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Creek to Littlejohn Creek, together with related works consisting of channel excavation and levee construction.

I am not in agreement with the Chief of Engineers' recommendation that the Farmington and Valley Springs Reservoirs be operated and maintained under the direction of the Secretary of War and supervision of the Chief of Engineers. These reservoirs are elements of the great Central Valley project development as contemplated in the plan of the Bureau of Reclamation. The main objective of the plan for over-all development of the great Central Valley is to provide the maximum water supply for irrigation, domestic, industrial, and municipal uses. All component units of the works to conserve and utilize these waters, to be successfully operated for maximum benefits, must be fully coordinated on a regional basis. In the Central Valley such coordination insofar as the projects undertaken by the Federal Government are concerned can best be obtained by a single agency operating and maintaining the multiple-purpose elements of the big project. The Bureau of Reclamation has already been authorized by the Congress to construct and operate the key multiple-purpose and water conservation elements of the Central Valley plan. From the standpoint of good Federal administration the other multiple-purpose elements should be operated and maintained by the Bureau of Reclamation. The operation by the Bureau of project features with flood-control benefits should be in accordance with regulations of the Secretary of War insofar as the flood-control element is concerned.

On the particular inquiry whether the policy relating to the operation of the reservoirs expressed in the letter of the Secretary of War dated February 28 was arrived at under the terms of the revised ageement quadripartite of December 29, 1943, the Commissioner informs me that the reservoir capacities proposed in the Chief of Engineers' report are in agreement with those comments submitted to the Chief of Engineers by letter dated September 23, 1943. These comments were made after review of the reports of the Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors, and the district engineer and examination by engineers of the Bureau of Reclamation. A copy of this letter is included with the Chief of Engineers' report on the proposed project.

Therefore it may be considered that the terms of the agreement of December 29, 1943, have been complied with insofar as they concern plans for construction. The disagreement as to which agency should operate and maintain the Farmington and Valley Springs Reservoirs appears unavoidable in view of the legislative provisions to control the respective operations of the War Department and the Department of the Interior.

Sincerely yours,

ABE FORTAS, Acting Secretary of the Interior. Senator CORDON. Was there not a letter with reference to two other projects?

Colonel GOETHALS. The Kings and Kern River projects.

Senator OVERTON. I suppose you will read that letter when you reach those two projects?

Senator CORDON. I thought it might shed some additional light on the position which the President took.

Senator OVERTON. Does it refer in any way to these projects? Colonel GOETHALS. The Kings River and Kern River comments are contained in separate communications which are referred to entirely in the letter of the Director of the Budget.

Senator OVERTON. Representative Leroy Johnson is here and desires to be heard.

STATEMENT OF HON. LEROY JOHNSON, A REPRESENTATIVE IN THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES FROM THE THIRD DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

Representative JOHNSON. My name is Leroy Johnson. I represent the Third District of California.

Senator OVERTON. We understand that you are here for the purpose of testifying with reference to the Littlejohn Creek and Calaveras River projects?

Representative JOHNSON. Yes, sir. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, I have a little background on these two projects due to the fact that I have lived in Stockton, which is the city that is primarily concerned, since the last war; and when the Hogan Dam was built, which is on the Calaveras River, it was my duty as an attorney for the city to condemn the lands for that reservoir site. In that way I received information about these matters that probably very few people have. Senator OVERTON. Is that dam in your district now? Representative JOHNSON. No, sir; but the river is.

At the time of the hearings and at the time the bill was considered in the House the document which contains the recommendations of the Engineers was not on file with the Speaker. It has since been filed with the Speaker and is House Document 545, Seventy-eighth Congress, second session.

The Calaveras River, and Littlejohn Creek which runs parallel to it, are two foothill streams which rise in the foothills of the Sierras and flow into the San Joaquin River, which meets the Sacramento River coming from the north. The Calaveras and the Littlejohn do not rise in the high Sierras, and the result is that when there are snow storms followed by rain they have had some disastrous floods in the area drained by these two streams.

The local communities have spent considerable money in an endeavor to control the flow of these streams and cut down the high peak flows during the flood stage.

