Break Senator OVERTON. Well, how much land will be inundated? Colonel HERB. When the reservoir is full there will be about 32,000 acres. When only the power pool is filled it is 21,300 acres. ing that down into wooded land versus cultivated land, of that 32,000 acres about 6,000 acres is cultivated land and the remainder is wooded land. We have investigated several other schemes for flood control on the Rappahannock but they all cost more, and actually the one that is most feasible involves four reservoirs that take more land and in addition that plan has an unfavorable economic ratio. Senator OVERTON. What is the economic ratio on this one? Senator OVERTON. Very well, who wishes to appear in opposition? Senator OVERTON. What is your name? STATEMENT OF W. H. MUSSELMAN Mr. MUSSELMAN. Mr. Chairman, I am here representing the area right in through here [indicating] of Edwards, Childress, Claxton, Kahoe, and Wrenn. This is the Rappahannock here. This right here is bottom land and right here is my place, and I also am in there. This is new to me Senator OVERTON (interposing). Did you appear before the House? Mr. MUSSELMAN. No, sir; I did not know anything of it until after it had come out of the House. I understand that this is a 90-percent power dam and 9-percent flood control. Senator OVERTON. That is correct. Mr. MUSSELMAN. I can't understand why Fredericksburg suggested flcod control for their protection when there was only submerged 110 acres during the 1942 flood and at Falmouth only 10 acres. Only three floods appear to have affected Fredericksburg from 1889 until the present date. There is no such thing as an annual flood in this section, as has been stated. Senator OVERTON. When they say that the average annual flood damage is so much, that doesn't mean that it occurs each year, but it is the average over the years. Mr. MUSSELMAN. In the first place, I understood that someone has to come and see the landowners. We have not been contacted in any way, shape, or form. That is as to this section here. The rest I know nothing about. The landowners here haven't been contacted in any way, shape, or form. Senator OVERTON. Did the district engineer have any hearings? Mr. MUSSELMAN. If he did it wasn't published where any of us seen it, or got any notice of it. Senator OVERTON. By "any of us" do you mean up and down the valley? Mr. MUSSELMAN. Yes; a section of about 3 miles in there which is all that I am familiar with. When this water covers this river bottom, which they claim to pay you the damages for in this particular section, these people depend largely upon the river bottoms for crops. That damages the hill land to the extent that they cannot produce enough feed to carry the cattle. Culpeper County is a county that buys feed, bring feed in, instead of raising enough for 89181-46- -10 their local consumption. Take these people that I have here. I would like to show you this one particular place, in here, in this section in here. It is covered here, this 270 acres right here, and this is the highway combing here and here. He has no outlet from this at all except to go through another man's property, covering this and covering this Kelleyville Bridge, which is across the Rappanhannock River there, also covering the Mount Rowan Bridge, which connects the county in that section. We are hemmed in except for one outlet, not being able to come through by way of Ramkin at all under the present set-up. It seems to be that there is a great demand for power and the protection of Fredericksburg, and I can't see why these people that own this property and have been settlers there for years, should submit to this dam to take care of Fredericksburg when they have made no particular move themselves to protect themselves. I see they claim that dikes and levees would be damaging to their property. Well, what is this going to do to our property that we have got in here? I notice in the report that they speak of cut-over land. There are two types of cut-over land. One is the cut-over land that you find through the Carolinas where they cut everything, but most of the people in this section cut their timber that is growing, leaving the valuable timber, and this water would cover a lot of that. I don't want the chairman or the committee to get the idea that I am against anything for the progress of our country-I am not. What I would like to do would be to see these people have just time to consider this thing and see what is being done. You can ask any citizen of that community and they knew nothing of it until this came out of the House, and they have asked me to come and make a plea that we might, if there was any way at all, have it laid over until such time as they might get together and see what the interest of the thing will be. I would like to state that I have owned property in a section of this same kind, where a dam went in on a tributary of the Ohio River in the State of West Virginia, and where you cut your drainage the ground is positively no good after that. I would like for the farmers of that section to have a chance to study this and see what the out-` come will be, or what they expect to do. (Mr. Musselman asked and received permission to file an additional statement, which is as follows:) RAPPAHAN NOCK RIVER PROJECT (By W. H. Musselman) 1. Fredericksburg has not made any effort to protect itself. On the contrary, the report of the Engineers states: "Fredericksburg suggests flood control as the remedy; that a dike or levee along the riverfront would destroy the value of much property." 