We appreciate their being here along with those of us making the oral statements. Mr. RABAUT. We will hear from our colleague now, Mr. Norrell. Mr. NORRELL. I believe this list of names already has been put in the record. You know that my statement necessarily has to be both regarding the Arkansas River and the Mississippi River because the Mississippi River by an act of Congress extends to Pine Bluff. So I desire to place into the record my statements regarding both the Arkansas River and the Mississippi River. Mr. RABAUT. Without objection, the statements will be placed in the record. (The statements follow:) STATEMENT OF W. F. NORRELL This committee has heard representatives of the Tri-State Committee, representing Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Kansas, of the Arkansas Basin Development Association, on the budget for the Arkansas River and tributaries multiplepurpose plan of development. As of last November, the Corps of Engineers, after completion of their budget requests, reached a determination as to the exact course which the navigation channel, below Pine Bluff, should follow. They now indicate that, as the result, they could well use an additional $390,000 for planning in the next fiscal year. The decision on the exact course of the navigation channel just mentioned has cleared the way for the orderly prosecution of the plan of development, and the completion of the necessary bank stabilization and channel rectification in conjunction with other engineering works which make up the plan of development. It will be remembered that the engineers have indicated that improvement of the channel may be done far more economically if completed before the elosing of the dams cuts off floodflows and the movement of sand needed for the dikes, and that if the pilot cuts and basic structures can be erected now the river itself will build the desired alinement for the navigation channel. I respectfully urge, therefore, that the committee approve a total of $9 million for bank stabilization rather than the pitifully inadequate sum of $5 million as requested by the budget, in the interest of longrun economy. I note the budget request for $6,100,000 for construction on Dardanelle Dam and for $381,000 for general studies in Arkansas and Oklahoma, as well as the request of the Tri-State Committee for appropriations to begin planning on Ozark Dam. I hope the committee will approve these items. STATEMENT OF W. F. NORRELL Mr. Chairman, I appreciate this opportunity granted to place in the record of these hearings a statement regarding items of special interest to our section, State, and congressional district. The executive committee of the Mississippi Valley Flood Control Association is requesting an appropriation of $78,485,000 for flood control, Mississippi River and tributaries, for fiscal year 1961. This compares with the budget estimate of $9,500,000, and the appropriation for the current year in the amount of $69,068,512. Included in the budget for the Mississippi River and tributaries is an item of $530,000 for the lower Arkansas River, and $1,090,000 for the Boeuf and Tensas Rivers project. As the Member representing the Sixth Congressional District of Arkansas I have a keen interest in both of these items, although the work to be accomplished with the funds for the Boeuf-Tensas project will, I believe, be wholly expended in Louisiana. I should like to urge the sympathetic consideration of your committee to the increases requested by the Mississippi Valley Flood Control Association, and that this committee allow the appropriation of the budget estimate as the barest minimum. Mr. RABAUT. Do you want to put the other statements in at this point, too? Mr. NORRELL. Yes, sir. Mr. RABAUT. Without objection, it is so ordered. (The statements referred to follow :) STATEMENT FOR THE BOEUF-TENSAS-BAYOU MACON PROJECT IN ARKANSAS, BY E. E. HOPSON, JR., VICE CHAIRMAN, SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS DRAINAGE ASSOCIATION Mr. Chairman, and members of the committee, my name is E. E. Hopson, Jr., and I live in McGehee, Ark. I am vice chairman of the Southeast Arkansas Drainage Association and an attorney for Drainage District No. 4, Desha County, Ark. My statement is offered for the purpose of helping to justify the budget request of the Mississippi Valley Flood Control Association for the fiscal year 1961 for flood control, Mississippi River and tributaries, and especially the amount requested for the Tensas River Basin, in the amount of $1,150,000. Under the Flood Control Acts of 1944 and 1946, as amended, a major drainage project was authorized on the Boeuf and Tensas Rivers and Bayou Macon. Each year appropriations have been made by Congress to permit the construction of the authorized work and at this time work is well advanced, with the next portion of construction to be done on Bayou Macon in Arkansas and Louisiana. When this work has been done the project as originally authorized will be substantially complete and vast areas of Louisiana and Arkansas now enjoy drainage relief, with consequent benefits in the way of increased land values, better roads, and the like; it is believed that such benefits will result in the repayment to the Federal Government, within a short length of time, of the amount spent on said construction. In 1958 