Mr. WARNE. I will summarize briefly what our recommendation is. I am appearing in behalf of Secretary Krug of the Interior Department in the matter of recommending to the committee that the procedures established in section 1 of the 1945 Rivers and Harbors Act be retained and made permanently operative. I refer there to the procedure of cross clearance of project reports between the Corps of Engineers and the Department of Interior, whether they are prepared by the Department of the Interior or by the Corps of Engineers, and the clearance of those reports for comment and suggestion with the States in advance of their submittal to the Congress. During the year in which the act has been in operation, we have worked out the practices with the Corps and with the States in a manner which we believe gives satisfactory results for so short a trial period. In order to provide for the benefits of this act on a continuing basis, I have in my statement a suggestion of two amendments. One would be to delete from the fourth line of the preamble of section 1 (a) the words "as hereinafter authorized" which would make it permanently applicable, and at a later point, to insert the words "or hereafter" in section 1 (b) in order to make the exchange of information permanently applicable there. Now, the Department of Interior is anxious that its report be reviewed by the Corps of Engineers and that their comment on our report be submitted to the Congress in order that you may have information about the coordination of the plans. We feel also, and I believe the Corps joins us in this, although they may speak for themselves on it, that it is advantageous to have their reports reviewed by the Department of Interior and the various interests of the Department of Interior for your guidance in order that coordination may be complete. Colonel FERINGA. You recall, Mr. Chairman, that Judge Mansfield and you, at the beginning of this bill, talked to me at the time of General Robbins' retirment about the sad fact that engineer officers perforce, like all other Army officers, must retire when many of them are in their prime in their knowledge of rivers and harbors projects. I have given thought to that in accordance with your instructions, and I believe that certain items of work like a resident member for the Board of Rivers and Harbors, or senior member of that Board, a resident member of the Shore and Beach Erosion Board, or a senior member thereof, could adequately be performed, in fact could better be performed by an engineer officer who had reached 60 years of age and who was in the prime of his knowledge with regard to those various features. Consequently in accordance with your instructions I have scribbled down the following language, which, if you see fit, might be inserted in a river and harbor bill. I want to accent the fact that this has been done at the request of Judge Mansfield and yourself. The language would read like this, and if you so direct I will give it to Mr. McGann, the clerk: The Secretary of War may assign two retired engineer officers of the Army, with their consent, to active duty, one as resident or senior member of the Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors organized pursuant to the provisions of section 3 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of June 13, 1902, as amended, and one as resident or senior member of the Beach Erosion Board, organized pursuant to the provisions of section 2 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of July 3, 1930: Provided, That such assignment shall not be made for a period extending beyond four years from the date of retirement. Mr. PETERSON of Georgia. Let us have that incorporated in the committee print. Mr. RANKIN. Yes. Colonel FERINGA. Speaker Rayburn is interested in having Lavon Reservoir on the East Fork of the Trinity River, which was authorized by the last River and Harbor Act, made possible for conservation storage as well as for its present use. We have looked into the matter and I would like to give this testimony to the reporter, and an item which would read about as follows: The project for the Lavon Reservoir on the East Fork of Trinity River, Tex., authorized in the River and Harbor Act of March 2, 1945, in accordance with House Document No. 533, Seventy-eighth Congress, is hereby modified to provide for conservation storage as may be determined warranted by the Secretary of War upon the recommendations of the Chief of Engineers. What is proposed is the authorization to include conservation storage in a reservoir that has heretofore been authorized at no increased cost to the Federal Government. Mr. RANKIN. I move that be concluded in the committee print. (The information is as follows:) LAVON RESERVOIR, TRINITY RIVER, TEX. The project for the Lavon Reservoir on East Fork of Trinity River, Tex., authorized in the River and Harbor Act of March 2, 1945, in accordance with House Document No. 533, Seventy-eighth Congress, specifically provides for a reservoir with capacity of 272,000 acre-feet for flood control. In the preparation of construction plans for this project local interests request that provision be made for conservation storage in the reservoir as a future source of water for municipal and industrial use. The project as now authorized precludes enlargement of the reservoir to provide for conservation