FLOOD-CONTROL PLANS AND NEW PROJECTS THURSDAY, MAY 13, 1943 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Washington, D. C. The committee met at 10:30 a. m., Hon. Will M. Whittington (chairman) presiding. The CHAIRMAN. The committee will be in order. During the past 3 months there have been excessive floods along the Missouri River and the Missouri River system, and during the last 3 days there have been unprecedented floods along a part of the watershed of the Missouri River, but more particularly along the Arkansas River in the vicinity of Fort Smith. I understand, generally, that those floods in that area are record floods, and when we recall that the great disaster in the lower Mississippi Valley in 1927 largely originated on the Arkansas, and that the Arkansas and the White Rivers were the bad actors and the contributing factors in that greatest of all floods, we know the meaning of the present flood along the Arkansas and the White Rivers and probably the St. Francis. And we will probably have some more of that later. We are glad to have you with us this morning, General Reybold, but as I understand it, you will appear before the committee later on and make a general statement with respect to the flood-control system. General REYBOLD. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Now, this meeting was called primarily to have a report at first hand from Colonel Pick, the division engineer along the Missouri River system. Colonel Pick is located at Omaha, Nebr. STATEMENT OF COL. LEWIS A. PICK, DIVISION ENGINEER, MISSOURI RIVER DIVISION, OMAHA, NEBR. The CHAIRMAN. Give the reporter your name and your present official position and give us your experience in river and flood-control work, Colonel. Colonel PICK. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, my name is Col. Lewis A. Pick, division engineer, Missouri River division, Omaha, Nebr. The CHAIRMAN. Prior to your assignment as division engineer, what were your assignments in connection with the work of the Corps of Engineers? Colonel PICK. How far do you want me to go back, sir? The CHAIRMAN. Well, just in a word, as briefly as you can. Colonel PICK. My first assignment in the Corps of Engineers of the United States after the World War was a 3-year tour in the Philippine Islands. On returning to the States I attended the En gineer School at Fort Belvoir. From there I was assigned to R. O. T. C. work at the Alabama Polytechnic Institute at Auburn, Ala., and after 1 year I was moved to New Orleans as district engineer, leaving there in the summer of 1928. Then a tour of 4 years at Texas A. and M. College as an instructor in military science and tactics; then to Leavenworth, Kans., as a student, to the Command and General Staff School to take the 2-year course. Upon completion of that course I was retained there for 4 years as instructor. Upon completing that tour of duty I was transferred to Washington to the Army War College as a student, graduating from the War College in 1939. From there I went to the Ohio River division at Cincinnati as the executive officer. I remained there until March 1942, when I was transferred to the Missouri River Division as division engineer, with headquarters at Omaha. The CHAIRMAN. What is your class at the academy? Colonel PICK. I am a graduate of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg, Va. I did not attend the Military Academy. The CHAIRMAN. I see. And, you have been division engineer at Omaha how long? That includes the Missouri River system, does it not? Colonel PICK. Yes; it includes the Missouri River system. The CHAIRMAN. Since 1942; the first of the year. Colonel PICK. Since March 1942. The CHAIRMAN. Since March 1942? Colonel PICK. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Now, we would like to have you give us a general over-all picture of the improvements along the Missouri River for navigation and any flood-control improvements that have been made along that river, and develop the effect of the Fort Peck Reservoir both on flood control and on navigation and with respect to irrigation; whatever you care to submit. You may make your general statement at this time, giving us a report of the recent floods along the Missouri River, particularly. Colonel PICK. I would like to make a general statement at this time on the flood conditions of this spring. The CHAIRMAN. You may proceed. Colonel PICK. That is, as to the Missouri River flood of March and April of 1943. The CHAIRMAN. Very well. Colonel PICK. By late January the Missouri River was frozen as far downstream as about Kansas City, Mo., with ice from 2 to 3 feet thick from Fort Peck to Pierre, S. Dak. By mid-February the snow cover lay from several inches to 2 feet deep in eastern Montana, North Dakota, and the northern part of South Dakota. On about February 18 a thaw occurred in the snow-covered