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tion by local settlements. A modification of the project was authorized in 1954 to include construction of a rock breakwater 475 feet in length along the southeast side and two treated pile breakwaters to partially close the southwest side in order to protect the small-boat harbor from wave action. Construction was accomplished in 1957 at a cost of $115,954 in Federal funds. The average annual tonnage handled at the port of Valdez for the years 1936 through 1957 was 47,498 tons. In 1958 upwards of 72 boats were moored at the small-boat float in the basin which according to the reports of the Corps of Engineers was designed to accommodate about 50 boats. Since the need for more harbor refuge was so great, the town of Valdez undertook partial emergency remedial measures and spent about $40,000 in 1959 to dredge out a portion of the 7 acres of tide flats adjacent to the existing 3-acre basin. Arrangements were made to install additional mooring floats in this newly dredged area. Since the need for a better harbor is greater than efforts by the town of Valdez can alleviate, a survey is desired for possible expansion of the existing facilities. Such a survey was directed by Senate Public Works Committee resolution dated June 16, 1959.

Total estimated Federal cost of survey-
Amount in 1961 budget-

$18,000

Amount requested for 1961 fiscal year_.

18,000

ALASKA GENERAL INVESTIGATIONS FLOOD CONTROL

Harbors and rivers.—Same as “Harbors and rivers navigation.”

Total estimated Federal cost of survey.
Amount in 1961 budget.

Amount requested for 1961 fiscal year__

$850,000

30,000

30,000

Knick River.-There is an indicated potentiality of 120,000 kilowatts of prime and 190,000 kilowatts of installed capacity at 0.60 load factor. Knick Glacier enters a wide valley from the side, forming a natural dam behind which Lake George accumulates the annual runoff from about 870 square miles of which 40 percent comprises glaciers and perennial icefields. Each year, in July or August, the lake overtops the ice barrier at the valley wall, cutting a channel which widens as it undercuts the glacier front, and empties into Knick River below the glacier in a torrent which lasts only 7 to 9 days. After the lake empties, the glacier front resumes its advance and again blocks the channel to repeat the annual vele. The estimated annual runoff is in excess of 31⁄2 million acre-feet. Tower would be developed by conveying the water through one or two tunnels driven through the valley wall ahead of the glacier to a powerhouse. This annual flood threat, principally to the Government-owned Alaska Railroad but also to the highway and to homes, has progressively increased, although in 1959 the usual action did not take place. Rising from a flow of between 6,000 and 10,000 cubic feet per second, the crest averaged 194,000 cubic feet per second for 5 years between 1948 and 1952, 259,000 cubic feet per second for 4 years from 1953 to 1956, and reached 338,000 cubic feet per second in 1957. The flood damage sustained in 1958 is estimated at about $300,000. The Corps of Engineers believes extensive investigations requiring several years to complete would be required to determine the engineering feasibility and economic justification for developing a project of flood control and other purposes at this locality. In cooperation with the Alaska Railroad, the U.S. Geological Survey in 1959 started compiling flood discharge data for a comprehensive study of Knick River flood characteristics to determine what engineering work was needed to be done to protect the Alaska Railroad bridge on the Knick River Survey directed by Senate Public Works Committee resolution of June 2, 1959, for possible flood control and related improvements. Total estimated Federal cost of surveyAmount in 1961 budget-

Amount requested for 1961 fiscal year---

$300,000

30,000

Kodiak. The city of Kodiak, due to its location in a central area known as the Kodiak Valley, is confronted each year during the spring runoff, and also during periods of heavy rain, with overflow of the creek draining into and through this valley. It appears that the provision of adequate protection is beyond the resources of local groups. A survey at and in the vicinity of Kodiak

is needed to determine whether flood control works should be provided at this time. Survey directed by Senate Public Works Committee resolution dated April 25, 1959.

Total estimated cost of survey.

Amount in 1961 budget___

Amount requested for 1961 fiscal year_‒‒‒‒

$25,000

0

20, 000

Lowell Creek project and Resurrection River and Clear Creek.-The general population increase in the Seward area, both within the city and along the Anchorage-Seward Highway for about 10 miles outside the city, has resulted in the development of areas which are subject to flooding. It appears that the provision of adequate protection is beyond the resources of local groups. A survey of Lowell Creek and Resurrection River and Clear Creek, is needed to determine whether additional flood control works should be provided at this time. Survey of Lowell Creek directed by Senate Public Works Committee resolution dated February 10, 1959, and survey of Resurrection River and Clear Creek directed by Senate Public Works Committee resolution dated April 6, 1959. Total estimated cost of survey-. Amount in 1961 budget____.

Amount requested for 1961 fiscal year...

$25,000

0

15, 000

Valdez.-Valdez is the ocean terminus of the Richardson Highway and is an all-year ice-free port. Valdez is threatened each year by glacier streams which flow into Valdez Arm from the Valdez Glacier and in years past considerable damage has been sustained. Survey directed by Senate Public Works Committee resolution dated May 15, 1959, to determine feasibility of flood control improvements.

