STATUS OF PROGRAM

Objective. To reduce damages caused by floodwaters and sediment to agricultural and other property, particularly in the upstream areas, and to reservoirs on the mainstreams.

Methods. By the use of watershed conservation and improvement measures and small supplementary works to impound sediment, help control gullies and stabilize stream banks, and help retard run-off and control its movement into the rivers.

Authorization-Pursuant to the provisions of the Flood Control Act of 1936, as amended and supplemented, the Department of Agriculture is assigned the responsibility for making preliminary examinations and surveys of watersheds authorized for investigation by the Congress, for preparing watershed survey reports recommending improvement programs, and for installing watershed improvement measures included in authorized programs.

Progress with preliminary examinations and surveys

Congress has authorized over 1,000 watershed investigations.—Over 1,000 authorizations have been made by the Congress for the Department of Agriculture to make preliminary examinations and surveys of watersheds or portions thereof under the flood-control acts. In many instances two or more authorizations apply to all or parts of the same watershed.

The Department has completed preliminary examination reports on 169 watersheds and survey reports on 19.-Of the 169 watershed examinations, 139 recommended making surveys and 30 did not. The Department has forwarded to the Congress survey reports on 19 watersheds, of which 12 recommended programs of improvement and 7 did not. The Flood Control Act of December 22, 1944, as amended, approved the programs of improvement set forth in the survey reports on 11 of those watersheds and authorized the installation of the works of improvement involved. The report recommending an agricultural program for the Missouri River Basin, including the flood-control aspects of such a program, is now pending before the Congress.

Other investigation work has been done.-Preliminary examination or survey work was carried on on 62 watersheds in 1949 and is scheduled for 64 watersheds in 1950. Actual work was done on several additional individual watersheds but they were consolidated for report preparation purposes as in the case of various tributaries of the Missouri. A similar approach is contemplated in reporting on certain other watersheds in the future.

By selecting larger watersheds or appropriate groupings of small watersheds for survey, the Department expects to obtain authority to carry on watershed improvement activities more rapidly in those drainage basins where floodwater and sediment damage to agricultural and other property is severe and where the Corps of Engineers has constructed or plans to install complementary works on the main stream channels.

Investigative work and program recommendations are integrated with those of the Corps of Engineers.-In the conduct of its work, the Department integrates its preliminary examination and survey work with that of the Corps of Engineers and other Federal, State, and local agencies which may have interests in the drainage basins under investigation.

Progress with watershed works of improvement

Control of floods begins on the watershed lands.-Actual application of the pattern of approach to reduction of flood and sediment damages and control of floods envisioned under the flood-control acts is underway. It consists of a combination of (1) watershed improvement measures installed by local people and the Department of Agriculture; and (2) mainstream control works constructed by the Corps of Engineers. Under this approach, the control of floodwaters begins with the Department's work on the higher parts of the watersheds where the run-off starts and continues downstream as the waters accumulate. The improvement measures within the treated subwatersheds (1) increase the capacity of the soil to absorb and temporarily store water; (2) reduce the loss of soil by erosion and the downstream damage to agricultural and other property and reservoirs by sediment; and (3) provide for the retardation and orderly routing of run-off from the land into the minor watercourses and down to the main streams where the Corps of Engineers' control works are constructed. The installation period for individual subwatersheds is customarily planned to cover 2 to 4 years.

Watershed improvement work by the Forest Service on the Little Tallahatchie and Yazoo watersheds.-Five thousand and six hundred acres have been planted with trees; 5,000 log and brush dams have been constructed to prevent erosion in conjunction with tree plantings; 44 miles of road right-of-way have been stabilized with erosion prevention measures; 1,000,000 acres have been covered in fire-control planning.

