Governor of the other state and to the President of the United States and the President of the United States is requested to give notice to the governor of each of the signatory states of its approval by the Congress of the United States."

The CHAIRMAN. This meeting is also for the consideration of House Joint Resolution 430, introduced by Mrs. Rogers of Massachusetts, and the resolution will be inserted at this point in the hearing. (The resolution referred to is as follows:)

[H. J. Res. 430, 75th Cong., 1st sess.]

JOINT RESOLUTION Consenting to an interstate compact relating to flood control in the Merrimack River Valley

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the consent of Congress is hereby given to an interstate compact relating to flood control in the Merrimack River Valley, negotiated and entered into under authority of section 4 of the Flood Control Act of 1936 (U. S. C., 1934 edition, Supp. II, title 33, sec. 701d) and ratified by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the State of New Hampshire, which compact reads as follows:

"ARTICLE I

"The principal purposes of this compact are:

"(a) To promote interstate comity between the signatory states;

"(b) To provide adequate storage capacity for impounding the waters of the Merrimack River and its tributaries, designed primarily for the protection of life and property from floods;

"(c) To provide a joint or common agency through which the signatory states, while promoting, protecting, and preserving to each the local interest and sovereignty of the respective signatory states, may more effectively cooperate in accomplishing the object of flood control in the basin of the Merrimack River and its tributaries, and, among other things:

"(1) To acquire by lease from the states signatory hereto, or either of them, all lands, easements and rights of way necessary for the construction of the projects herein contemplated, without cost to the United States, except as provided in said Act of Congress herein before referred to;

"(2) To hold and save the United States free from damages due to the construction works;

"(3) To maintain and operate all the works contemplated after completion in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary of War:

"(4) To accept from the signatory states hereto, and from any other source, contributions of moneys as hereinafter set forth for the purposes herein set forth, including without limiting the same, funds for the acquisition of lands, easements, and rights of way, for the payment of damages and for the operation and maintenance of said flood control reservoirs, and for the expenses incidental thereto and to the functions of the Merrimack River Valley Flood Control Commission hereinafter created.

"ARTICLE II

"There is hereby created "The Merrimack River Valley Flood Control Commission", hereinafter referred to as the Commission, which shall consist of six commissioners, three of whom shall be residents of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and three of whom shall be residents of the State of New Hampshire.

"Each state shall choose its members of said Commission in such manner and for such terms as may from time to time be provided by the law thereof. A commissioner may be removed or suspended from office as provided by the law of the state which he represents; and any vacancy occurring in said Commission shall be filled in accordance with the law of the state in whose representation such vacancy exists.

"A majority of the members from each state shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, the exercise of any powers, or the performance of any duties, but no action of the Commission shall be binding unless at least two of the members from each state shall vote in favor thereof.

"The compensation of the members of said Commission shall be fixed and paid by the state which they respectively represent. All necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties shall be paid from the funds of said Commission.

"The Commission shall elect from its members a chairman, vice-chairman, clerk, and treasurer. Such treasurer shall furnish to said Commission, at its expense, a bond with corporate surety, to be approved by said Commission, in such amount as said Commission may determine, conditioned for the faithful performance of his duties.

"The Commission shall adopt suitable by-laws, and shall make such rules and regulations as it may deem advisable governing the operation of flood control projects, not inconsistent with the laws of the signatory states or laws of the United States, and any rules or regulations lawfully promulgaed thereunder. "The Commission shall make an annual report to the Governor of each of the signatory states, setting forth in detail the operations and transactions conducted by it pursuant to this compact and any legislation thereunder.

"The Commission shall keep a record of all its meetings and proceedings, contracts, and accounts, and shall maintain a suitable office, where its maps, plans, documents, records, and accounts shall be kept, subject to public inspection at such times and under such regulations as the Commission shall determine.

