(The letter referred to is here printed in full as follows:) Hon. JOHN THOMAS, WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, May 7, 1932. Chairman Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation, United States Senate, Washington, D. C. DEAR SENATOR THOMAS: In accordance with the request contained in your letter of April 28, the careful consideration of the department has been given to the bill (S. 4408) to provide for construction of works for the development of the Columbia River. This bill provides for the construction of four dams in the Columbia River between tidewater and the mouth of Snake River, for development of water power and for providing facilities for modern barge navigation through this section of the river, the work to be done by the Federal Government under the direction of the Secretary of War, and financed by substantially the method adopted for the Boulder Canyon project on the Colorado River. It is noted that the limiting sums which may be advanced for the various undertakings under the proposed authorization as set forth in lines 20 to 22 on page 3 of the bill do not include the estimated amount required for the construction of the locks at the several dams, and the amounts should therefore be increased as follows: Warrendale, $64,000,000; Celilo Falls, $91,000,000; John Day Rapids, $116,000,000; Umatilla Rapids, $64,000,000. Similarly on page 5, line 11, the total authorized appropriation should be $335,000,000 to include the estimated sums necessary for the construction of the navigation locks. The President in his message of February 17, 1932, expressed his views as follows: "The effective development of water conservation through storage is largely an interstate question in the aid of domestic and industrial water supply, transportation, irrigation, and flood control. Where construction work for storage relates to these larger issues, it is properly the work of the Federal Government. Where water power is developed as a by-product, it should be disposed of in advance by contracts which will fairly reimburse the Government for its outlay. The Reclamation Service should be extended to cover these broad purposes of storage and conservation of water rather than the nårrow purpose of irrigation. Such important projects as the dam at Boulder Canyon, the dam at Cove Creek, and the development of the Columbia, should ultimately be undertaken when there is need for such service and when contracts can be made for the sale of power to amortize the cost of construction to the Government. The actual construction work under this plan should be carried out by the public works administrator and the completed projects administered by the Reclamation Service." These views relate primarily to the effective improvement of water conservation through storage. The project proposed in the bill is primarily for the purpose of developing the power resources of the river below the mouth of the Snake River in combination with the improvement for modern barge navigation in this region, and does not include nor does it require the comprehensive conservation of water by storage. The consideration of the development of the Columbia River should include the major propect set forth in the report of this Department, and now before Congress, for the construction of a dam and reservoir at Grand Coulee above the mouth of Snake River, for the development of power mainly, but possibly, in the future, the development of irrigation. The sale of this power is an essential feature in the economic feasibility of such a project. Since the market for power is a determining factor both in the economic development of the power and navigation project below the mouth of Snake River and in the power and irrigation project above the mouth of the Snake River, it appears evident that an authorization for the development of the Columbia should be broad in scope under a single executive head as contemplated by the President. to the end that negotiations for the sale of power and the coordination of power and navigation as well as irrigation requirements may not be divided between different Federal agencies. The War Department can do this work as the bill contemplates, and on this score there is no occasion for delay. Accommodation to the prospective organization held in view by the President can be made as soon as that organization materializes, therefore there is no delay to be anticipated on this score. The proper development of the Columbia River would undoubtedly create a great asset for that section of the nation where it is located, and of course in doing so it would be a national as well as a local asset. However, until the nation has passed the present financial crisis, I could not recommend a great expenditure of public funds that can property be postponed. I regard the creation of further indebtedness by the Federal Government at this time as inadvisable. I therefore recommend that this bill or any modification of it be held in abeyance until the nation is better able to meet the financial outlay involved. Sincerely yours, PATRICK J. HURLEY, Major BUTLER. The report of the district engineer, Seattle, shows that it will be possible to develope useful storage in the lakes, etc., feeding the Columbia River that are located in the United States above the Grand Coulee site as follows: Hungry Horse_. Pend Oreille Lake__ Priest Lake__ Kootenay Lake__. Coeur d'Alene Lake_. Total Acre-feet 1, 100, 000 1,540, 000 1, 620, 000 569, 000 715, 000 430,000 5,974, 000 I would refer you to