Mr. BUTZNER. We have those facts in the record. Mr. BOOZER. Mr. Chairman, may I just make one statement in opposition? It is imperative that I return tonight, and it will take about 2 minutes. Senator OVERTON. Very well. We will give you 2 minutes. STATEMENT OF W. H. BOOZER Mr. BOOZER. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, my name is W. H. Boozer. I am president of the Staunton-Augusta County Chamber of Commerce. The chamber of commerce is opposed in general to the projects in the State of Virginia, not any specific project. We are opposed to Government entering into business, and I just have a brief resolution which it will not take me a second to read, if it is agreeable to the chairman. Senator OVERTON. Yes. Mr. BOOZER. This was a resolution passed by 30 directors of the Staunton-Augusta County Chamber of Commerce: Whereas the Federal Government proposes the development of multipurpose dams including power generation in connection with certain Virginia rivers in competition with private industry, and Whereas the multipurpose dams contemplated and proposed involved permanent inundation of whole towns and large areas of productive farmlands, highways, schools, churches, graveyards, railroads, all of which will have a major effect on the entire State economy, and Whereas it seems unwise for the Federal Government to spend large sums of money for power generation and transmission facilities when it is operating on a deficit budget, and at a time when all available labor and material are urgently needed for veterans' housing and reconversion, and Whereas we are unalterably opposed to any form of Government competition with the business and the industry of its citizens under any guise whatsoever, and Whereas flood-control dams can be built for a fraction of the cost of the multipurpose dams and would involve only periodic flooding of small land areas: Now, therefore, we, the directors of the Staunton-Augusta County Chamber of Commerce, respectfully request the United States Government to defer approval of any flood-control dams involving power generation in Virginia until the facts concerning the individual projects, including the various flood-control methods, and the effects on the State economy, are widely publicized so that the citizens may be informed and given ample opportunity to express their views. Mr. Chairman, I sincerely appreciate your granting me this opportunity. I know it is late, and I appreciate your courtesy. Senator OVERTON. We will recess until 10:30 tomorrow morning. (Whereupon, at 5:10 p. m., a recess was taken until the following day, Wednesday, June 26, 1946, at 10:30 a. m.) FLOOD CONTROL WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26, 1946 UNITED STATES SENATE, The committee met, pursuant to recess, at 10:30 a. m., in the committee room of the Committee on Commerce, United States Capitol, Senator John H. Overton (acting chairman), presiding. Present: Senators Overton (acting chairman), McClellan, Gossett, Robertson, Hart, and Knowland. Also present: Senator Revercomb. Senator OVERTON. The committee will be in order. Are you ready to go on with the Rappahannock project, the proponents of that project? Mr. BUTZNER. I am John D. Butzner, Jr., Fredericksburg, Va., and I would like to present at this time Mayor Marshall W. King, mayor of the city of Fredericksburg. Senator OVERTON. We will be very glad to hear from Mayor King. Mr. KING. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, we have been in quite a rush, we are sorry we were late, but our car broke down. We would like to introduce to the committee the City Manager of Fredericksburg, Mr. L. J. Houston, Jr., as a witness regarding some of the testimony given yesterday. Senator OVERTON. Are you going to testify yourself, Mayor? Mr. KING. Just briefly, sir, to cover up anything that he might overlook. Senator OVERTON. All right. Mr. HOUSTON. My name is L. J. Houston, Jr. Senator OVERTON. Very well, Mr. Houston, you may proceed. RAPPAHAN NOCK RIVER BASIN STATEMENT OF L. J. HOUSTON, JR., CITY MANAGER OF THE CITY OF FREDERICKSBURG, VA. Mr. HOUSTON. Gentlemen, I have no prepared statement. Senator OVERTON. You will probably have a better statement if you have no prepared statement. Mr. HOUSTON. We had such short notice of the meeting that we didn't have an opportunity to prepare anything. But I would be very glad to try to answer any questions. Senator OVERTON. Very well. I will tell you now what the opposition is. The first ground of opposition is that this dam that is to be 89181-46 -12 173 constructed on the Rappahannock is going to have only about 9 percent flood control and 91 percent power; and that the 9 percent flood control is mainly in the interest of Fredericksburg, and that the flood situation could be taken care of otherwise and by other works than by the construction of this dam. Another objection is that it is going to inundate a very large acreage of land. It isn't very clear, from the testimony so far, how much of that is under cultivation and to what extent it is populated, and I would like to have some testimony along that line, too. Suppose you testify as to those two things. How