storage. It is proposed to modify the project authorized in the River and Harbor Act of March 2, 1945, to provide for conservation storage as may be determined warranted by the Secretary of War upon the recommendations of the Chief of Engineers. It is intended that the surplus water will be disposed of under the provisions of section 6 of the Flood Control Act of December 22, 1944. This modification of the existing project will give the Department sufficient latitude in the planning and construction of the Lavon Reservoir to meet the reasonable water needs of the area, in the same manner as many other flood-control reservoir projects. Colonel FERINGA. At Mr. Angell's request the Department has looked into the closing of Duncan slough and finds it feasible, and there is no reason why it should not be done. I have prepared, at Mr. Angell's request, language which would permit that being done. Mr. PETERSON of Georgia. Without objection that will also be incorporated. (The language and explanation referred to is as follows:) That authority is hereby granted to the port of Siuslaw, a municipal corporation organized under the laws of the State of Oregon, to construct, maintain, and operate, at points suitable to the interests of navigation, dams or dikes for preventing the flow of the waters of the Siuslaw River into Duncan slough in Lane County, Oregon. Duncan slough, east of Cushman, Oreg., is a tributary of the Siuslaw River which it parallels for a distance of about 4 miles. There is approximately 450 acres of land between the river and the slough which the local property owners desire to protect from tidal overflows by closing the slough by fills at both ends. The port of Siuslaw, a municipal corporation organized under the laws of the State of Oregon, desires to construct, maintain, and operate, at points suitable to the interests of navigation, dams or dikes for preventing the flow of the waters of the Siuslaw River into Duncan slough. All expense involved would be borne by local interests and the plans for the dams and dikes will be submitted to the Chief of Engineers, United States Army, and the Secretary of War for approval before construction is commenced. Colonel FERINGA. Finally, we have in our Department many able civilian engineers. The highest rating that we can give those engineers is P-8. We have one outstanding engineer and we hope we will always have one outstanding engineer. We have therefore, at the specific request of Judge Mansfield, prepared a section which would read as follows: That there may be established in the Office of the Chief of Engineers a position to be filled by an engineer with not less than 15 years' actual experience in the classified civil service on rivers and harbors or flood-control work of the Corps of Engineers; the salary for which shall be fixed, from time to time, by the Secretary of War upon the recommendation of the Chief of Engineers at not to exceed $12,000. I have here a statement showing Mr. McAlpine's eminent capabilities which I would like to file for the record. Mr. PETERSON of Georgia. It may be included in the record. (The statement is as follows:) DATA IN SUPPORT OF THE NOMINATION OF WILLIAM H. MCALPINE TO BE ENGINEER P-9 IN THE WAR DEPARTMENT, ENGINEER DEPARTMENT AT LARGE Mr. McAlpine is an eminent authority on the design and construction of masonry and earth structures for navigation, flood control, and power. He has attained this preeminence through 44 years' progressive experience in the Engineer Department in the design and construction of jetties, breakwaters, canals, cofferdams, navigation locks and dams, powerhouses, and multiple-purpose dams for navigation, flood-control, irrigation, and hydroelectric power. The Chief of Engineers relies heavily on the wisdom of his experience. Mr. McAlpine has served on boards of consulting engineers on nearly every important project constructed by the Engineer Department during the past 20 years. He is consulted almost constantly by the division and district engineers in the solution of complex problems of design, particularly the relation of designs to foundation conditions. His specialized skill and knowledge have been applied to some of the Nation's most important waterway projects, notably the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River, the Fort Peck Dam on the Missouri River, the canalization of the upper Mississippi and the Ohio Rivers, and the MacArthur lock on the St. Marys Falls Canal. Upon request, his services are made available to other Federal agencies concerned with water uses, such as the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Panama Canal. The Department now has 13 engineers of grade P-8, exclusive of Mr. McAlpine, 10 in the field service, and 3 in the Washington headquarters, who are engaged in the planning, design, and construction of civil works projects. Good administration warrants the preferment of Mr. McAlpine, who is foremost in his field, to be senior to all other engineers in the Department and to supervise their activities. Mr. McAlpine was graduated in 1896 from Massachusetts Institute of Technology with the bachelor of science degree in civil engineering. Mr. PETERSON of Georgia. We will recess until 10 o'clock tomorrow morning. (Whereupon, at 4:15 p. m., the committee recessed, to reconvene in executive session at 10 a. m., Friday, May 10, 1946.) |