2. Only 110 acres at Fredericksburg and 10 acres at Falmouth inundated by the 1942 flood, and part of this due to power canal. 3. Only three floods appear to have affected Fredericksburg-1889, 1937, and 1942. There is no such thing as annual flood damage. 4. Governor of Virginia failed to consult or take owners of property along the river, which will be permanently lost, into his confidence. 5. Culpeper County is an importing feed section, not now raising enough feed for its own needs. The 6. Thousands of acres of rich river bottom land will be destroyed. term "cut-over" lands does not apply to the section to be flooded in its commonly accepted meaning. It is more the practice of the sawmills to adopt selective cutting and there is still much good timber land in that area. The Army has an aerial map taken a few years ago which will dispell all "guesses" as to what the land is. 7. There is a present no demand for the power and none in sight in the near future. Richmond will be supplied from the James River and will not offer a market as suggested by the Federal Power Commission. KANLOWER AND OHIO RUN DAM 8. A less pretentious project would appear to satisfy all the requirements and could probably be made to pay out. There is a small power dam now above Fredericksburg which apparently pays its way. A 200-foot level of the power pool should be ample and would get rid of much of the present objection to the project and save thousands of acres of the best lands. 9. Testimony before the House Flood Control Committee discloses the dam is only 10 percent flood control and 90 percent power. And the only flood control is for Fredericksburg and surrounding section, which has not done anything for itself. 10. Authorization of the project should be delayed at this time so that farmers who are vitally interested may have an opportunity to see if a more reasonable plan cannot be worked out. The Engineers estimate the draw-down of the power pool at 17 feet between the high and low-water flow of the river. This will create an unsightly river bank and will be a potential source of mosquito breeding. The project, if constructed, should at least be reduced to the reasonable capacity of the river for generating current. you very much. Senator OVERTON. Thank Before recessing for lunch I will ask the reporter to include in the record at this point a letter to me from Senator Taylor, of Idaho. (The letter is as follow:) Hon. JOHN H. OVERTON, Acting Chairman, Commerce Committee, United States Senate, Washington, D. C. UNITED STATES SENATE, June 25, 1946. DEAR SENATOR OVERTON: I wish to call to the attention of your committee the desirability of approving the amendment to the flood-control bill which will authorize the construction of the Lucky Peak flood-control dam, to be located on the Boise River about 10 miles above Boise, Idaho. At the present time we have the Arrowrock Dam on the Boise River primarily for irrigation storage, and there is also under construction the Anderson Ranch Dam above Arrowrock which will provide storage for irrigation and flood control. When this latter project is completed the Boise River watershed will still be short of the necessary flood-control storage. In order to provide this storage and provide better regulation of the river, the Army engineers propose to build the Lucky Peak Dam. A great deal of money has been spent on the Boise River to straighten and widen the channel and build levees. While this improvement has materially decreased flood damage, it is still very inadequate. It is estimated by the Army engineers that direct and indirect flood damages in this river basin amount to approximately $593,660 annually. The local interests are wholeheartedly in favor of the construction of this project and I believe it is most desirable. Therefore I wish to strongly urge your committee to approve this amendment which will authorize the construction of the Lucky Peak Dam. Respectfully submitted, GLEN H. TAYLOR. Senator OVERTON. We will recess until 2: 30 this afternoon. (Whereupon, at 1 p. m., the committee recessed until 2:30 p. m. of the same day.). AFTERNOON SESSION (The hearing was resumed at 2:30 p. m., pursuant to the recess for lunch.) Senator OVERTON. The committee will come to order. We shall interrupt the proceedings in reference to the pending project, Rappahannock River, in order to hear the testimony in reference to Carden's bottom. There is a Member of the House who is here who wishes to testify, and we would be very glad to extend him that courtesy. STATEMENT OF HON. BROOKS HAYS, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF ARKANSAS Mr. HAYS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate the courtesy very much. I want to make a very brief statement because I am familiar with this project. I was with the district engineer, Colonel Burdick, when he made a personal inspection of the position preliminary to the fuller investigation that was made under authority of the House of Representatives Flood Control Committee. Senator OVERTON. Is this project in your district? Mr. HAYS. It is, sir. Senator MCCLELLAN. It is right