Several subwatersheds have been selected which if untreated would constitute continuing sources of flood and sediment damage to improved lands downstream and which do not include large areas of eroding land that could not be successfully rehabilitated in private ownership. Cooperative agreements have been entered into with local soil-conservation districts and, with their aid, programs in a number of these subwatersheds have begun with technical assistance from the Forest Service and Soil Conservation Service. Some 265,000 acres have received general planning for farm forestry. Technical assistance has been provided on 1,360 farms containing 35,000 acres of woods in timber harvesting and management operations related to the improvement of watershed conditions. This is in addition to work on national forest lands by the Forest Service and work in other farming areas by the Soil Conservation Service where public purchase of land has not been recommended.

It now appears probable that the acreage which should be in public ownership to assure needed treatment will be less than originally estimated. Other measures and procedures are being substituted for acquisition of lands where they are suitable, but some public purchase of badly eroded land will eventually be

necessary.

In the Potomac River watershed technical assistance in timber management is being provided to private operators in conjunction with the farm forestry programs which the State foresters administer for the purpose of getting better watershed cover conditions following cutting operations. Over 200 timber owners have been furnished technical assistance on 60,000 acres in marking timber for cutting and in the preparation of timber inventories as a basis for improved watershed and timber management. An additional 32 woodland owners, who are following improved forestry practices, were advised on timber-stand improvement cuts, on avoiding premature harvests, on tree planting, and on protection from fire and grazing. Cooperative installation of fire control improvements to flood control standards is continuing in West Virginia.

Improvement work in the mountain portion of the Los Angeles River watershed has been concentrated largely in the Arroyo Seco except that fire control is being developed throughout the watershed to flood control standards. Advances in fire-control techniques made in the past decade have been utilized. The substitution of helicopter transportation for ground transportation in fire suppression and faster and more effective communication by radio have eliminated the need for about three-quarters of the mountain fire control roads considered essential 10 years ago and have considerably reduced the expected earth disturbance and creation of erosion potential which would have resulted from road construction previously considered essential. Measures installed include 4 fire crew stations; 9.6 miles of mountain fire road; 13 miles of trails; 7 miles of fire breaks; 9.3 miles of telephone lines; 32 water storage tanks, 5,000 gallon capacity each. Necessary equipment including water pumps, fire tanker trucks, radios, light plants, and tools have been provided. The basic fire-control development plans for the watershed are essentially complete, but will be subject to modification of detail until the installation job is completed.

Detailed analysis of all basic factors relating to channel stabilization in the Arroyo Seco subwatershed have been made, numerous sites for structures have been explored, cost estimates have been prepared, and work priorities established. Less detailed investigations have been carried out in four other major subwatersheds and sites suitable for key structures have been located.

A large barrier has been installed in the main channel of the Arroyo Seco 55 small structures have been installed in side drainages; and 239,000 square yards of plantings have been made. These measures will control some 989,000 cubic yards of unconsolidated material now in the channels and in addition will prevent further degradation of the tributary channels.and will stabilize adjacent side slopes. Channel control work in this subwatershed is expected to continue 2 or 3 more years and will start in other subwatersheds in 1950. Experience in the Arroyo Seco indicates that a considerable amount of surveying and designing is essential to evolve the most effective combination of measures for channel control work in steep mountain channels.

A large number of plantings of varying sizes and totaling some 8,100 square yards have been made on channel banks, barren slopes, and old, barren road slopes. Individual plantings have been small and contained usually experimental variations. This work has been partially successful. It encounters perhaps the most difficult technical problems to be solved due to variations in elevations, soils, moisture, seasons, etc. Native and exotic species are being used. Technical assistance is being obtained from the California Institute of Technology as well as from the Forest Service research organization. Some 1,500 acres of burned areas have been sown successfully with black mustard to obtain temporary cover. Surveys locating areas where cover improvement might be done are well ahead of the installation program.

Eleven miles of mountain truck trails have been improved to control erosion by slope stabilization and better drainage. About 108 miles additional require some work of this kind. Detailed plans for the major erosion control job on the Angeles Crest Highway are completed. Work is to start in the fiscal year 1950. Thirteen critical areas on the mountain highway make up the major part of the job. The cost of the work is to be shared equally by the Federal Government and the State of California.