"ARTICLE III

"The Commission shall constitute a body, both corporate and politic, with full power and authority

"(1) To acquire by lease and to hold lands, easements, and rights of way for reservoirs herein contemplated, including such reservoirs, when and as completed, and any and all lands, easements, and rights of way which may be necessary for the use and enjoyment of said reservoirs;

"(2) To hold, maintain, and operate reservoirs, including appurtenances, for the purposes of flood control;

"(3) To receive funds and moneys from the signatory states or other sources, for the purpose of acquiring, operating, and maintaining such reservoirs as may hereafter be constructed within the basin of the Merrimack River under the terms of this compact, including, without limiting the same, funds for the acquisition of lands, easements, and rights of way, for the payment of damages and for the maintenance and operation of said reservoirs, and the expenses incidental thereto and to the functions of the Commission;

"(4) To sue and be sued;

"(5) To have a seal and alter the same at pleasure;

"(6) To appoint, employ, or contract with such agents and employees, including the New Hampshire Water Resources Board, as may be required in the proper performance of the duties hereby committed to the Commission, and to fix and determine the qualifications, duties, and compensations of such agents and employees;

"(7) To enter into such contracts and agreements, and to do and perform any and all such acts, matters, and things as may be necessary and essential to the full and complete performance of the powers and duties hereby committed to and imposed upon it in connection with the construction, operation, and maintenance of the system of reservoirs hereby or hereafter authorized and as may be incidental thereto; and

"(8) To have such additional powers and duties as may hereafter be delegated to or imposed upon it from time to time by the action of the legislature of either of said states concurred in by the legislature of the other state.

"The Commission shall be charged with the duty, and it is hereby authorized and empowered, to give such assurances, satisfactory to the Secretary of War, as are required by Section 3 of the Act of Congress hereinbefore referred to. "The Commission may make, or cause to be made, such studies as it may deem necessary, in co-operation with the War Department, for the development of a comprehensive plan of flood control, as herein defined, and for the efficient management and regulation of said flood control system, and from time to time shall make reports and recommendations in respect thereto to the Governors of the signatory states.

"The Commission shall not pledge the credit of the signatory states, or either of them, nor shall it convey, encumber, or in any way undertake to alienate the lands, easements, and rights of way leased to it, as hereinafter provided, or any part thereof, or any interest therein, except by and with the consent of the signatory states.

"ARTICLE IV

"There shall be established in the Merrimack River Basin as an initial plan of flood control the following two proposed reservoirs, to wit:

“(1) At Franklin on the Pemigewasset River controlling a drainage area of approximately one thousand (1,000) square miles, and providing for flood control storage for approximately three and nineteen hundredths (3.19) inches of runoff over said drainage area, the dam at said reservoir to be constructed in such manner as to provide for flood control and in addition thereto to be so designed and constructed as to make it available for conservation or recreational purposes up to fifty per cent of the value during such portions of the year as may be approved by the Secretary of War.

"(2) At Swetts Mills on the Blackwater River controlling a drainage area of one hundred and twenty-five (125) square miles and providing for approximately six and nine-tenths inches of runoff over said drainage area, the dam of said reservoir to be constructed in such a manner as to provide for flood control, and in addition thereto, at the option of the State of New Hampshire, to be so designed and constructed as to provide for further development by increasing storage capacity, the added storage to be used for water conservation or power development.

"The type and general plans for the construction of the two reservoirs herein provided to be constructed as an initial plan of flood control on the Merrimack River Basin are to be approved by the Merrimack River Valley Flood Control Commission, hereinbefore created, before any construction work thereon is begun or prosecuted.

"In so far as any of the foregoing reservoirs may be constructed for the combined purpose of flood control and conservation or recreational purposes, neither of the signatory states wherein such reservoirs are located shall be obligated to pay any additional cost of construction.

"ARTICLE V

"To the end that the Merrimack River Valley Flood Control Commission may give to the Secretary of War the assurances required under Section 3 of the Act of Congress hereinbefore referred to, and that the lands, easements, and rights of way necessary for the construction by the United States of the reservoirs and structures thereon, herein contemplated, may be provided, each state at the request of the Commission shall proceed forthwith to acquire title to and possession of the lands, easements, and rights of way within its territorial limits, which are determined and designated by the Commission for the construction of such reservoir or reservoirs.