Total estimated Federal cost of survey-
Amount in 1961 budget____

Amount requested in 1961 fiscal year_

ALASKA GENERAL INVESTIGATION

$25,000 0 20,000

Rampart Canyon.-This is considered the outstanding potential power development in all Alaska. It is located at Rampart Rapids, near the middle of a 100-mile canyon section downstream of Yukon River Flats, a broad basin lowland some 200 miles in length having a maximum width of 100 miles. Indications are that the riverbed is of sound granitic rock, as are the abutments which are roughly a half mile apart. With the flow completely controlled here, power production is estimated at about 3,520,000 kilowatts of prime power. The ultimate reservoir area would be about 10.000 square miles. The location of the site, only 100 miles from Fairbanks and approximately 400 miles from Anchorage, would allow power generated to be made available to existing areas of industrial development. Although the location will, as noted, permit transmission to the cities of Fairbanks and Anchorage, it is, at the same time, in an area where flooding incident to reservoir construction will not cause economic disruption or involve large relocation costs. There is no question that, with the availability of the tremendous amounts of low cost electric power which could be produced at Rampart, further industrial development of the entire region would be rapid indeed.

Total estimated Federal cost of survey.

Amount in 1961 budget___

Amount requested for 1961 fiscal year_.

1 $240.000 Corps of Engineers, $110.000 Fish and Wildlife Service.

ALASKA OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE

$1,460, 000

1

100,000 350,000

Nome Harbor.-Nome is the commercial port for the extensively mineralized Seward Peninsula, and principal distributing point for the coast of Alaska from the Kuskokwin River to Herschel Island in the Arctic Ocean, a distance of about 2,000 miles. The original project provided for two parallel timber and concrete jetties, each 400 feet long, at the mouth of the Snake River, and a channel 75 feet wide and 8 feet deep from Norton Sound to the mouth of Bourbon and Dry Creeks ending in a basin 200 feet wide and 250 feet long. Work was completed in 1923 at a cost of $272,950 in Federal funds. Owing to extensive

storms and ice damage, the jetties were reconstructed with concrete and steel to modified lengths of 240 and 400 feet. This work was completed in 1940 as a maintenance project. A modification in 1930 recommended that the east jetty be extended approximately 616 feet and the west jetty extended not more than 216 feet. A review of reports in 1934 recommended that the existing project be further modified to provide an extension to the existing turning basin 250 feet wide and 400 feet long and 8 feet deep. Both modifications were adopted in August 1935 and dredging of the basin was completed in 1951 at a cost of $19,159 in Federal funds. The authorized extension of the jetties has been placed in the inactive category. Cargoes from ocean vessels are lightered to and from shore, a distance of about 2 miles. Traffic enters the dredged channel and freight is handled over the revetment, where transfer facilities are available. The average annual tonnage handled at the port of Nome for the years 1936 through 1957 amounted to 43,582 tons. A project to provide for construction of a rock-mound seawall extending from the east jetty easterly 3,350 feet along the waterfront was authorized in 1948 to afford protection to shore installations from southerly storms. Work on the seawall commenced in 1949 and was completed in June 1951 at a cost of $1,056,256 in Federal funds. Since completion of the seawall, 12 storms have been experienced, 2 of which were of an intensity that would have caused damage estimated to exceed one-half of the cost of the seawall. Total estimated damage prevented by construction of the seawall is approximately $750,000.

Amount in 1961 budget-

Amount requested for 1961 fiscal year...

Work to be accomplished with requested amount.
Operation and maintenance__

$50,000 50,000

MONDAY, APRIL 11, 1969.

PUBLIC WORKS PROJECTS IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST

WITNESS

BYRON PRICE, CHAIRMAN, PACIFIC NORTHWEST UTILITIES CONFERENCE COMMITTEE

Mr. RABAUT. Next is the Pacific Northwest Utilities Conference Committee, Mr. Byron Price, chairman.

Mr. PRICE. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, my name is Byron Price. I am superintendent and secretary of the Eugene Water & Electric Board in Eugene, Oreg. I am appearing here today representing the Pacific Northwest Utilities Conference Committee as its chairman.

As many of you gentlemen know, the utilities conference committee is an organization composed of publicly owned and investorowned electric utility systems in the Pacific Northwest. The committee was organized in Tacoma in 1947. This committee works with various agencies of the U.S. Government in matters relating to civil defense, national defense, and defense production, as these items are related to electric power.

In the last year, the committee has been expanded to the full 25 membership that it is now. We represent or serve 1,352,000 customers in the Northwest. As you can see, that would represent something over 80 percent of the entire population of the area we serve. The membership has been expanded from previous membership so now it includes 4 private companies, 70 municipalities, 13 public utility district organizations, and 1 large cooperative. We find that the committee is a very handy organization in coordination and in reviewing the budget of the Bonneville Power Administration and the

Corps of Engineers, and, of course, in cooperating closely and coordinating our review with such organizations as the Impire Waterways Association, whom you will hear later today.

