Mr. JOHNSON. Let us take up each of these items separately and discuss them, and have you tell us what you expect to do. Mr. DODD. Last year no funds were provided in the Budget for additional construction, either of irrigation works or of physical improvements. When the bill got over to the Senate, an amendment was inserted adding about $3,800,000 for irrigation construction. When the bill went to conference, numerous hearings were held and a total of $780,900 was inserted in this bill, after an estimate for that amount had been submitted by the Budget. This item is a continuation of the irrigation construction item. We have bracketed out in the text certain items that will be completed with this year's funds and we are suggesting certain new items. We are in a position to go through each of these and make a brief statement concerning them. We have given a rather full statement of the entire program, beginning at page 230 of our justifications, and going through to the end of that book of justifications. I think you will find practically all of the details there that you may want. I may say that of the total of $2,090,000 requested, $1,221,000 is to be applied to projects which are all-Indian; that is, projects where there are no whites and where we do not expect to have whites; $809,000 of it goes into combination Indian and white projects; projects where there are some white people now on the land; and $60,000 is for our administrative overhead cost. Mr. FITZPATRICK. Will there be any refund to the Government from any of those projects? Mr. DODD. The land in white ownership is compelled to pay the construction cost. As Mr. Wathen has explained already, for the land in Indian ownership, construction costs are deferred just so long as that land remains in Indian ownership. Mr. FITZPATRICK. Is all of this money taken out of the Treasury of the United States? Mr. DODD. All of this money comes out of the Treasury. Mr. DODD. Yes, sir. Mr. JOHNSON. Will you take up each item individually and explain it? Mr. DODD. Mr. Wathen will do that. COLORADO RIVER PROJECT Mr. JOHNSON. The first item here is on the Colorado River. This being a new item, it seems to me we might have an explanation of it. Mr. DODD. In considering that item, Mr. Chairman, so that we can have it before us, I would like to offer an amendment to go after the figures "$750,000, reimbursable." I offer this because it provides for a contractual authorization of $500,000, in addition to the $750,000 that is in the bill. The Indian Service does not have authority to make contracts such as the authority vested in the Bureau of Reclamation. Mr. JOHNSON. You want to have authority to contract for $500,000 additional? Mr. DODD. In addition; yes. The act authorizing this appropriation contemplates an ultimate expenditure of something like 10 millions of dollars. The authority is quoted in the justification and is from section 2 of the Rivers and Harbors Act approved on August 1935. 30, Mr. FITZPATRICK. The Budget did not recommend this? Mr. DODD. The Budget included the $750,000, but not the contractual authorization. Mr. FITZPATRICK. That is what I said. Mr. DODD. In the reclamation law, they are allowed to make contracts even in excess of the appropriation. If you wish, I will read the amendment, Mr. Chairman. Mr. JOHNSON. Yes; you might read the proposed amendment. Mr. DODD. On page 148, under Arizona, after the words and figures "Colorado River, $750,000 (reimbursable)" insert [reading]: and in addition thereto the Secretary of the Interior may also incur obligations and enter into contract or contracts not exceeding the total amount of $500,000, and his action in so doing shall be deemed a contractual obligation of the Federal Government for the payment of the cost thereof, and appropriations hereafter made for continuing construction of this project shall be available for the purpose of discharging the obligation or obligations so created. Provided further, That any lands within the Colorado River Reservation supplied with water from works constructed pursuant to the terms of this act shall be available for use by the Indians of the Colorado River Reservation and such other Indians as the Secretary of the Interior may find entitled to reside on such reservation in accordance with the provisions of the act of March 3, 1865 (15 Stat. p. 559). I may say further that a contractual authorization in an appropriation bill is not a new thing at all. We have it in the land item that we discussed earlier in this hearing, appearing on page 87, where we have a contractual authorization to take options for a million dollars' worth of additional land. Mr. FITZPATRICK. Having started this construction, would it mean more than $500,000 later on? Our Mr. DODD. The ultimate cost of this project is $10,000,000. first year's operations are going to cost us $1,250,000. Our first year's actual expenditure of funds, however, will not draw from