"Such acquisition shall be by purchase or by the exercise of the right of eminent domain, as said Commission may direct, and in the manner now or hereafter provided for by the law of the state wherein such lands, easements, and rights of way are located. Title to such lands, easements, and rights of way shall be taken in the name of the state wherein the same are located. The cost of acquisition, as hereinafter defined, shall be borne by said Commission and paid from and out of the funds contributed by the signatory states for such purpose, as hereinafter provided.

"Each state, upon notice from and at the sole expense of said Commission, shall forthwith proceed to make, or cause to be made, such highway relocations, including the acquistion of all necessary rights of way therefor, and the construction of such relocated highway, as may become necessary therein because of the construction, operation, and maintenance of any reservoir or reservoirs for flood control purposes; provided, however, that due allowance shall be made on account of any improved type of construction of such relocated highway. The character, location, route, and construction of such relocated highways shall be determined by the state wherein such relocated highways are situated.

"Any new or relocated highway shall, after construction, be and become a public way in the town in which located, or, if built as a relocation of a state highway, shall become a state highway, and when the Commission shall have notified the town or the state, as the case may be, of the completion of said highway, the jurisdiction and responsibility of the Commission over same shall cease and shall devolve upon the town or state in which the way is located. "In like manner, such state, at the expense of the Commission and upon its request shall procure the relocation of any railroad, electric transmission,

telephone, or telegraph lines, or other public utility structures, including new rights of way therefor as may be essential on account of the construction, operation, and maintenance of such reservoir for flood control purposes.

"ARTICLE VI

"The Commission shall save the states in which such reservoirs are located, free and harmless from all loss, cost, damage, or expense in connection with the flood control, operation, and maintenance of such reservoir or reservoirs except as hereinafter provided in Articles X and XII.

"In the construction and maintenance of such reservoir or reservoirs the Commission shall cause the area which may be flowed thereby when full, to be cleared of buildings and all such trees, brush, and underbrush as from time to time may be damaged or killed by such flowage; shall cause borrow pits or banks, other excavations, or unused accumulations of material and débris, to be leveled, graded, masked, removed, or otherwise disposed of in such a way as to leave no holes or other unsightly conditions therein; and shall cause all water pockets to be properly drained and the premises affected by such flowage to be landscaped in such manner as may reasonably preserve the natural condition of such premises before such construction, except as the same necessarily may be changed thereby.

"The lands, easements, and rights of way hereby leased shall be exempt from all taxation, but the said commission shall make payments on or before the first day of October of each year to each town in which such lands, easements, and rights of way, respectively, are located, of a sum equal to the taxes which would have been assessed against the said lands, easements, and rights of way in such town if the same had been included in the list of taxable property for such year, at the assessed valuation of the same as determined for the tax year 1936. Provided, however, that no payment shall be made or required hereunder on account of reimbursement for loss of taxes on any structure which may be erected on such premises in connection with the construction or use of said project, or on account of any railroad or other public utility which may be relocated under the terms of this compact, and which thereafter is included in the list of taxable property in said town when relocated.

"ARTICLE VII

"When said lands, easements, and rights of way essential to the construction of any dam or reservoir shall have been acquired as hereinbefore provided, the state wherein the same are located shall make, execute, and deliver to said Commission a good and sufficient lease of the same, to include the structures thereon when completed and accepted by the state, except as hereinafter provided, upon the terms and conditions following, to wit:

"(a) The said Commission shall save the state in which said reservoirs are respectively located, free and harmless from all loss, cost, damage, or expense in connection with the control, operation, and maintenance of said reservoir or reservoirs except as hereinafter provided in Articles X and XII.

"(b) In the construction and maintenance of such reservior or reservoirs, the area which may be flowed thereby, when full, shall be cleared of buildings and of such trees, brush, and underbrush as from time to time may be damaged or killed by such flowage; borrow pits or banks, other excavations or unused accumulations of material and débris, shall be leveled, graded, masked, removed or otherwise disposed of in such a way as to leave no holes or other unsightly conditions therein; all water pockets shall be properly drained; and the premises affected by such flowage shall be landscaped in such manner as may reasonably preserve the natural condition of such premises before such construction, except as the same necessarily may be changed thereby.