The fire control program on the Los Padres National Forest within the Santa Ynez watershed has been replanned and work will begin in 1950 on installation of the measures provided for there and on the other watersheds under the floodcontrol program.

Watershed improvement work by the Soil Conservation Service.-The Soil Conservation Service has assisted local soil conservation and other districts in the preparation of work plans and in the installation of measures for run-off and water-flow retardation and erosion prevention for 489 subwatersheds, averaging about 10,900 acres each, within the 11 authorized watersheds. The cost of installation of the remedial measures is estimated to be borne approximately 50 percent by local interests and 50 percent by the Federal Government.

Work plans are prepared for entire subwatersheds, without regard to individual property lines, as the first step in initiation of operations work. The entire area of each subwatershed is considered as a unit in determining the amounts and source of run-off and soil erosion, the extent and location of damage cause by floodwaters and sediment, and the kinds, amounts, and location of the different remedial measures.

The concerned landowners and operators participate in the planning and location of the various measures. They contribute their knowledge of local conditions to the planning effort, become familiar with their share of the job and plan for coordination of their efforts so that installation of measures can move forward smoothly.

Although the measures installed in the subwatersheds of the 11 authorized watersheds differ somewhat in kind and design to suit the needs of each particular area, the objective and general arrangements for carrying out the work are similar.

Watershed-treatment work in the 3,860-acre Howard Creek subwatershed of the Trinity River watershed near Jacksboro, Tex., is typical of much of the work done in the 11 authorized watersheds. This subwatershed was chosen for early flood-control operations within the Trinity River watershed because of the local interest in preventing soil erosion and in reducing damages from frequent flooding of the good bottom lands within the subwatershed. Due to the progress that had been made by the landowners cooperating with the West Fork Soil Conservation District, a high percent of the land in the watershed was already under conservation treatment, an important prerequisite to insure long life of the additional measures needed for waterflow retardation. Prior to the authorization for Federal participation in watershed floodprevention work, farmers along Howard Creek attempted to alleviate the flood damages by diverting the run-off waters and enlarging the main channel. These measures were inadequate, generally, for handling the high rate of run-off common to the area.

The subwatershed improvement plan developed cooperatively by the Soil Conservation Service and the local people included the installation of terraces with protected outlets on many cultivated fields, contour farming, cover crops, improved grazing practices, seeding of abandoned cropland to pasture grasses, eradication of brush and establishment of dense grass cover on brush-infested ranges, construction of several diversion ditches and farm ponds, a small upstream floodwater retarding reservoir on the main stem of Howard Creek and several earthen silt basins to protect the reservoir and bottom lands from deposition of sediment.

Under the arrangement mutually agreed upon, the farmers worked together in neighborhood groups and received technical and other assistance from the Soil Conservation Service, through the soil-conservation district, in the planning and application of erosion prevention and floodwater-retarding measures on their lands. The county made heavy equipment available for construction of conservation measures and the board of supervisors of the Upper West Fork Soil Conservation District, as well as other community leaders, were especially active in getting conservation treatment adopted and applied on the land. The Jacksboro Chamber of Commerce was also active in supporting the program. The temporary storage in the reservoir of flood run-off will reduce by approximately 75 percent the damage to lands, crops, fences, and livestock on the 240 acres of bottomlands within the subwatershed that have been flooded annually. In addition, less frequent flooding will permit more intensive use of these bottomlands such as by conversion from pasture to clean tilled crops of corresponding higher value.

The 108 acres of range land required for the dam site and reservoir area was furnished voluntarily by the owners. The dam was constructed under contract by the Soil Conservation Service. Responsibility for maintenance of the structures has been assumed by the Upper West Fork Soil Conservation District and a group of 10 downstream farmers receiving the major benefit from them. Under this plan, the structures will be examined after each storm, and any needed maintenance will be done by this group through pooling of its

resources.