close to where he was born. Mr. HAYS. Yes. I was born on the north side of the river. The report, of course, speaks for itself, and indicates that the benefits exceed the cost, although according to a conservative figure the margin is rather slight. I would like to say this, however, Mr. Chairman: That Colonel Burdick recognized the importance of this project after his tour of that area, and it represents far more than a perfunctory routine matter on their part. He could recognize the value of this 8,000 acres to the life of the whole east end of Yell County. Our valley is very narrow, as you know. The recurring floods have destroyed a good portion of it. All of our good land is in that little valley. Senator OVERTON. You are speaking now of Carden's bottom? Mr. HAYS. Carden's bottom is a substantial part of the valley of Dardanelle, which is the county seat of Yell County. Colonel Burdick saw the day we were there a depressing sight, great holes in the field, schoolhouses destroyed, and while it does not represent a great monetary investment, whatever social life they have is built around the institutions there, the schools and the churches that have been destroyed by three major floods. Senator OVERTON. How many schools are there? Senator OVERTON. How many churches are there? Mr. HAYS. I am not sure about the churches. The social life of the area has suffered considerably in the last few years. Now, I think it is possible to restore it and, Mr. Chairman, if there is one thing that a substantial new development is important to it is the raising of spinach and other food and feed crops to replace cotton. Our main dependence for a number of years was upon cotton. It was demonstrated, however, when they got a market for spinach that they could produce crops to the value of $200 to $325 an acre. That is justified where you have a demand for food and feed crops. The land is that fertile and the market for spinach is very good. There is now a packing plant at Russellville, 4 miles from Dardanelle, and another 12 miles away. Now, according to the figures used by the Corps of Engineers, basing it upon the market price for these commodities and using the two-crop system, the benefits run 1.36 as against 1.02. So, considering that along, without reference to these intangible values of the community's social life and the damage done in previous years, it seems to me that the committee would be justified in approving the recommendations submitted by the Army engineers. There is one other point, Mr. Chairman, and then I will conclude. To authorize this now would mean that it would be a substantial saving-I think running in the neighborhood of $175,000—in the authorized project north of this project. Meaning this: That there is a cutoff from the Dardanelle drainage district, and this district as projected could be eliminated. Colonel Feringa could give you more specific figures about that, but without this authorization it will be necessary for them to build a cut-off, which is rather expensive, and that should be eliminated. I believe it is found that that would raise the benefits from 1.02 to 1.17, using this more conservative formula, to the 1.36 which is, I think, justified. But, nevertheless, using the conservative approach you would find the benefits substantially increased. The thing I do want to say from personal observation, Senator, is that thousands of people living in this area feel that a great deal depends upon it, and there are these intangibles that I think should be weighed in considering the protection that we can give the population against the floods in that area. I trust the committee will consider it. It would have been considered in the House, if the report of the engineers had reached us in time, and it is here for your first consideration only because of the delay. Thank you very much. Senator OVERTON. Congressman Hays, what apparently troubled us about this was several things: First, according to the statement made by the engineers, Carden's bottom is very sparsely settled. There are only two or three houses. Senator MCCLELLAN. Six hundred and something, according to this report, on the 6,800 acres. Senator OVERTON. Well, some 600. Now, they did not show any disruption of improvements, even of fencing, houses, or out-houses, barns, or anything by floods. The only thing shown was a crop damage, and I think that their whole estimate of benefits was based on the salvage of crops. Now, your statement is the first we have had that there are any schools or churches in there. Mr. HAYS. Now, they might be justified in disregarding the damage to the kind of tenant houses-I do not know whether they considered them at all or not. There are some tenant houses that I know were virtually destroyed. What I am trying to say is this: That in building farm workers' homes the plantation owners have been justified in not making great investments in recent years. Now, whether the figure is 600 or some other figure there are, of course, fewer people living in this area than lived there 10 years ago and that will live there again if they are given this protection. You see, 47 lives were lost in a period of 3 years between this area and Tulsa, Okla., and several of them were right in this particular area. So that has been a factor there that is, I think, worthy of consideration. |