"(c) The lands, easements and rights of way hereby leased shall be exempt from all taxation; but the said Commission shall make payments on or before the first day of October of each year to each town in which such lands, easements and rights of way, respectively, are located, of a sum equal to the taxes which would have been assessed against the said lands, easements, and rights of way in such town if the same had been included in the list of taxable property for such year, at the assessed valuation of the same as determined for the tax year 1936. Provided, however, that no payment shall be made or required hereunder on account of reimbursement for loss of taxes on any structure which may be erected on such premises in connection with the construction or

use of said project; or on account of any railroad or other public utility which may be relocated under the terms of this compact and which thereafter is included in the list of taxable property in said town when relocated.

"(d) The lands, easements and rights of way herein described are leased and demised solely for the purpose of flood control, and for no other purpose, and the said lessor hereby excepts from this lease and reserves unto itself all benefit or advantage of water conservation, power storage or power development that may be inherent in such reservoir site, with the right, at such time as it may determine and upon compliance with the requirements of the United States respecting the adjustment and payment of any added construction cost by reason of the type of construction adapted for that purpose, and the assumption and payment of the cost of acquiring any additional lands, easements, and rights of way necessitated by such additional development, and the full preservation of the principal purpose of flood control, to develop the same in such manner and for such purpose as may be essential to the full beneficial use thereof.

"(e) The term of said lease shall be for the period of nine hundred and ninetynine years, subject only to be defeated by a breach of the terms of the conditions in this article set forth.

"ARTICLE VIII

"The cost of acquisition of lands, easements and rights of way, as used or referred to herein, shall be deemed to include the cost of:

"(1) The purchasing or condemning of lands, easements and rights of way of every kind and nature required or essential in the construction, development, operation, and maintenance of such reservoirs as an effective agency for flood control, and including, among other things, camp sites, borrow banks or pits, rock ledges, gravel deposits and rights of way thereto in the vicinity of the dam necessary for the construction and maintenance thereof.

"(2) The reconstruction, relocation or elevation of public highways, including bridges or other structures;

"(3) The reconstruction or relocation of public service utilities, including railroads and the alteration of bridges and structures thereon, whether publicly or privately owned;

"(4) The reconstruction or relocation of telegraph, telephone, or electric distribution and transmission lines, pipe lines, aqueducts, water or gas mains;

"(5) And any and all other damages, expenses or costs that may be necessitated or incurred in procuring and providing the sites necessary for the construction of the reservoirs herein contemplated, including the cost and expense of acquiring such lands, easements and rights of way and procuring the reconstruction or relocation of the highways, bridges, railroads, telephone, telegraph and electric lines, pipes, aqueducts and mains, above mentioned, or the rights of way for the same, or any other similar expenditures.

"ARTICLE IX

"The rights to be acquired and exercised by the Commission are solely for flood control purposes, and each of the respective signatory states, wherein any reservoir may be situated, reserves respectively unto itself all benefit or advantage of water conservation, power storage or power development that may be inherent in such reservoir site.

"In the event either signatory state may wish to preserve to itself the value of such site for the purposes aforesaid, it may, through an appropriate agency of the state, so notify the United States, through the War Department, before any construction work is commenced hereunder for flood control purposes, so that the design and construction of the dam at such site may be developed in such manner as to provide for further development as a storage reservoir for the conservation of water, enhancement of stream flow or power development. "Provided, however, that nothing herein contained shall be deemed to prevent either state, at its option, at any time hereafter, by itself or through such agency as it may designate, from developing any such reservoir or reservoirs for use for water conservation, power storage or power development, in order that it may avail itself of the full beneficial use and enjoyment of the rights herein reserved. In such event, such state shall pay or provide for the payment of all costs or expenses necessary for such further development, including adaptation of an existing dam and works to such purpose, in accordance with plans ap