SEC. 3. If a dam is constructed pursuant to an agreement concluded under the authorization granted by section 1 of this Act, its operation for conservation and release of United States share of waters shall be integrated with other United States water conservation activities on the Rio Grande below Fort Quitman, Texas, in such manner as to provide the maximum feasible amount of water for beneficial use in the United States with the understandings that (a) releases of United States share of waters from said dam for domestic, municipal, industrial, and irrigation uses in the United States shall be made pursuant to order by the appropriate authority or authorities of the State of Texas, and (b) the State of Texas having stipulated that the amount of water that will be available for use in the United States below Falcon Dam after the proposed dam is placed in operation will be not less than the amount available under existing conditions of river development, and to carry out such understandings and said stipulation the conservation storage of said dam shall be used, and it shall be the exclusive responsibility of the appropriate authority or authorities of said State to distribute available United States share of waters of the Rio Grande in such manner as will comply with said stipulation. SEC. 4. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated to the Department of State for the use of the United States Section, International Boundary and Water Commission, United States and Mexico, such sums as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act. Passed the House of Representatives June 9, 1960. RALPH R. ROBERTS, Clerk. The CHAIRMAN. Do you wish to start, Mr. Hewitt? STATEMENT OF LELAND H. HEWITT, COMMISSIONER, INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY AND WATER COMMISSION, UNITED STATES AND MEXICO Mr. HEWITT. Very well, Mr. Chairman. As you have mentioned, H.R. 12263 contemplates in the main two particular authorizations. The first that the Secretary of State acting through the U.S. Commissioner be authorized to conclude with the representatives of Mexico an agreement for the joint construction, operation, and maintenance of a dam in accordance with the treaty of February 3, 1944, and, second, that if an agreement in accordance with section 1 is concluded, that we also be authorized to conclude an arrangement with Mexico in order to construct, operate, and maintain a facility for the generating of electric current. Now article 5 of the 1944 water treaty between the United States and Mexico is the authority for the construction of the international dams along the Rio Grande. If you will look at the map which we have over here on the wall, you can see that a portion of the Rio Grande constitutes the boundary between the United States and Mexico, from El Paso down to the vicinity of Brownsville and Matamoros at the lower right-hand end of the map. THREE DAMS CONTEMPLATED UNDER 1944 TREATY Now the 1944 treaty between the United States and Mexico contemplated that there would be three dams which would be authorized and constructed by the United States and Mexico jointly to provide flood control, conservation, electric power, and other ancillary benefits. The first dam, Falcon Dam as you can see, was completed in 1953 and is under operation at the present time. The second dam which we are talking about this morning is the Amistad Dam which is located in the immediate vicinity of Del Rio and Ciudad Acuña on the Mexico side of the river. The reason why this dam was not authorized by the 1944 treaty is that the 1944 treaty specified definitely certain reaches of the river in which these dams would be built, and the location where the final engineering studies indicated would be most advantageous to build the dam, was not inIcluded in the 1944 treaty. Now the reason that the dam is located in the position selected, is that the principal flood producing tributaries of the Rio Grande constitute the Conchos River which comes in from Mexico and enters the United States in the vicinity of Presidio. The Devils River which comes in immediately above Del Rio, and the Pecos River which comes in a little farther up, are both above the site of the dam. AFFORDING FLOOD PROTECTION Now with the harnessing of those three rivers or the control of those three rivers, it will be possible to control all of the floods of record, and we have about 59 years of record, and to eliminate the flood damages which have occurred along the Rio Grande in recent years. Falcon Dam which I mentioned before was completed in 1953. The Amistad Dam is some 300 miles above Falcon, and will supply protection to the cities of Del Rio, Ciudad Acuña, Eagle Pass, Piedras Negras, and Laredo and Nuevo Laredo. These areas were very badly damaged in the 1954 flood. Actually there was a considerable loss of life both on the U.S. side and Mexican side and a great loss of property. The characteristics of the Rio Grande are peculiar. Many times you have a very small flow in the river and as an example, on June 23, 1954, at Del Rio, there was less than 2,000 second-feet