area. The first trouble was reported on the little Missouri in western North Dakota when a suggestion was made by the Governor of North Dakota that an ice gorge near Marmarth, N. Dak., be broken by bombing. On February 25 the division engineer instructed the Fort Peck district engineer to put reporting and rescue parties in the field. From that date up to the present time the Missouri River Division has been battling the flood situation on the Missouri River. The February thaw caused ice break-ups and gorges (with some local flooding) on the Little Missouri, Grand, and lower Yellowstone Rivers. However, a cold wave beginning about February 24 relieved the situation but left the ground saturated and frozen. Beginning March 13, after a period of continued cold weather, a series of blizzards occurred over the Dakotas and eastern Montana area until about March 20 by which time from 12 to 15 inches of snow covered large areas in North Dakota with as much as 6 inches of snow extending into South Dakota and Montana. By the latter part of March the ice on the Missouri River from below Sioux City thawed and moved out. There were several small gorges between Sioux City and Kansas City but none serious. About March 7 an ice gorge formed in the vicinity of Yankton and held until about March 26. This gorge caused some local flooding but it did not contribute substantially to the flood condition on downstream. Beginning about March 22, the temperature in the northern area rose well above freezing. From about March 24 to about April 3 the Milk, Knife, Heart, Cannonball, and Grand Rrivers (tributaries of the Missouri) were at or above flood stage. By March 27 the Missouri River reached flood stage or near flood stage from about the mouth of the Yellowstone to Mobridge, S. Dak., with ice gorges at numerous places, and a major gorge in the vicinity of Elbowoods. On March 31 the ice gorge at Elbowoods and a large gorge which had formed 25 miles above Bismarck on March 30 broke and the floodwaters moved on downstream producing flood conditions to above Kansas City, Mo., and the highest stages since 1881 from Pierre, S. Dak., to Rulo, Nebr. The high water flooded about 800,000 acres of farm land and damaged numerous towns, with major damage at Beulah, Mott, and Mandan, N. Dak.; Fort Pierre and Pierre, S. Dak.; and Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Omaha, Nebr. Tentative estimates indicate direct damages of around $5,000,000. Sufficient information is not available to estimate indirect damages such as damage to crops, interruption of highway and railroad service, delay to industries, and so forth. Six lives were lost. On April 4 the division engineer instructed the Omaha district engineer to proceed with all possible aid for rescue work and protection of levees and critical areas. Similar instructions were issued to the Kansas City district engineer on April 7. Now, let me sum up the rescue and flood-fighting work in the Missouri River division as follows: RESCUE WORK Plant used: 50 items floating plant. Personnel used: 200 Engineer Department employees. Time worked: 24,000 man-hours. Evacuation: 175 people; also 7,000 chickens and 2,000 livestock valued at $150,000. FLOOD-FIGHTING WORK Plant used: 270 items of dirt-moving equipment. Personnel used: 750 Engineer Department employees; also 2,500 soldiers. Since the flood, the Engineer Department has undertaken the repair of the levees that protect the city of Mandan, N. Dak., and the State training school in the Fort Peck district. This work will soon be completed. Within the Omaha and Kansas City districts there are about 100 levee units, damaged by the 1943 flood, in need of repair. The Department is assisting in the repair of all units on which local interests are financially or otherwise unable to accomplish the work themselves. The estimated cost is $300,000 and involves the placing of approximately 1,250,000 cubic yards of fill. The plans are to complete as much of this work as is practicable before the June rise. The work involved in the $300,000 is in addition to the repair of levees damaged by the 1942 high water, on which work was started last fall and which is estimated to cost $400,000, most of which is practically completed. The division engineer has made available to the Omaha district engineer nearly 300 items of equipment for repair of the agricultural levees, and to the East Omaha drainage district 26 items of equipment for the repair of the Carter Lake levee. The Omaha district has made available the dredge Chittenden for the Carter Lake levee repair. In addition, the division engineer has made available 14 items of equipment to the F. W. A. for the rehabilitation of the Carter Lake area. That is for the clean-up work and to assist in the draining of the entire Carter Lake area, which has about 1,250 families living in the