On June 24, 1949, 6 months after the reservoir was completed, 2 inches of rain fell in 1 hour on the lands above the reservoir. The run-off from this rain, which before treatment would have flooded 185 acres of cropland and 55 acres of pasture along this branch of Howard Creek, was retarded in the reservoir so that the peak flow in the creek was only 25 percent of the channel capacity. Analysis of the average annual benefits to be expected from the reduction in flood damages and enhancement in use of the lands shows a substantial margin over the annual cost of installation and maintenance.

A summary of the principal watershed works of improvement planned and installed primarily for reduction of floodwater and sediment damages in the 489 subwatersheds with assistance from the Soil Conservation Service under this appropriation, as of June 30, 1949, follows:

Measure

(a) Grasses and legumes.

1. Upstream floodwater retarding structures.

2. Debris basins..

3. Revegetation (critical slopes and silt source areas where vegetative cover provides watershed protection):

(b) Woody plantings..

4. Waterway and channel improvement.

5. Diversions...

acres. do. ..miles.. do..

96, 829

6. Gully control..

7. Roadside erosion control..

acres.. miles.

8. Watercourse stabilizing and sediment-control structures.

1 For detention of 227,385 acre-feet. For detention of 4,716 acre-feet.

Emergency projects.-Projects for emergency treatment of the Ventura River and Santa Ana River watersheds in California following fires, to quickly reestablish temporary cover and otherwise protect property, were undertaken in 1949 at a total cost of $74,673. Projects for emergency protection of agricultural lands and other property from frequent flooding were undertaken early this fiscal year at an estimated cost of $100,000, following an intense rain which resulted in impairment of the watershed lands of the North River tributary of the Shenandoah River and South Branch of the Potomac River within the Potomac watershed.

Mr. WHITTEN. We will be glad to have your general statement, such as you need to enlarge upon the material in the record.

Mr. WILL. I think Mr. Dykes, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. DYKES. Mr. Chairman, I don't think that there is very much I can add to the statement that has been presented.

60623-50-pt. 4--12

We have had experience since 1946 in planning some 489 small subwatersheds that range in size from five or six hundred acres to 15 to 16 thousand acres. That involves, of course, land treatment on every acre of that subwatershed and, therefore, the cooperation of all the landowners on the watershed. That means that the development of an individual farm plan-each unit-must fit in with the subwater'shed plan to enable us to control the water from point of origin until it can be safely disposed of.

DESIRABILITY OF PLANNING LARGER UNITS

The one problem, Mr. Whitten, that I would like to mention in that connection is that we are finding it desirable to switch from the planning of these very small subwatersheds to planning of somewhat larger units. I might express it this way, from branch-size to creeksize. I think that would be generally understood. The larger hydrologic unit, water-control unit, would enable us to make economies in planning, I believe. It would enable us to take advantage of the alternatives that are available in the watershed for water-detention structures. It would, we believe, mean lower contract bids for the installation of certain of these works of improvements because we would have the opportunity of combining a number of these small structures into one contract. Contractors would have the opportunity of bidding on a group of these small structures as a unit. The number of different invitations to bid would be reduced materially. This would eliminate the costly procedure of one contractor getting the contract for one small structure, another for another, and each having to move his equipment and his people after each small job. We think it will mean economy insofar as the total cost of the installation of such works of improvement are concerned.

The work would be carried out as far as the land treatment is concerned by such subwatersheds as we have planned in the past. There would be no change in that because of the necessity for each farm unit plan dovetailing into the final plan for the watershed.

I am not sure that this presents any particular problem to the committee, but it is one of the things that we have discovered in attempting to prepare the kind of plans needed to control the floodwaters on the flood plains of the tributaries which are not controlled by the Corps of Engineers and their downstream work.

Mr. WHITTEN. I notice you are asking about the same money for preliminary examination and surveys, a little over $2,000,000. With that money expended this year, what part of it will be spent by the Forest Service, by the Soil Conservation Service, and what part has been paid to other bureaus? I wish you would list those as well as project how you expect to spend that money in the next year.

Mr. PHILLIPS. I can give you the information now if you like it, or insert it in the record.

Wr. WHITTEN. We will be glad to have that in the record at this point.