the Congress passed a Flood Control Act which will result in the further improvement of seven minor tributaries to the Boeuf and Tensas Rivers and Bayou Macon, one of which is Black Pond Slough. This tributary is largely within the area of responsibility of Drainage District No. 4, Desha County, Ark. It rises in southwestern Desha County, Ark., and flows in a generally southerly direction a distance of about 14 miles to a junction with Big Bayou Slough, about 2 miles southeast of Dermott, Ark., to form Big Bayou Slough. The total drainage area of Black Pond Slough is approximately 20,500 acres; the city of McGehee, Ark., is located on the east bank of the slough. The city of McGehee has a population of 3,854 (1950 census). The city discharges untreated sewage into Black Pond Slough, which is the only available drainage structure which can be used for that purpose. During flood periods the slough backs up into the city of McGehee, creating an extremely unsanitary condition. In dry times, when there is no flow in the channel of the slough, this sewage ponds in the slough, forming a health hazard to the entire drainage area downtown from McGehee. This fact has been repeatedly called to the attention of the mayor and aldermen of McGehee by the Arkansas Department of Health and the city now has under construction a treating plant, located on Black Pond Slough; this plant will cost approximately three-quarters of a million dollars and it will not operate successfully until the construction work has been completed on Black Pond Slough. Because of the extreme health situation existing in the city of McGehee and because of the large acreage that will be virtually reclaimed when this tributary has been excavated under the plans contemplated by the Flood Control Act of 1958, it is believed that maximum appropriations should be made each year so that this project may be reached in a minimum amount of time. It is therefore urged that this committee recommend to the Congress the amount requested by the Mississippi Valley Flood Control Association, in the amount hereinabove mentioned. STATEMENT OF SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS DRAINAGE ASSOCIATION, RAY MAXWELL, CHAIRMAN Mr. Chairman, and members of the committee, my name is Ray Maxwell, and I live in McGehee, Ark. I am chairman of the Southeast Arkansas Drainage Association, which is composed of eight drainage district and one levee district which encompass approprixately 1,350 square miles in southeast Arkansas. This statement is offered for the purpose of urging an adequate appropriation for the coming fiscal year in order that the Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army, may continue work on the Boeuf-Tensas-Bayou Macon project, which was authorized by act of Congress known as the Flood Control Act of December 22, 1944, as amended. That act authorized a project for the improvement of the Boeuf and Tensas Rivers and Bayou Macon south of the Arkansas-Louisiana State line. The Flood Control Act of July 24, 1946, authorized an extension of that project to include a large area in southeast Arkansas and declared the same to be a Federal responsibility. The headwaters of the Boeuf River and Bayou Macon are in southeast Arkansas. Annually, delegations have petitioned this committee to recommend that the Congress make appropriations in an amount requested by the Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army, in order that said Corps of Engineers might perfrom portions of the work as authorized. At the present time, work on the Boeuf-Bayou Macon project in southeast Arkansas is substantially complete. The appropriation for the coming fiscal year is necessary in order that work on the upper reaches of this portion of the project may be completed and to permit the Corps of Enginees to begin work on Bayou Macon south of Lake Chicot. After the completion of all work on Bayou Macon it is believed, and earnestly hoped, that appropriations will then be made to permit the Corps of Engineers to complete construction of the extensions of the authorized project, which extensions were included in the omnibus bill passed by the Congress in 1958. Phenomenal results have been accomplished by the work heretofore done on the project. Today, all the lands served by the ditches upon which work has been completed are well drained and in a good state of cultivation, in spite of the fact that rainfall this year has been probably above average. Land values have greatly increased and the economy of the area is much improved. At this time the Southeast Arkansas Drainage Association joins with the delegation from the State of Louisiana is asking for an adequate appropriation for the coming fiscal year to be used as stated above. It is hoped that this committee will recommend as appropriation in an amount that the Corps of Engineers can economically spend upon these works in order that all authorized work may be completed at the earliest possible date. Respectfully submitted. STATEMENT BY JAMES N. SMITH, CYPRESS CREEK DRAINAGE DISTRICT of Desha, CHICOT, AND LINCOLN COUNTIES, ARK. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I am James N. Smith, of McGehee, Ark., attorney for Cypress Creek Drainage District. This district is situated in the southeast part of Arkansas, and is the uppermost portion of that part of the flood control project known as Tensas River Basin project. The drainage district embraces a total of 262,700 acres. The drainage and flood control work originally authorized by Congress to be done within our district has now been completed, and the resulting benefits from flood control and drainage standpoint are readily apparent. Surface water caused by excessive rainfall (a problem in this area because of the relative flatDess of the land) now drains rapidly off the lands which are serviced by these canals, whereas in the past the lands remained flooded for long periods of time, ausing the business of farming to be highly speculative. It was recognized that the improvement work mentioned above would not afford relief from flooding conditions to some areas of the district, so in 1958 Congress authorized an additional canal improvement, being the improvement of canal No. 18. Improvement of some 8.8 miles of this canal is contemplated. However, appears that this work cannot be done until money becomes available, and that current appropriations will be used first for completion of that part of the Tensas River Basin project which was originally authorized. The Cypress Creek Drainage District therefore respectfully urges that your fummittee recommend an appropriation for the Tensas River Basin project in an amount that the Corps of Engineers believes can be economically spent, so that this project, which is so important to us, can be started at the earliest possible date. A BRIEF STATEMENT SUPPORTING ADEQUATE APPROPRIATIONS TO THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS, U.S. ARMY, FOR FLOOD CONTROL, MISSISSIPPI AND ARKANSAS RIVERS, SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS, BY THE SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS LEVEE BOARD, O. 0. KEMP, PRESIDENT, APRIL 1960 ADEQUATE APPROPRIATIONS FOR FLOOD CONTROL, MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND TRIBUTARIES This brief is presented on behalf of the Southeast Arkansas Levee District, and expresses the views of the levee board on current requirements in prosecuting the flood control project on the south bank of the Arkansas River from Pine Bluff, Ark., to the mouth of the river and the west bank of the Mississippi River from the confluence of the Arkansas River to the Arkansas-Louisiana Approximately 1,100 square miles in southeast Arkansas is in the flood plair of the Arkansas and Mississippi Rivers, and is subject to overflow without flood protection. Also, approximately 6,600 square miles of flood plain of the Missis sippi River in northeast Louisiana is subject to overflow without flood pro tectiton on the south bank of the Arkansas River and west bank of the Missis sippi River of southeast Arkansas and northeast Louisiana. Southeast Arkansas' industry, population, farms, cities, and towns occupy this area. All of the principal highways, railroads, oil and gas pipelines in southeast Arkansas traverse the flood plains. Thus, the Southeast Arkansas Levee District has a tremendous interest in flood control in southeast Arkansas The Flood Control Act of 1928 recognized the importance of flood control to the entire alluvial valley and Nation as well. It had as its principal objective the control of floods on the Mississippi River and tributaries in the interest of national prosperity and the flow of interstate commerce. The resulting flood control program under the Corps of Engineers has been successful in approaching this objective, and its benefits have extended to all segments of our national economy. The present flood control program provides the foundation upon which all material progress in the alluvial valley of the Mississippi River and tributaries rests. Security from floods has enabled this rich area in the heart of the United States, of which southeast Arkansas is an integral part, to utilize and add its resources to those of the rest of the Nation. In 1882 and 1927 two of the greatest floods of record on the Mississippi and Arkansas Rivers, approximately 1,000 square miles of the alluvial valley of these rivers in southeast Arkansas, were flooded. The smaller flood of 1927 caused far greater losses than the 1882 flood. This of course can be attributed to the higher state of development which prevailed in the valley after the 1882 flood and prior to the 1927 flood. The development of the alluvial valley of southeast Arkansas since 1927 has continued at a greatly accelerated rate, so that today a similar flood would cause far more damages in southeast Arkansas and northeast Louisiana than all the great floods of record. Prior to inauguration of the flood control program in 1928 the economy of the alluvial valley section of southeast Arkansas was largely agricultural, but since that time, there has been a pronounced trend toward industrialization, as hundreds of mainufacturing plants have been established along the river in the alluvial valley extending into southeast Arkansas. Industry has been attracted by the abundance of fresh water supplies and the unexcelled water transportation facilities to the markets of the United States and South America. The expanded agriculture resources and the industrialization of southeast Arkansas warrants an urgent need for more progress in the completion of the flood control plan of southeast