The city of Stockton spent for the Hogan Dam $1,600,000 of her own funds; and in addition we have spent $400,000 on diverting canals and other works.

They have no hydroelectric possibilities at all. There is a very small irrigation possibility in the storing of water from those streams.

At the present time a good deal of the land below this dam, down in the vicinity of the city of Stockton, is irrigated by means of pumping. As has been pointed out, the irrigation is affected by the flow of this stream, by building up the underground waters and raising the water level so that the pumping charges will not be so high.

Littlejohn Creek is a stream that flows to the south by the city of Stockton and for a number of years has menaced the surrounding area as well as the city. We have had several very bad floods out there.

I understand that the purpose of the project as now recommended by the engineers is to increase the height of the Hogan Dam. It was not built as high as desired because of the fact that we ran out of funds. We built it 115 feet high and we want to get it higher in order to get the maximum flood-protection benefits. Littlejohn Creek is not controlled at all at this time except by some dikes along either side of the stream for a short distance, and the construction of the dam there, holding back the waters and regulating the flow, together with some works along the ground to control the floods in that particular area, would eliminate floods.

There has been a little discussion here about whether or not this is in the Central Valley project. The Central Valley project is quite

an indefinite project. The area covered is over 500 miles long. The main dam is up by the city of Redding about 300 miles or 350 miles from the Hogan Dam. The purpose of the whole project is fivefold: To control floods, to help navigation, to provide irrigation water, to develop electricity, and to control the salinity encroachment by the San Francisco Bay area in the lower reaches of these two big rivers [indicating on map the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers].

The Sacramento River has a lot more water than is required for use in that valley. The San Joaquin River has too little water for the needs of irrigation especially; and they propose to build a dam about 150 miles below the city of Stockton and use the water for irrigation south of there and replenish the flow up to the Friant Dam by water from the Sacramento River. In other words, they are going to make the water run uphill by taking it from the northern stream and bringing it around through a canal and into the lands along the southern stream (San Joaquin).

That is where they got into a conflict as to whether or not these little local projects, which are separate units, are part of the Central Valley water project.

When I lived there I heard the man who first crystallized it, a man by the name of Colonel Marshall; and I never had any idea that all these little foothill streams like the Calaveras and Littlejohn were a part of the Central Valley water project. They were conceived to be separate and entirely distinct. The Central Valley water project had to do with the Sacramento, the San Joaquin, and its large tributaries down there like the Tuolumne, Merced, and so forth, that rise in the high Sierras. So I think that this project ought to be considered entirely by itself; and we think that the Army engineers, who have the solution for it, are the ones not only to build it but to operate it.

NAPA RIVER, CALIF.

I want to mention also the Napa River project, which is a dual project. It has flood-control features and domestic-water features. It is outside of the big Central Valley, over in the foothills of the coast range and the purpose there is to build a dam which will control the flow of the stream and will also furnish a domestic water supply for the city of Napa.

The city of Napa has already acquired a reservoir site and a dam site, and I understand that the local contribution is quite large proportionately to the total cost of the project. We feel, and the Army engineers have recommended, that the Federal Government should contribute enough to take care of the flood-control features of the project.

Senator OVERTON. Is that all?

Representative JOHNSON. Yes, unless you want to ask me some questions.

Senator CORDON. Congressman, you represent the district which is affected by the dams that you just mentioned?

Representative JOHNSON. Yes. I represent that district. We are the ones that are affected the most and we are the ones—although it is out of my congressional district-that built the Hogan Dam which cost almost $2,000,000.

Senator DOWNEY. Congressman, in order to get this Napa item in, is it necessary to offer an amendment on that?

Representative JOHNSON. I understand that it is. I understand that the committee will offer an amendment.

Senator OVERTON. Yes.

Representative JOHNSON. I think Senator Johnson and Senator Downey concur in what I have to say about this.

Senator OVERTON. It is unnecessary to offer a formal amendment. The committee will consider it.

Senator DowNEY. I would like to word the amendment for the Napa River project.

Senator OVERTON. There is no objection to that.

We thank you very much, Congressman.

Representative JOHNSON. I thank you for giving me a chance to

appear.