paragraph 78, page 77, of the original manuscript of the above report. It is estimated that the use of the 5,028,000 acre-feet of storage created by the high dam at the head of the Grand Coulee will increase the minimum flow (17,000 second-feet) at that dam site to an average flow of 40,400 second-feet during the 182-day low-water period from October 1 to March 31, based upon the record of flow from April, 1913, to March 31, 1931. While the above storage makes extensive river regulation possible without depending upon upstream storage and while, as a result, the success of the Columbia Basin irrigation project is not necessarily dependent upon upstream storage, nevertheless this upstream storage will ultimately add greatly to the development of prime power throughout the river. The use of this storage would increase the minimum low-water flow at Grand Coulee from 17,000 second-feet to 32,900 second-feet. This upstream storage will probably come as the result of power development and there is a provision in the Federal water power act whereby interests downstream that are benefited may be made to bear their proportionate share of the cost. In table 15, paragraph 252 of the report of the district engineer, Seattle, we have provided for all the irrigable acreage above the Snake River, including that in British Columbia, Idaho, and Montana and made what we thought was a very liberal estimate. We found that "the abundant water supply of the upper Columbia and tributaries can serve all of the irrigable acreage within practicable economic reach, with only slight detriment to water power resources.' See paragraphs 251 to 264, inclusive, of above report. This [pointing to the map] is Flathead River, and this shows a possible reservoir and power site at Hungry Horse Canyon, near the Glacier National Park. The construction of a dam from 365 to 480 feet high at this site would make it a very valuable power 125965-32- -3 development and make possible the effective storage of about 1,100,000 acre-feet (gross 1,550,000) of water, which would be helpful in the way of flood control, particularly on Flathead and Pend Oreille Lakes. The CHAIRMAN. Now, is that included in the Columbia Basin project? Major BUTLER. Only indirectly, sir. We have included it in our comprehensive plan, and we have pointed out the possibility of development in the future. The Flathead River comes down here [pointing to the map] and runs into the Clark's Fork River or Pend Oreille and then it swings here and goes off to the Northwest, into British Columbia, and then joins the Columbia River a short distance above the international boundary. This lake, the Pend Oreille, provides for a storage of about 1,600,000 acre-feet. There is one power development here below the outlet to Flathead Lake which has been started by the Rocky Mountain Power Co., which is the same as the Montana Power Co. Work on this project has been suspended on account of the depression and resulting change in demand for power. There is a series of dams which can be built below the Rocky Mountain development. That power can be augmented by the construction of this reservoir in Flathead Lake. Now, one of the first things we did in taking up this investigation was to make a study of the so-called gravity plan for putting water on the Columbia Basin irrigation project. All of the area shown here [pointing to the map] represents lands lying within the boundaries of the Columbia Basin project. The CHAIRMAN. Could you give us the approximate acreage in there? Major BUTLER. In that portion shown in red there are about 2,000,000 acres. That simply is a general picture of the whole area. There are many sections of that area, such as Saddle Mountains and other sections, where the land is not altogether suitable for irrigation, and for this reason we have thrown them out and have given them no consideration. An old report by the State of Washington estimated that there was 1,883,000 acres in that area available for irrigation. There is that much land within the area but there is a question whether or not it will be economic to put water on all of it. For the purposes of our studies, we have considered but 1,200,000 in the area that can be economically reclaimed from the Columbia River. As stated, we first considered the so-called gravity plan of placing water on the project, a plan that had been considered in previous reports. The CHAIRMAN. What was the objection to the gravity plan? Major BUTLER. Well, it was the excessive cost of the plan. I will outline, briefly, just what the gravity plan consists of. In the first place, it was necessary to make a careful study of the water supply; we had to get enough water to put on the project, and we found that we did not have enough water from Lake Pend Oreille, that is, during the low water season. For that reason, it would be necessary to build a dam near Newport, at Albany Falls, within the State of Idaho. This dam, about 40 feet high, would back the water into Lake Pend Oreille and thus creates a storage of about 1,600,000 acre feet in that lake, which could be used during the dry season for irrigating this block of land in the Columbia Basin project. In order to do that, it would be necessary to build this low dam and then a series of tunnels and canals, aggregating a length of about 130 miles, from Albany Falls to the point here (pointing to the map), where the water would be distributed over the project. This, for instance, involved an item of $105,000,000 to cover the cost of tunnels alone. There is one