much is Fredericksburg damaged? The biggest flood occurred there in 1942, I believe. Mr. HOUSTON. I have a map here which shows the effect that the flood did have on the city of Fredericksburg. Now the city of Fredericksburg would be approximately 5 miles below the location of the dam. The river is shown in white [indicating]. Senator OVERTON. It runs from the left to the right of that map? Mr. HOUSTON. It runs from right to left. That is the river [indicating], the normal bed of the river. The dam is approximately 5 miles to the right, up the river. The red portion is the part that would be inundated in the case of a maximum flood, were the dam built. Senator OVERTON. Was that inundated in 1942? Mr. HOUSTON. The red and the green together comprise the part of the city that was flooded in 1942. Now if you will notice Senator OVERTON (interposing). Unfortunately I am color-blind. Will you point out what is red and what is green on that map? Mr. BEARD. The red follows right on around here and up here [indicating]; and the green is the fringe following around the outside of the red. Down in the central part of the town the green widens out in quite a sizable additional area, and up in here [indicating]; and there is some extra green down in here, too [indicating]. Mr. HOUSTON. I don't know whether the members of this committee are aware of it or not, but Fredericksburg is one of the oldest cities in the country, and we think the most historical city in the country. Senator OVERTON. Washington threw a dollar across, around there somewhere. Mr. HOUSTON. That is correct. Senator ROBERTSON. The river was not in flood then. There are a number of shrines in Fredericksburg, and while it is perfectly possible to protect the town from flood by the construction of levees, at the same time when you do that you destroy the town. Being an old town, the business part was built down along the river, and this is all the business part right in here [indicating], which was all flooded in 1942. They were sailing boats in the main street. All back in here [indicating] is the residence part, which was likewise flooded. Now the Engineers Department tell us, in connection with the United States Weather Bureau, that the greatest flood that we may anticipate would inundate the city, including the red, the green and the yellow. Senator ROBERTSON. Point out to the chairman the yellow. Mr. HOUSTON. The yellow is this area up through here, all down through this residential section here, and partly business [indicating]. The section up here is residential; the section through here is residential; and this is a business district down in here; and this is residential here [indicating]. That island would be done away with entirely. Senator OVERTON. Was the yellow overflowed in 1942? Mr. HOUSTON. No, sir; that is the maximum flood. But the green is the part that was overflowed in 1942. Senator ROBERTSON. Has the yellow ever been flooded? Mr. HOUSTON. No, sir. The 1942 flood was the highest flood we have had. We had another one in 1937 that was only 4 feet below that. Of course, as I say, we could be protected by a levee; but in the construction of a levee, part of the cost of that would be borne by the Federal Government and part by the city of Fredericksburg. When that cost is considered, the part that the city of Fredericksburg would have to bear, the city just could not raise the money to pay for their part of it, because our bonded debt now is about 10 percent. Senator OVERTON. Have you any levee at all? Mr. HOUSTON. No, sir; the business section is right down on the river. As I say, if we build a levee along there, it would destroy the business part of the city, and you would have to go all the way back in there [indicating] with a levee. It is possible but most impractical. Senator OVERTON. Is that a stream coming from over there on the left-hand side? Mr. HOUSTON. Yes, that is Hazel Run. That is subject to flood, also. Senator OVERTON. Well, we haven't the levee proposition before us, so it is no use to consider it. Mr. HOUSTON. I am glad you haven't. Now this part over here is Stafford County, with the little town of Falmouth here [indicating], which was very seriously affected by the 1942 flood. We have two highway bridges crossing this river. This is United States Highway No. 1 [indicating], and this is the bridge that goes down into what we call the Northern Neck, the peninsula between the Potomac and the Rappahannock. Both of those bridges were out of commission during the 1942 flood. This bridge [indicating] was washed away. Senator OVERTON. What was the duration of the 1942 flood? Mr. HOUSTON. Several days, I don't remember just the number of days. Senator OVERTON. Was there any damage to the bridges? Mr. HOUSTON. Yes, this bridge was washed away. This is the R. F. & P. Railroad bridge, and the railroad itself was out of commission during that flood, which meant that the main highway and the main railroad connection between the North and South were disrupted. Senator OVERTON. What is the population of Fredericksburg? Senator OVERTON. That is today? Mr. HOUSTON. Yes. Senator OVERTON. What was the census of 1940? |