I have two witnesses here with reference to the Littlejohn and Calaveras River project. They can be heard later on. Senator OVERTON. We can hear them now.

STATEMENT OF JULIUS B. MANTHEY, COUNTY SURVEYOR AND HIGHWAY ENGINEER, SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY, STOCKTON, CALIF.

Mr. MANTHEY. My name is Julius B. Manthey. I am county surveyor and highway engineer for San Joaquin County, and live at Stockton, Calif. I am also president of the Flood Control Association of the lower San Joaquin River and its tributaries. I am speaking today for both the county of San Joaquin and the Flood Control Association.

The engineer for the Flood Control Association testified on these matters before the committee of the House of Representatives in the hearings, and his testimony can be found in volume 2 of the report of those hearings at page 603.

I am here primarily today to tell you, as Mr. Johnson has already told you, that we have suffered floods from these streams for many years. We have struggled with them to the best of our ability, and finally called on the Federal Government for assistance. These studies by the Army engineers were authorized, and now that the reports are in I wish to express our satisfaction with the reports of the Army engineers. They are almost exactly what we believe the communities desire.

Actually we are suffiering damages from these streams. Right now it is estimated that we are suffering $130,000 damages yearly from Littlejohn Creek and $174,000 annually from the Calaveras River. We urge that these reports be accepted now.

Also in California we are very conscious of post-war construction matters, and these projects are distinctly a part of our post-war construction program. These are at the Federal level, but we are also developing projects at the State and local levels.

Mainly we wish to emphasize our satisfaction with the reports of the Army engineers and urge that they be approved so that the projects may be constructed by the Army engineers at the earliest possible date.

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That is all I have to present, Mr. Chairman, unless there are some questions.

STATEMENT OF KARL C. BRUECK, STOCKTON, CALIF.

Mr. BRUECK. My name is Karl C. Brueck. I live in Stockton, Mr. Chairman, and am executive secretary of the Food Control Association, which association was organized in 1938 by owers of lands in the delta of the San Joaquin River, for their own protection. In 1936, when the Flood Control Act was adopted by the Congress, naturally our eyes looked to the Federal Government for assistance in connection with flood control on the San Joaquin River and its tributaries. The Calaveras River and Littlejohn Creek are tributaries of the San Joaquin River. In 1936 the entire San Joaquin River was placed in the hands of the Army engineers and they found it convenient to divide the area into sections, and one of the sections is the section which we are now considering as being the drainage area for the Calaveras River and Littlejohn Creek.

The city of Stockton, as has been explained by both Mr. Johnson and Mr. Manthey, undertook some years ago to protect itself against the floods of the Calaveras River by costructing what is known as the Hogan Dam, and spent upwards of $1,600,000 on that venture. It could not build a dam as high as it wanted to, simply for want of funds. Now the Army engineers have made a survey as to the project that should be constructed. We have followed the Army engineers very closely in their studies, through our engineer.

The people I represent as a flood-control association are members representing somewhere in the neighborhood of about 190,000 acres of land in the delta, plus the city of Stockton for whom I am now speaking under authority of the manager of the city of Stockton, and we are greatly pleased with the report made by the Army engineers and hope that that report will be adopted and that the report will be to control the works to be constructed upon Littlejohn Creek and the Calaveras River.

The project is practically altogether a flood-control project. There are some slight possibilities for irrigation which the Army engineers have taken care of by setting aside 15,000 acre-feet in the Calaveras River Reservoir. Local interests are willing to contribute, according to this ratio, to the entire work. But in the Littlejohn Creek there are practically no irrigation possibilities so far as local areas are concerned. We have discussed this matter with the local interests, and the local interests are opposed to any irrigation on the Littlejohn Creek. Only the day I left they expressed themselves very definitely that they did not want to be burdened in any way with irrigation charges upon the Littlejohn Creek. They did, however, want the Army engineers to have full charge of the entire work of flood control.

That is practically the story, Mr. Chairman, and we hope that you will see fit to adopt the report as made by the Army engineers. If any other agency takes hold of it we fear there is going to be a delay year after year until our patience will cease and we will not even have flood control.

Senator OVERTON. What you say represents the views of the area affected by the project?

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