area, and which had to be evacuated when the levees broke. Mr. Chairman, that is my general statement. The CHAIRMAN. How many district engineers are under your supervision and where are they located? Fort Peck being one, where are the others? Colonel PICK. There are four, sir: Fort Peck, Omaha, Kansas City, and Denver. The CHAIRMAN. For the information of the committee, what is the general navigation project which is under the supervision of the Rivers and Harbors Committee, along the Missouri River, and what is the length and the depth of the proposed navigation channel along the river? Colonel PICK. The present active projects for navigation on the Missouri River, sir, extend from the mouth of the river to Sioux City, Iowa, and provide for securing a minimum low-water depth of 6 feet and a minimum width of 200 feet. The CHAIRMAN. Average navigable depth of 6 feet from the mouth of the river up to Sioux City? Colonel PICK. A minimum low-water depth of 6 feet. The CHAIRMAN. And what is the distance? Colonel PICK. It is about 700 miles. The CHAIRMAN. By river, I mean. Well, that is close enough. Colonel PICK. Seven hundred and sixty miles, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Generally, of what do those improvements consist now; the navigation improvements along the river in that stretch? Colonel PICK. They consist of bank revetment, permeable dikes to contract and stabilize the waterway, removal of snags, and occasional dredging. Those dikes are pile dikes; permeable dikes. They are designed to restrict the river, the flow, to definite areas, and to prevent what has always occurred in the valley out there, the shifting of the channel. In that connection, sir, I would like to bring out one point here that I think is of tremendous importance. This major flood of the Missouri below Sioux City, the 1943 flood, is the largest flood since 1881, and it is the only major flood between Sioux City and Kansas City we know of in which no cut-offs or no change in location of the main channel of the river occurred. The CHAIRMAN. That is attributable to the improvements that have been made, would you say, in connection with projects for navigation? Colonel PICK. That has been made possible only by the improvements which we have installed in the river for navigation. The CHAIRMAN. Well now, in addition to your levees to restrict and control the channel and prevent the river from going all over the place, so to speak, what other improvements are there from the mouth of the river near St. Louis to above St. Louis and to Sioux City? What channelization or claiming or clearing or dredging of the channel are you doing? Colonel PICK. When necessary we dredge the sand bars out of the river to maintain our 6-foot channel. The CHAIRMAN. I see. Colonel PICK. We have one dredge working now. The CHAIRMAN. What statement, if any, would you care to make as to the effect these improvements have on protecting the adjoining land and adjacent lands from floods? As I understand it, these levees are constructed primarily to restrict the flow of the water. What effect do they have on protecting those lands and properties from floods? Colonel PICK. They protect the properties from floods so long as they are not overtopped. The CHAIRMAN. Which is generally the case with all levees. The CHAIRMAN. Where you have an outlet or tributary, do you go up the tributary, or what prevents the water from overflowing through the tributary? Colonel PICK. I might say, sir, we have not built any levees along the Missouri River as a Federal undertaking for the protection of land and property, except at Kansas City, Sherman Field at Ft. Leavenworth, and Rosecrans Field at St. Joseph. The CHAIRMAN. As a Federal flood-control undertaking? Colonel PICK. Yes, sir; that is right. All other work which has been done along the river in the building of levees has been done by the local interests. The CHAIRMAN. Well, that leads me to ask you this general question: From St. Louis to Sioux City, on both sides, generally, what have the local interests done, and give us some outstanding instances where improvements have been made by the local interests to protect them from the Missouri River floods. Colonel PICK. Local interests have constructed agricultural levees generally over that entire reach of the river. Also, levees have been constructed to provide local protection for the cities of Omaha, Nebr., and Sioux City and Council Bluffs, Iowa. The CHAIRMAN. By the local people? Colonel PICK. By the local people. These levees provide some protection; a limited amount of protection. They probably would have been sufficient, in the upper reaches of the river between Kansas City and Sioux City, to provide protection against a discharge at Omaha, say, of 115,000 to 120,000 second-feet. The CHAIRMAN. What happened during the current 1943 flood? |