In addition to these functions, the conference committee acts for a major segment of the Northwest electric utility industry as a contact with agencies of Government which are responsible for Federal activities in the fields of production and transmission of electric power. Each year the conference committee reviews the budgets of the Bonneville Power Administration and the Corps of Engineers and advises Congress of the committee's position on these budgets and various items in them.

This is the 14th consecutive year we have appeared before you. This year, as in the past, we have carefully reviewed the appropriations requests relative to water resource developments in our region and we have met with the administrative and operating staffs of the Bonneville Power Administration and the North Pacific Division of the Corps of Engineers. Each item upon which we will testify today has received our careful study, and this statement which I will present has the unanimous consent of the Utilities Conference Committee.

Before I proceed with my testimony on these appropriations requests, I would like to invite to your attention the list (exhibit I) which appears at the end of this presentation which enumerates the members of the conference committee and contains the total of the number of customers served by the conference committee's members. You will note that the membership includes 25 utility systems, 21 of which are public agencies, 4 of which are private companies. Together, these utilities serve 1,352,676 customers, which, in turn, represent about 4 million people. This is in excess of 80 percent of the total population of the area which we serve in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. The membership of the committee remains the same as during the year 1958-59. The total customers served has increased by approximately 2 percent, which represents to some degree the growth of the region.

Power resources in the load area of the conference committee members are predominantly hydroelectric. This is expected to continue through at least a 10-year period. It is through the comibned efforts of the Federal agencies and the non-Federal utilities that we have been able to meet the requirements for power in the Pacifi Northwest. During the past year, non-Federal generator installations in the area. were increased by nearly 400,000 kilowatts. This, together with the 387,250 kilowatts installed in the Federal system, has kept pace with the load growth and has, for the first time in many years, resulted in a small reserve of hydroelectric generator facilities. The estimated load growth of the area is expected to rapidly absorb this small reserve. A substantial amount of the non-Federal generators will be installed on the Columbia River and its main tributaries. This will require close coordination in the operation and storage releases from Federal projects as well as the non-Federal. Close hydraulic and electrical coordination is required if te maximum load is to be carried on the combined systems. The existing transmission grid with some additions will provide the means for this coordination through exchange of energy, supply of energy in return for storage service, and wheeling of energy from the non-Federal plants to load centers.

54265-60-pt. 5-8

There are a large number of projects under investigation and serious consideration by the utilities of the Pacific Northwest. At the same time, there are many obstacles in the path of the actual construction. If we are to meet the regional power requirements, it will be necessary that both the Federal and the non-Federal effort be coordinated and carried forward in a planned program.

The committee has reviewed the appropriation requirements for the various multi-purpose resources projects in the Pacific Northwest. These projects are the ones proposed and under construction by the Corps of Enigneers with the power which is generated being marketed by the Bonneville Power Administration. There are a number of projects involved in this year's budget that are very important to the region. Most of the projects have been adequately provided for in the President' budget recommendations to the Congress. However, there are some projects that could usefully use slightly higher appropriations than requested by the President. These increases have been listed in exhibit II.

Green Peter Reservoir, Oreg., is an important flood control and power project. A minimum of $2,500,000 for construction will enable the Corps of Engineers to effectively initiate the relocation and land procurement program. This initial construction phase is most important if an orderly program is to be followed.

The President's budget recommended $41,800,000 for the John Day lock and dam, Oregon and Washington, for fiscal year 1961. As a result of very favorable bidding on the first major construction contract at the project, the division engineer now advises that the amount of $37 million will be adequate to keep the construction of the project on schedule. The revised amount of $37 million represents the maximum which can be utilized in the fiscal year 1961 from an engineering standpoint. With this in mind and with the assurance that this reduction will in no way delay the power-on-the-line dates or overall completion of the project, this committee recommends the reduced appropriation.

Lower Monumental lock and dam, Washington, is considered an important project in the development of the lower Snake River. This project is the next step upstream from Ice Harbor and is the second of a series of four projects which will ultimately provide slack water navigation to Lewiston, Idaho, and other tremendous production areas of southeastern Washington, northeastern Oregon, and central Idaho. The power produced at the project will be needed at the time of the scheduled completion of the construction. It is good business to carry construction of these Snake River projects to completion as early as possible in order that maximum benefits might be attained.

The importance of recreation facilities at the completed projects, or for that matter for projects under construction, is an essential part of development. It is highly desirable that such facilities be provided in order that the maximum benefits of the project can be attained. Recreation is rapidly becoming an important beneficial use of water resources. It is recommended that the committee give favorable consideration to the increases shown in exhibit II.

There is one additional project in the area which is of major significance, and that is Libby Dam on the Kootenai in northwestern

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