the Treasury more than $750,000. If we have to take two bites at making the contract, it will cost more than $1,250,000, so we want authority to make a contract for the first unit of the program so we can get it all under one contract and save money to the Government. Mr. FITZPATRICK. In other words, this $750,000 will be increased to $1,250,000? Mr. DODD. The $500,000 will come in the 1939 appropriation. You are not increasing this appropriation, but you are obligating the Congress next year for an appropriation of $500,000, and whether or not anything more is done then we will have that unit completed. Mr. O'NEAL. What was the authority for this $10,000,000 project? Mr. DODD. It is found in section 2 of the Rivers and Harbors Act, approved August 30, 1935, which is found on page 231 of our justifications. Mr. O'NEAL. Where does the $10,000,000 item appear? Was that the estimate before this was inserted, as to what it would cost? Mr. DODD. Yes. Mr. O'NEAL. There is no specific authority for the $10,000,000 item other than what appears in that justification? Mr. DODD. It was discussed in the committee that reported this bill, and our figures were based on preliminary surveys by our engineers. Mr. O'NEAL. The figures were given at the time that bill was passed, to the effect that it would probably cost 10 million dollars? Mr. DODD. Yes, sir. Mr. JOHNSON. This project is way down below Boulder Dam? Mr. JOHNSON. Are there any other dams now above Boulder Dam, or contemplated to be built, to stop the silt? Mr. WATHEN. The Reclamation Service contemplates dams above Boulder Dam, but there is none under construction. Mr. JOHNSON. It seems to me there ought to be some small dams there to stop the silt that is going into Boulder Dam at this time. Mr. WATHEN. The Reclamation Service is now making studies of the entire drainage area above Boulder Dam and contemplate, together with the Soil Conservation Service, a considerable program of erosion control, including the building of additional check dams. Mr. O'NEAL. Has anything been done on the Colorado River project yet? Mr. WATHEN. At present we have a pumping plant serving about 7,000 acres. The plan now is to start the development of 100,000 acres in addition to the 7,000, and that will cost a total of $70,000,000. Mr. O'NEAL. Will that serve whites as well as Indians? Mr. WATHEN. No, that is all Indian land. Mr. O'NEAL. Are there any of the Indians living on that irrigated land now? Mr. WATHEN. Yes; the Indians living on the land now are supplied with water from this pumping plant at a cost of about $6.50 per acre. Mr. O'NEAL. Do they have anything more than subsistence from there? Mr. WATHEN. That is approximately all they have, except that last year they raised some cash crops, and we collected from 3,000 acres of land that the Indians cultivated, about $8,000. Mr. O'NEAL. If in the future you just have irrigated Indian lands of this sort, with just merely subsistence homesteads, what is going to be the use of spending 10 million dollars to increase the nunber of subsistence homesteads when that is all there is in prospect? Mr. WATHEN. We hope to colonize 110,000 acres on the Colorado River reservation, with Indians, most of whom are not now there. Additional irrigated land for the Indians, if they are going to become self-supporting, particularly those of the Southwest, is absolutely necessary. We expect to be able to colonize this project perhaps within 20 years after we build the diversion dam which this appropriation provides for, and open the main canal so we can use the irrigated area next year, and we will be able to develop this project, which is a narrow strip about 4 miles wide and 40 miles long in Arizona. We will be able to develop that at rates as fast as Congress decided we shall do it. Mr. O'NEAL. What additional population of Indians do you contemplate that this will take care of? Mr. WATHEN. We figure that each Indian family should have about 40 acres. Mr. O'NEAL. What additional population of Indians, other than what is there now, do you expect you will have there? Mr. WATHEN. The Indians there now will require about 10,000 acres, and that will leave 100,000 acres for settling, and that additional area will take care of 5,000 families. Mr. FITZPATRICK. Will they be self-supporting? Mr. WATHEN. They will be entirely self-supporting, except that the original cost of construction of $10,000,000 will not be repaid to the Treasury as long as the land remains in Indian ownership. Mr. FITZPATRICK. Will the contract be let after open competitive bidding? Mr. WATHEN. Yes, sir. Mr. FITZPATRICK. Are there certain contractors that specialize in that kind of work? Mr. WATHEN. Yes. The first unit is a diversion dam in the Colorado River. Mr. JOHNSON. How high? Mr. WATHEN. Between 10 and 12 feet high with crest length of 1,600 feet. Mr. FITZPATRICK. How was that advertised for bids? Mr. WATHEN. We print the specifications and