place, shown by the dotted line there [indicating], where the plan would require two parallel tunnels 16 miles long and about 32 feet in diameter. These tunnels would have to be driven through solid basalt rock, which is harder than granite, and they would have to be lined with concrete. The length of tunnels required would be about 33 miles. General MARTIN. The gravity system depended on Pend Oreille? Major BUTLER. Yes, sir. General MARTIN. And not the Columbia? Major BUTLER. It would depend on the storage of water in Lake Pend Oreille. We went further and made a study of the possibilities of using a certain amount of water from Lake Coeur D'Alene by increasing the storage in that lake somewhat. As a result, we found that we could reduce the costs by cutting down the capacity of the tunnels and the canal north of the Spokane River. However, our studies show that the "gravity plan " is not economically feasible. Then other plans for putting water on the project were considered. One plan would bring the water from Lake Wenatchee to about 360,000 acres of fine land in the Quincy area, which is within the Columbia Basin project. This plan would involve the construction of a canal about 80 or 90 miles long and the crossing of the Columbia River. We also considered the possibility of pumping from the Columbia at different places. But our final studies have shown that the best plan that we could devise consists of the construction of a high dam and a power plant in the Columbia River at the upper end of the Grand Coulee, a pumping plant for raising the water to the Grand Coulee storage reservoir, and the distribution of the water, by gravity to the land. Our studies also showed that it would be necessary to build the high dam in the Columbia at the upper end of the Grand Coulee in order to have enough power to make the Columbia Basin irrigation project economically feasible. If there are any questions that anyone would like to ask while I am here at the map, I will be glad to answer them. It may be interesting, gentlemen, to state that there is an area here of about 9,000 square miles in this Big Bend section where the annual run-off from the rainfall is zero; in other words, practically none of the water that falls in that section gets into the Columbia River except possibly a little seepage. The CHAIRMAN. Major, can you give us an approximate idea of what the power might be worth, that is, how much of the power might be utilized from Grand Coulee? Major BUTLER. Yes, sir; I will get to that point later. May I continue with my comments now? The CHAIRMAN. Yes. Take you time, Major. It will be the policy of the committee to have a thorough hearing. Mr. HILL. Mr. Chairman, may I ask a question at this point? The CHAIRMAN. Yes. Mr. HILL. You mentioned the fact that under the original plan of the gravity system there was contemplated the reclamation of about 1,800,000 acres. What number of acres does the present plan contemplate? Major BUTLER. I intended to make that statement. About 1,200,000 acres. The CHAIRMAN. I think you said that. Mr. HORR. May I ask the major a question? The CHAIRMAN. Yes. Mr. HORR. Are you in a position, at this time, to tell us what the entire power developed on this project would be, less the amount that has already been taken up by private interests? Major BUTLER. I do not quite understand, sir. Mr. HORR. I mean the entire development of power, how much would be produced, less the amount that has already been taken over by other interests? Major BUTLER. Yes; we have complete information in the report. Mr. HORR. Is it in there now? Major BUTLER. Yes; as to the power possibility within that area and furthermore the developed power by private interests. We made a very careful study of the market for the power. Mr. HORR. You have not those figures in mind, have you, as to the amount of kilowatt-hours developed? Major BUTLER. No; not exactly. There is roughly about 1,200,000 installed kilowatts generated or under construction in that area. See pages 263, 264, 487, and 550 and plate 125 of district engineer's report on Upper Columbia River. The gravity plan of placing water on the project was the first one to be given consideration and this required a careful study of the water supply. The Clark's Ford or Pend Oreille River was found to be the best source of supply for the gravity system but as stated this supply would have to be augmented by storage in Pend Oreille Lake. This problem was made somewhat difficult because there was another State, namely Idaho, involved. It then became an interstate question. The report of the Corps of Engineers has demonstrated beyond a reasonable doubt that the gravity plan of placing water on the project can not be justified under any circumstances because of the excessive construction costs, even with interest free money. This plan will therefore be given no further consideration at this time. The pumping plan of placing water in the Columbia Basin irrigation project was then given careful consideration and investigation. This project avoided any interstate complications since it was entirely within the State of Washington and it had many economic advantages. The pumping plan can be more than justified on an economic basis when the indirect benefits are considered. It can likewise be justified by the direct benefits, or actual return on the investment or improvement. The returns from the water users alone on the irrigation project will not justify construction. However, when considered as a combined power and irrigation plan, |