indicated. The plan is for raising and strengthening the levees as indicated on the chart in yellow.

The CHAIRMAN. What is the total estimated cost of the reservoirs and levees?

General CRAWFORD. Reservoirs, levees, and bank protection total 772 million dollars, of which the reservoirs represent by far the larger portion; about 72 million dollars.

The CHAIRMAN. And the local interests would be required under your report to acquire the rights of way for the levees below the reservoirs.

General CRAWFORD. That is right.

The CHAIRMAN. And the Government will provide for the reservoirs there as we do in other parts of the country.

General CRAWFORD. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. You may proceed in your own way, and give us your report on this with your recommendations. Mr. Allen will then proceed with the hearings.

General CRAWFORD. A part of the report has already been briefed. First, Red River has its source near Canyon, Tex., and it has a total length of 1,208 miles. I was a little high.

Denison Dam, a, Federal improvement, is located 734 miles above the Mississippi River, where Red River forms the boundary between Texas and Oklahoma.

This report considers the flood problem along the right bank of the river between Denison Dam and Boyce, mile 140, and along the left bank from Denison Dam to Moncla, mile 80. Below these points the flood problem falls under the jurisdiction of the Mississippi Commission.

Red River drains 38,000 square miles above Denison Dam, 28,000 miles thence to the Mississippi backwater area, and 25,000 square miles in that area and the basin of the Ouachita and Black Rivers. The basin had a population of 2,816,000 in 1940.

The Federal navigation project covering the section below the Oklahoma-Arkansas boundary provides for improvement, snagging, dredging shoals, constructing levees, closing outlets, revetting banks and preventing cut-offs.

Existing Federal flood-control projects below Denison Reservoir, excluding those in the Ouachita River Basin and those which are part of the Mississippi River project, include six for levees and appurtenant works along the main stem, at four of which the levee work has been completed, two short cut-offs on the main stem which have been completed, and a project for bank protection in the vicinity of Shreveport which is now under way.

Federal reservoirs for flood control have been authorized but not yet constructed on Black Bayou, and Bayou Bodeau. Construction of Wallace Lake Reservoir at Cypress Bayou has been nearly completed. It is under way now.

These reservoirs will control a total of 1,140 square miles of drainage area, tributaries of the Red River in Louisiana above Alexandria. Improvement of the channel of Bayou Bodeau below the reservoir has not yet been accomplished.

The Federal project for enlarging and snagging the lower 30 miles of the channel of Bayou Pierre, which enters Red River at mile 210, has been completed. Also the Federal project for Bayou desGlaises, Louisiana, located in the Mississippi-Red River backwater area, which provides for a diversion channel from the bayou to the West Atchafalaya Basin protection levee, has been completed.

In addition, some levee work and cut-offs along Red River have been accomplished at a cost of $561,000 under provisions of the Emergency Relief Act of 1935. Local interests have constructed levees and appurtenant works intermittently along the Red River between Milest 40 and 540 at a cost of about $25,000,000. These constructed and authorized improvements are not adequate to afford protection against the largest floods.

The destructive floods of Red River below Denison Dam result from heavy rainfall run-off. Six great floods occurred between 1943 and 1900. Since 1900 the greatest floods are those of 1945, 1908, and 1930. The 1945 flood, which was the maximum of record between Fulton and Alexandria, had a peak discharge of 303,000 second feet at Shreveport.

Denison Reservoir, which provides approximately 234 million acre feet of storage for flood control, and additional storage for hydroelectric power development, may be operated to control all floods reasonably to be expected above Boggy Creek, mile 651.

The inflow from uncontrolled areas may produce flood stages on the main stem below Boggy Creek in about 50 percent of the years. With the present authorized flood control improvements completed, recurrence of the maximum floods of record would overflow about 1,026,000 acres along Red River between Boggy Creek and the Mississippi River backwater area.