Arkansas which is so vital to the economy of southeast Arkansas and northeast Louisiana. RECOMMEND APPROPRIATIONS FOR NECESSARY ITEMS OF WORK, MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND ARKANSAS RIVER, SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS LEVEE DISTRICT 1. Mississippi River levees: Flood control in the Mississippi Valley is based upon a strong levee system, and the ability of the present flood control program to handle the project flood is measured in terms of the weakest and lowest levees. Of the 75 miles of main line levees in southeast Arkansas, 5 miles (the Cracraft levee) is deficient in grade and section. This levee should be completed as rapidly as possible, and the Southeast Arkansas Levee District recommends that a minimum of $250,000 be provided for the construction of this levee in the 1961 work program. 2. Arkansas River levees: Flood control in the Arkansas River Valley is based upon a strong levee system and the ability of the present flood control program to handle the project flood is measured in terms of the weakest and lowest levees. Of the 65 miles of levee on the south bank of the Arkansas River, south of Pine Bluff, Ark., 10 miles is deficient in grade and section. This levee should be com. pleted to project grade and section at the earliest possible date, and the Southeast Arkansas Levee District recommends that a minimum of $250,000 be provided for the construction of these levees in the 1961 work program. 3. Arkansas River bank stabilization: Bank stabilization of the Arkansas River is a fundamental part of the flood control plan, for the river is constantly expending a portion of its energy in attacking its bank endangering the levee protection. Stabilization of the river's course is necessary to protect the levees, to maintain depths and alinement favorable for navigation, and to provide an ef fective channel for carrying floodflows. At Sawmill Bend and Avenue Landing on the lower reach of the Arkansas River, bank caving is endangering our levee protection and resulting in the loss of river alinement, favorable for navigation and decreasing the effective channel for carrying floodflows. The Southeast Arkansas Levee Board recommends the expenditure of $2,500,000 on bank stabilization of the Arkansas River south of Pine Bluff, Ark., in 1961, an increase of $1,400,000 over the $1,100,000 recommended by the Bureau of the Budget. THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK, Fort Smith, Ark., March 22, 1960. CHAIRMEN OF THE APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEES ON CIVIL WORKS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. GENTLEMEN: We are writing you in support of the Arkansas Basin project which is to be presented to the congressional committees, beginning April 5. From our personal knowledge, the erosion of the Arkansas River is becoming more severe each year. Some of our best land is being lost and can never be replaced. Each flood seems to be more severe so far as the cutting of the banks is concerned. It is our belief that the sooner corrective measures can be instigated, the greater the economic benefits will be to our area. We sincerely solicit your aid in securing an appropriation of $9 million instead of the $5 million in the President's budget. Sincerely yours, MCLOUD SICARD, President. THE CITY NATIONAL BANK, Fort Smith, Ark., March 25, 1960. CHAIRMAN, THE APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE ON CIVIL WORKS, House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. DEAR SIR: As a citizen of the Arkansas River Valley, I am vitally interested in the entire basin project which is so far along toward completion. I would like to request your favorable consideration of the request by the U.S. Engineers for bank stabilization work for $9 million this year. One thing has made a tremendous impression on me and that is the thoroughness and the conservativeness with which the U.S. Engineers have examined and handled this project to date. There have been considerable dollar savings made because of their recommendations and we in the valley are conscious of them. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, WILLIAM E. DRENNER, President. CITY OF FORT SMITH, Fort Smith, Ark., April 5, 1960. CHAIRMAN OF THE APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE ON CIVIC WORKS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Washington, D.C. GENTLEMEN: We are especially interested in obtaining additional money for bank stabilization for the year beginning July 1st. We are aware that General Whipple has testified to the congressional committee that the funds for bank stabilization totaling $9 million instead of the $5 million in the President's budget should be provided this year to speed up the construction of bank work and thereby advance the whole program and at the same time make material savings to the Federal Government. The people of Fort Smith and the entire Arkansas Basin are solidly behind this program, believing that its benefit will be felt by the entire Nation as well as the people of the Arkansas Valley. I shall deeply appreciate your consideration of the request that will be made to you by members of the Tri-State Committee of Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. Sincerely, JACK PACE, Mayor. 54265-60-pt. 4 -19 |