in the river. However, 3 days later there was 1,140,000 second-feet of flow, and you can see from that, that flood protection must be supplied in order to avoid damages in the area below Del Rio. In addition, Falcon Dam, which in 1954 did supply protection to the lower valley, owing entirely to the fact that it was practically empty at the time that the flood occurred, would not have supplied very much, if any, protection had Falcon Dam been filled as it was in 1958. The fact that we propose to build Amistad Dam adds to the security supplied by Falcon so that the combination of the two will practically insure that the lower valley will be free from floods originating in the upper river. The only damages which may occur then will come from rivers which come in from the Mexican side below Falcon Dam. Floods below Del Rio and up to Falcon Dam will affect about 120,000 people, and damage about 66,000 acres of irrigated land in the United States alone. They will also damage five international bridges which cross the Rio Grande in that area, and will cause loss of life, as I mentioned before, and the tremendous loss of commercial facilities. Now in the 1954 and 1958 floods, we have conservatively estimated about $24.1 million damages. This is about one-third the cost of what we estimate the Amistad Dam will cost. In addition to that, we have had, according to our record beginning in 1900, 16 other floods, and, in estimating our annual average damages from floods alone, we consider that these will amount to $1,864,000. In addition to that, during the 1954 flood and the 1958 flood, there was a considerable amount of water which would have been impounded behind the Amistad Dam which, owing to the fact that Falcon Dam was filled in 1958, resulted in a great deal of water escaping beyond Brownsville and Matamoros into the Gulf of Mexico. Of course, water which goes out to the Gulf of Mexico is of no use to the valley for conservation purposes or irrigation and as the result there were some 3 million acre-feet lost. We figured the worth of an acre-foot of water in that portion of Texas to be about $22 per acre-foot. So that some $66 million worth of water was lost. We figure on the average we are going to lose some 190,000 acre-feet of water annually which we will retain in the Amistad Dam and which otherwise would be lost to the gulf. Now looking at the diagram to the right, that is the sketch of 'what we think this dam is going to look like, if it is authorized. AREA TO BE COVERED BY WATER The area which will be included in the storage reservoir amounts to a total of about 87,400 acres. This will be in the United States and Mexico. The storage Senator HICKENLOOPER. That is the land that will be covered by the water. Mr. HEWITT. That is the land that will be covered by the water. That is outlined on the map. The total capacity of the storage is 5,660,000 acre-feet. The reservoir will extend up the Rio River some 82 miles. It will extend about 15 miles up the Devils River, and it will extend about 17 miles up the Pecos River. The dam itself will be about 253 feet high from the riverbed to the top of the dam. The overflow section, that is the concrete gravity section which is in the present streambed, will be flanked by earth embankments; on the Mexican side the embankment will be about 4.1 miles long and on the United States side about 2.1 miles long. This dam structure will require about 1.3 million cubic yards of concrete and 11.9 million yards of earth work. We assume that there will be a highway over the top of the dam_which will provide access internationally to the residents of the United States and of Mexico. Now, while I have said that the total amount of land to be inundated would be 87,400 acres, only about 58,000 acres will be in the United States, and most of this will be confined to the general steepwalled canyon of the Rio Grande. In this particular area there is a limestone formation and the canyons are very sharply incised into the ground. While at extreme flood stages the water will spread over a considerable area, nevertheless in the normal stages most of the water will be confined in the deep canyons. Five ranch headquarters are located in the reservoir area. This is considerably different from Falcon where we had to relocate several small villages. In this area there will be no relocation of villages. There are only about 25 or 35 acres of arable land in this particular area; the rest of it is sheep-grazing country. There are, however, two small hydroelectric plants and one steam plant-which is also small, 7,500 kilowatts-which would be inundated. There are also about 21.5 miles of State highway, 5 miles of country roads, 12 miles of the Southern Pacific Railroad, and about 16 miles of telephone trunkline to be relocated. The Bureau of Fisheries have indicated that there will be an excellent opportunity to provide recreation in the area which will be profitable from an economic standpoint. FINANCIAL BENEFITS OF DAM'S CONSTRUCTION Coming down to the financial benefits of the construction of this dam, we find that the total annual