The design flood, with a peak discharge greater than the flood of 1945, would overflow about 1,700,000 acres along that section of the river, about half of which are located behind existing, or authorized levee lines. Included in the above are 774,000 acres of crop land.

Local interests desire additional protection from floods along the section of the Red River under consideration. They advocate supplementing existing and authorized works by additional levee construction, bank stabilization, channel work and flood control reservoirs. They have indicated a willingness to provide the necessary lands for levee, channel improvements and similar work. The reservoirs proposed, I just read you.

The project further contemplates enlargement of existing authorized leevees and provision of flood gates at an estimated Federal cost of 22 million dollars, and an estimated 3 million dollars for construction of additional revetments, dikes and similar works to stabilize the banks of the Red River, making a total estimated cost, as stated, of $77,500,000.

The cost to local interests for furnishing rights-of-way for channel stabilization and levee work is estimated at $200,000. The total annual cost, after taking credit of $100,000 for rentals, is estimated at $3,470,000. That is the direct benefit.

With the authorized and proposed improvements in operation, the stage for the design flood would be below its natural stage by 6.2 feet at Fulton, 10.2 feet at Shreveport, and 9.2 feet at Alexandria. The levees proposed are to afford a 3-foot freeboard above the design flood stage.

It is estimated that this work, when completed, would prevent flood damage averaging $2,700,000 annually, and would return benefits of $700,000 annually for making certain lands not now in cultivation suitable for use as crop lands; a total of $3,400,000 in direct benefits.

In addition to the direct, indirect and intangible benefits would accrue since the valley inhabitants would be relieved of the expectancy of frequent large flood damages. Proposed flood reservoirs, by reducing the peak stage of the design flood, would enable lands along Red River below the section under consideration to be afforded levee protection against such a flood at less cost than would be required for equal protection than without the reservoirs.

We believe that the cost of the plan proposed is commensurate with the benefit.

I think that covers the main points of the project, sir.
Mr. ALLEN. Thank you, General.

Now, I note your report shows that the Red River Valley has 91,000 square miles, I believe. In other words, it is not only a long valley, but it is a wide valley.

General CRAWFORD. That is correct, sir.

Mr. ALLEN. I believe you also estimated in your report that the value of the lands, agricultural lands, flooded, was $100,000,000. General CRAWFORD. That is correct.

Mr. ALLEN. General, you gave the flood damage of 1945, and you estimate the damage in 1945, which was the greatest flood on record, certainly the greatest since 1943, at $16,000,000.

General CRAWFORD. Yes, sir.

Mr. ALLEN. It is well to bear in mind that that flood happened in the spring of the year before the farmers had started their crops, and if the flood had happened 2 or 3 months later, the damage would have been three or four times that much.

General CRAWFORD. That is correct, sir.

Mr. ALLEN. That was the longest flood of record, not only the greatest. I believe the record shows it was a 74-day flood.

General CRAWFORD. Yes, sir.

Mr. ALLEN. General, as I understand your plan, it contemplates building the reservoirs, constructing the levees, to take care of the whole valley. In other words, you consider that this is a necessary part of the whole program in order to give the maximum amount of flood relief to that Red River Valley.

General CRAWFORD. Yes, sir.

Mr. ALLEN. One part is as necessary as the other.

General CRAWFORD. Right. They are both essential to the protection of that valley against floods.

Mr. ALLEN. These protective works, when completed, will give the people along the river a freeboard of 3 feet, I believe you said. General CRAWFORD. Yes. What we call the "project flood," which was some 20 percent greater than the 1945 flood."

Mr. ALLEN. In other words, with the designed flood of 20 percent greater than the 1945 flood, you have a 3-foot freeboard.

General CRAWFORD. That is correct.

Mr. ALLEN. And you think that will give the valley the maximum amount of protection that can be obtained by the use of reservoirs and levees?

General CRAWFORD. Yes, sir.

Mr. ALLEN. General, is that all you have to say?

General CRAWFORD. There are further details in the report and charts and other diagrams.

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