FLOOD-CONTROL PLANS AND NEW PROJECTS THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1944 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Washington, D. C. The committee met at 10 a.m., Hon. Will M. Whittington (chairman) presiding. The CHAIRMAN. The committee will be in order. Are there representatives present of local interests of either the Middle Colorado River watershed in Texas, the watershed of the Washita River, in Oklahoma and Texas, or the Trinity River watershed, except Mr. Roy Miller? (After a pause.) (After a pause.) Apparently there are no such representatives present this morning. Colonel Goethals, the Flood Control Act of August 18, 1941, approved an authorization for the initiation of construction of certain projects in west Texas and in Texas where the streams flow into the Gulf of Mexico, and you previously testified with respect to the work along those projects and the reasons for the cessation of any works that may have been planned, as I recall your former statement. Is there any additional statement now that you care to make? Colonel GOETHALS. No; there has been no change in status of that work. The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Fisher, are there any questions you would like to ask with respect to any of the projects referred to? Mr. FISHER. Mr. Chairman, I would like to make an inquiry about the Colorado River Basin project, set out on page 5 of Public Law No. 228 wherein there are authorized certain flood-control structures, with specific authorizations. I am informed by the engineers that there may be need for an increase in the amount of the total authorization, and I would like the colonel to discuss that briefly. STATEMENT OF COL. GEORGE R. GOETHALS, CHIEF, CIVIL WORKS DIVISION, OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS Colonel GOETHALS. The two projects which I think you have in mind, Mr. Fisher, are concerned with flood-control improvements of the Concho River Basin, and the Pecan Bayou and tributaries. Mr. FISHER. Yes; and Hords Creek also. Colonel GOETHALS. Last June there was brief testimony on this. basin, and at this time I would like to speak briefly as to how that matter rests. In the Concho River Basin there are two essential elements of that improvement. First, there is the San Angelo Reservoir and the San Angelo floodway. In the estimates for the former, a Federal cost of $6,800,000 is set up, with the local interests contributing $600,000 for the San Angelo floodway, making a total cost, Federal and non-Federal, of $7,400,000. The present authorization available for that project is $2,000,000, so the additional authorization required to complete is $4,800,000, and I might add that funds have been allotted for the preparation of detailed plans and specifications, which are now well under way, so that if Congress desires to complete the authorization at this time, this is a project that could be swung rapidly into the post-war construction program. In the case of Pecan Bayou and tributaries, there are two reservoirs involved, one the Hords Creek Reservoir and the other the Lake Brownwood Reservoir, with a total estimated Federal cost of construction of $2,960,000. The first cost to local interests is $100,000, making a total first cost of $3,060,000. Presently, we have an authorization available for that work of $1,400,000, so the amount required to complete would be $1,560,000, and the same remarks made as to plans and specifications for the Concho River Basin apply in this case as well. Mr. FISHER. With further reference to the Brady Creek project at Brady, Tex., what can you tell us about that? Have you the figures on that? Colonel GOETHALS. That is strictly a local flood control protection project which has been authorized and for which the plans and specifications are still incomplete. We do not need any further authorization for that, but we do need an appropriation at the proper time. The CHAIRMAN. In that connection, the act referred to by Mr. Fisher, the Flood Control Act of 1941, also approved a lower Colorado River project in Texas, and authorized $6,500,000 for the initiation of that project. Have you the figures, or can you give us any information, as to the total estimated cost of that project, and the additional amount that would be necessary to be authorized before its completion? Colonel GOETHALS. The estimated cost of that project is $6,500,000 and the Flood Control Act of 1941 provided authorization in that same amount. The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Mansfield, of Texas, was and still is interested in that project, as well as other Members from that part of the State of Texas. There is also a project in this general area which we have under consideration, for the Brazos River, Tex., which was approved in the act of 1941, and the amount of $5,000,000 authorized for the initiation of the project. In the revision of your statement, Colonel, I will be glad to have you include the remaining amount necessary for the completion of the project. Colonel GOETHALS. An additional authorization of $17,000,000 will be required for completion of the Whitney project. The CHAIRMAN. I believe those two questions, in connection with Mr. Fisher's question cover all the projects in the Texas area. Mr. FISHER. Mr. Charman, Mr. Poage is interested in that feature of the project covering the Brazos River. The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Poage, the committee will be glad to have a brief statement from you at this time. You understand that later on, on the last day of the hearings you will have an opportunity to submit a more extended statement. It was at your suggestion that I asked Colonel Goethals these questions, knowing that an initial amount had been authorized, and that the work is being held up on account of the war. I