flood damages to U.S. property, which it may be anticipated the proposed Amistad Dam would prevent, would be $1,861,000. There will be $3,000 damages which will still occur, owing to floods which cannot be handled entirely in the area below the dam. Senator HICKENLOOPER. How much damage? Mr. HEWITT. About $3,000 a year. That is practically nothing. Now as far as conservation is concerned, I mentioned that there would be a considerable saving of water which would, before this dam was built, escape to the gulf and those annual conservation benefits are $1,892,000 a year. CONSTRUCTION OF HYDROELECTRIC PLANTS Now H.R. 12263 provides that the U.S. Commissioner will negotiate with Mexico to obtain an agreement to construct a hydroelectric plant. If this plant is constructed, we would expect to install about 70,000 kilowatts of power. That would be the greatest capacity which should be installed. Senator HICKENLOOPER. What side of the border? Mr. HEWITT. I am speaking on our side now, Mexico would install a plant which would probably be similar to this on their side of the border. ESTIMATED COST OF PROJECT Now the estimated cost of the entire project, Mexico and the United States amounts to $109,554,000. The CHAIRMAN. Including the powerplants? Mr. HEWITT. That includes the powerplants; yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. All right. Mr. HEWITT. The U.S. cost is $71,846,000. The appropriation will have to be slightly larger than that, $72,296,000, since the actual cost is reduced by $450,000 which is the salvage value of the terminal land at the end of the 50 years. The annual capital costs at 2.5 percent would be as follows on the basis of a 50-year project: The dam and related works including power for a total of $2,536,000. On the 100-year basis it would be $1,970,000. In addition to the annual costs which I have spoken of, the additional construction costs to the United States to provide access roads, parking and picnicking facilities which are recommended by the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, National Park Service, is esti 57603-60 mated to amount to $620,000, the annual capital costs for the same facilities amounts to $29,000 per year on a 50-year project life and $27,000 per year on the basis of 100-year project life. OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF DAM AND RESERVOIR Pursuant to the terms of the 1944 treaty, the dam at the Amistad site would be operated and maintained jointly by the Governments of the United States and Mexico. Through the International Boundary and Water Commission with each Government retaining full jurisdiction over the portion of the project lying within its own territory. As you will notice on the sketch of the dam, there is a line which shows the boundary between the two countries, and to the left is Mexico. Mexico would maintain all the facilities on the left side, and on the right side the United States would maintain the facilities. The dam and reservoir would be operated in coordination with the downstream Falcon Reservoir to provide optimum flood control, conservation, and regulation of the waters of the Rio Grande for the two countries in accordance with the terms of the treaty. The basic principle of operation of the reservoir system for storage and regulation of U.S. waters would be as it is at present in Falcon Reservoir that the use of waters for domestic and irrigation purposes is paramount, and that releases would be made for such purposes as determined and requested by authorities of the State of Texas. Flood control releases would be made from the reservoir when necessary as determined by the Commission, at the most practical rates and not in excess of the safe capacity of the channel downstream. The generation of hydroelectric energy at the Amistad site would be incidental to the release of waters for domestic, irrigation and flood control purposes. To the extent consistent with these paramount purposes additional releases would be made by each country as determined by the respective sections of the Commission to enable optimum generation of hydroelectric energy and all such releases. would be reregulated in the Falcon Reservoir. REGULATION OF BOATING, FISHING, AND HUNTING No U.S. waters required for irrigation would be retained in storage in the Amistad Reservoir solely to maintain a power head. All boating, fishing, and hunting within the reservoir at the Amistad site would be subject to regulations of the laws in each country, within the portion of the reservoir area in its territory. On the U.S. side it is anticipated recreational control would be provided by the Texas State Parks Board and that hunting and fishing would be under the jurisdiction of the Texas Fish and Game Commission. I might say that at Falcon we have gotten along very nicely. Mexico takes care of the hunters and fishers on its side of the boundary and the State of Texas takes care of them on the U.S. side. Senator HICKENLOOPER. How do reciprocal licensing privileges? they do it? Do they have If a person desires to hunt in Mr. HEWITT, No, sir; they do not. |