send them out to various contractors, and publish them in various technical magazines. Mr. FITZPATRICK. Throughout the country? Mr. WATHEN. Throughout the country. Mr. O'NEAL. How will you draw new Indian population there? How will it be brought there? Mr. WATHEN. We propose now when we start construction that there will be some force account work there Mr. O'NEAL (interposing). I am talking about the men who will take up the land. Mr. WATHEN. We expect to bring in during construction operations a number of the younger Navajos and other Indians who might later take up land on this project. Instead of quartering them in barracks we propose to build one- or two-room houses and supply them with a half-acre garden so they can raise garden truck during the construction period, and then ask them at the end of that time if they do not want a 40-acre tract. That will be developed and planted in alfalfa for them. Mr. JOHNSON. Do you propose to give the Indian these 40 acres? Mr. WATHEN. They will be assigned to them. Mr. JOHNSON. In other words, they are not going to pay for them like the white folks. Mr. WATHEN. That is right. It is Indian land, and the only thing we are giving them is the use of the land. Mr. JOHNSON. Who owns the land now? Mr. WATHEN. The title is in the Government, in trust for the Indians, and in this case, with the 40-acre assignments, they will be on a commercial basis. Mr. COLLIER. They will pay for maintenance and operation from the beginning. Mr. O'NEAL. Is there any economy, as to the place from which the Indians are taken? Mr. COLLIER. Yes; take the Navajo situation. The Navajo Reservation is definitely overpopulated now. If we can put a portion of the Navajo population on this land we will reduce the pressure upon the range and make it possible for the balance of the Navajos to have a more decent standard of living. There are 45,000 of them. Mr. FITZPATRICK. During the period of construction, will there be any schools there for the children? Mr. WATHEN. This appropriation will not include schools. Mr. FITZFATRICK. Do you expect to bring parents there with children? Mr. COLLIER. Yes. Mr. FITZPATRICK. How will you provide for the education of the children? Mr. COLLIER. It is not in this appropriation, but we will have to do that. Mr. FITZPATRICK. You will provide that? Mr. COLLIER. Yes. Mr. DODD. One step has been made in that direction. We are constructing a four-room school on the edge of this project now, with a P. W. A. grant of funds. JUSTIFICATION FOR COLORADO RIVER ITEM (The complete justification for the Colorado River item is as follows:) The Budget, as originally submitted for 1937, contained no money for construction work in the Indian Service. By an amendment in the Senate approximately $3,790,000 was added for Indian irrigation projects. In conference, the amount was reduced to $780,900, for which sum a Budget estimate was submitted. The appropriation covered the following types of work: Of the total, $563,500 is reimbursable; the r maining $217,400, covering domestic and stock water and garden tracts, is nonreimbursable. All items included in the 1938 estimate are reimbursable, and no provision is made for domestic and stock water or small garden tracts. The amount requested may be separated into the following general headings: All Indian projects.---. Combination Indian and white projects.. Total. $1, 221, 000 809, 000 60, 000 2,090, 000 The items are justified in the order of their appearance in the text of the estimate. Language change. (a) Funds available for 1937 could be used for land subjugation purposes. This is especially desirable in the development of garden tracts. With the omission of funds for continuing this important work the proviso relating to subjugation has been eliminated. It is helpful, however, to assist in clearing and leveling land on projects strictly Indian, inasmuch as the individual Indians frequently do not own the equipment necessary to place the land in condition for cultivation; (b) elimination of domestic and stock water and garden tract items makes necessary the omission of the text lined out in the last proviso; (c) the remaining changes relate only to projects dropped out and new ones inserted. DETAILED JUSTIFICATION Colorado River, $750,000.-This appropriation is specifically authorized by section 2 of the Rivers and Harbors Act approved August 30, 1935, reading as follows: "That for the purpose of controlling floods, improving navigation, regulating the flow of the streams of the United States, providing for storage and for the delivery of the stored waters thereof, for the reclamation of public lands and Indian reservations, and other beneficial uses, and for the generation of electric energy as a means of financially aiding and assisting such undertakings, the projects known as "Parker Dam" on the Colorado River and "Grand Coulee Dam' 'on the Columbia River, are hereby authorized and adopted, and all con |