wanted to get that clear so that when we come to consider the authorization we would have in mind the amount necessary to complete. You have already made a statement about the Washita and the Trinity Rivers projects. There is nothing more you care to add about those? Colonel GOETHALS. No, sir. The CHAIRMAN. As I understood you to say previously, those are the only other projects in this general area west of the Mississippi River on streams flowing into the Gulf of Mexico. Are there any other projects on which you care to make a statement? Colonel GOETHALS. No, sir; not this morning. The CHAIRMAN. General Robins, is there any matter you have in mind in connection with any of these works on streams flowing into the Gulf of Mexico? General ROBINS. No, sir; Mr. Chairman, I think they have been covered. The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Poage, we would be glad to have at this time such statement as you care to make. Mr. Poage formerly served with distinction as a member of this committee. He is one of the most valuable Members of the House, and we will be very glad to hear him at this time. STATEMENT OF HON. W. R. POAGE, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF TEXAS Mr. POAGE. Mr. Chairman, it is always a pleasure for me to come back to this committee. I can say, without disparagement of any other committee, that this is one of the best run committees in the House of Representatives. All of us recognize the fact that this committee is conducted in a businesslike manner and gives careful consideration to every problem that comes before it. So, Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the opportunity in having a chance to come before you and refresh your memories, or remind you of a project which has been close to my heart for a long time; that is the development of the Brazos River district. As was mentioned a moment ago, there was and is outstanding an authorization for the commencement and partial completion of the Whitney Dam project on the Brazos River, that is contained in House Document No. 390 of the Seventy-sixth Congress, and the report on this project is in that document. But the authorization was only for an expenditure of $5,000,000 at that time, while it was estimated that it would cost 102 million dollars to construct this dam. We feel that we are in the same position that everyone else is, with rising costs, and that it would probably cost more than that now. In any event, it is the sincere hope of those of us who live below that dam-and I happen to live some 30 miles below that dam, and I have seen a four-room house float down the street in East Waco, my home town-that this committee will see fit to include an authorization to complete that dam, so it may be included in the post-war program. We recognize that unless that is done, the Brazos district which includes the greatest watershed in the Southwest, the greatest watershed in the State of Texas, is going to be greatly handicapped. There is only one dam constructed on it at this time, and that is the Morris Sheppard Dam, built by State funds, with W. P. A. assistance. That dam is now in operation, but obviously it is only one dam out of six that were contemplated on that river and its tributaries, and unless we are able to put in this key structure at Whitney, we recognize that we will have little, if any, flood control in the lower river. Mr. ALLEN. Have you had any high water since this dam was built so you could determine how much relief it gave you? Mr. POAGE. NO; we have not had a bad flood for several years. It may be that there has hardly been time, but we do know that the Possum Kingdom Dam, as we referred to it in the past-we do know that just as it was completed we had some very heavy rains on the river, and the dam was built in 60 days, when it was estimated that it would take 2 years to build it, but it was not built primarily for a flood-control dam, and it is now usually full of water and used as a power dam. It was built as a revenue proposition, and is not the type of dam which is primarily a flood-control dam and only incidentally for power development. It has a 70-foot head of water out of that 115foot dam, which means that only a relative small portion of the storage capacity is filled with water at any time. That brings me to a second point I wanted to discuss with the committee, not with the idea of wanting to say that I know what should be done, but to suggest to the committee that the Brazos River Conservation and Reclamation District of the State of Texas would be very happy, if the committee should see fit to favor this project, to bear the expense of installing power machinery for the operation of hydroelectric power at the Whitney Dam, to the extent to which hydroelectric power is involved in the report of the Army engineers. We do not want to keep the dam full of water; we want protection from floods that the dam would give us. It seems to us that it is perfectly proper that the head of 70 feet be kept in the dam, which would produce a substantial amount of power. Somebody has to pay the cost of putting in the machinery. The individuals in the Brazos River district again tender to this committee their readiness and ability to pay for the machinery and agree to install it and operate it, and we do say to the committee that we think that is probably the logical way of handling it. If it must be handled by some public agency we say that here is a public agency already set up and operating in that areea and has its lines now within a mile or 2 of the dam site, that is already a going concern, and that is the only public concern handling the operation of power in that section of the State. I merely pass that on again, and again tender the committee that offer, and I think, of course, the State agency would supply funds |