area. Eight national forests, aggregating some 5,400,000 acres, occupy about 23 percent of the basin area. These forests contain several million acres of sawtimber land. They provide excellent recreational opportunities in areas of beautiful high mountain country where national forests and streams are the chief attraction. They afford a large acreage for grazing of some 55,000 head of cattle and 260,000 head of sheep. In northern New Mexico a large part of this grazing use goes to small users, where some 2,000 small settler permittees use national forest ranges.

Most importantly these national forests include the greater part of the areas of high-water yield which is the source of water for the valley. Situated in the higher altitudes which range up to 14,000 feet, they receive precipitation that runs up to 45 inches annually as compared with some 10 inches in the valley areas. The relative importance for water yield of various zones in these national forests is being studied. As rapidly as information based on research on watershed relationships becomes available, operation of these lands is being increasingly oriented toward management which will enhance the value of water delivered downstream.

Because of the responsibility of the Forest Service to exert its full effort to attain a very high degree of effective watershed management to aid in providing the valley area with a maximum supply of clean, useful water resources, the Service is greatly interested in and in favor of every justifiable effort downstream to control and to impound and use to advantage the water supplies of the basin. At the present time the Soil Conservation Service and the Forest Service are jointly engaged in conducting a survey to develop a watershed program in aid of flood control in the Rio Grande watershed. The survey and the program are scheduled to be completed this year. When completed, and approved by the Secre tary of Agriculture, the proposal will be submitted to Congress for authorization as a program of watershed improvement which will effectivedly retard water flow and prevent soil erosion and sedimentation, thereby supplementing the downstream work of the Bureau of Reclamation and the Corps of Engineers.

It is recognized that upstream measures on the land in the high water source areas and control of erosion and flash run-off on the land in the lower elevations are not alone suflicient to afford protection from floods. Nor can such measures influence water flow to meet fully the needs of downstream uses. To do this engineering works are necessary in the main channels to regulate flow in critical places and to distribute for use the water supplies delivered from the watersheds. The upstream and downstream phases of water control complement each other. Both are essential.

Colonel HARRISON. Mr. Burton Dwyre, New Mexico State Highway Department, New Mexico.

The CHAIRMAN. You want to emphasize the highway situation in this area?

Mr. DWYRE. That is correct.

The CHAIRMAN. We will be glad for you to file a statement because we can understand that floods disrupt highways in New Mexico as well as anywhere else in the United States.

Colonel HARRISON. Mr. George Lusk, manager, Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce.

The CHAIRMAN. We could not get along without a representative from the chamber of commerce. If you have a statement you would like to file, we would be glad for you to file it.

Mr. LUSK. I would like to file a statement later regarding the economic aspect of this flood threat.

The CHAIRMAN. You may pass it to the clerk and if it is received before we publish the reports, we will be glad to have you furnish it. Colonel HARRISON. Mr. Diego Salazar.

The CHAIRMAN. Would you come around, sir? Would you like to make a statement in behalf of this project?

Mr. SALAZAR. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. And what point do you want to emphasize?

Mr. SALAZAR. I would like to call attention to the situation of Espanola which is about the northernmost town in the valley affected by flood conditions.

The CHAIRMAN. You want to emphasize that you have had cloudbursts and so on.

Thank you very much. You may file your statement.

Colonel HARRISON. One more witness, Mr. Austin Lovett, a member of the board of directors, Middle Rio Grande Flood Control Association, from Belen, N. Mex.

The CHAIRMAN. Come around, please.

The point you wanted to make in your statement-we will keep it in mind, if you will give us that point.

Mr. LOVETT. We are located in Belen, which is 30 miles south of Albuquerque on the Santa Fe Railroad, which goes to Los Angeles and Chicago and from Denver to El Paso; the crossroads.

The CHAIRMAN. We understand about the Santa Fe, one of the big systems. Go right ahead.

Mr. LOVETT. Also, the plight of the farmer and the rancher, on account of the raising of the water table. If it continues to rise, they will no longer be able to raise their crops.

The CHAIRMAN. That point has been brought out and we will be glad for you to emphasize it in the statement you file.

Colonel HARRISON. That completes the list of witnesses.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much.

I want to ask you one question; it won't detain you but half a minute. This Elephant Butte Dam was started when?

Colonel HARRISON. In 1917, approximately, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Was that constructed at Federal expense?
Colonel HARRISON. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. That is primarily a power project?

Colonel HARRISON. That is primarily an irrigation project for lower New Mexico: Dona Ana; and El Paso, and Hudspeth Counties

in Texas.

The CHAIRMAN. In other words, the reclamation from Elephant Butte extends

Colonel HARRISON. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Not above where all the trouble is.

Colonel HARRISON. Correct.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much.

(The following statements were subsequently submitted:)

STATEMENT ON THE RIO GRANDE BASIN BY J. C. DYKES, ASSISTANT CHIEF, SOIL

CONSERVATION SERVICE

The Department of Agriculture (Soil Conservation Service and Forest Service) under the direct leadership of the Soil Conservation Service regional staff at Albuquerque, N. Mex., is now engaged in making a flood-control survey of the Rio Grande Watershed (above Fort Quitman, Tex.).

Satisfactory progress is being made and it is planned to submit the report to the second session of this Congress. The report will recommend a remedial program for the treatment of the watershed lands with particular emphasis on sediment reduction.

STATEMENT OF B. G. DWYRE, NEW MEXICO STATE HIGHWAY ENGINEER

The interest which the New Mexico State Highway Department has in the Middle Rio Grande Valley area is the responsibility for the maintenance of

approximately 200 miles of road, the 11 river bridges. These roads and bridges serve an estimated daily traffic volume of 50,000 cars, 39,000 of which cross back and forth over the bridges.

The initial cost of the road and bridge improvements in this area was approximately $2,500,000. Damage to these improvements from floods in the Rio Grande during the past 15 years has amounted to approximately $1,100,000. During this period of time conditions have worsened in the Middle Rio Grande Valley to such an extent that a flood of the size experienced in 1941, the last major flood which we had would cause damage to our roads and bridges which would reach an estimated replacement cost of $4,200,000. This figure is based upon the results of a survey made after the 1941 flood, which caused minor damage to six bridges, major damage to two bridges, and interruption to traffic along some 50 miles of road.

I would like to call your attention to the fact that the roads and bridges in the Middle Rio Grande Valley were designed to care for flood flow peaks up to approximately 35,000 second-feet, and at the time the bridges were built, the channel was of such a depth as to accommodate floods of this size. Within the last 10 years, however, silting has occurred in the river bed to such an extent that the channel capacity has been greatly reduced, which, in turn, reduces the effective capacity of the bridges and increases the danger of flood damage to the bridges, approaches, and approach roads.

At the present time it appears, from the best information which we have available, that to protect against a flood of the size of that which was experienced in 1941, would represent a cost outlay of approximately twice that of the present roads and bridges. If this work was done, its value would be questionable, inasmuch as the surrounding lands, villages, and towns served by the roads and bridges would be flooded, many to the point of complete destruction.

The State highway department feels that its present structures are adequate and will serve for many years, provided the necessary flood protection can be had to protect the adjoining lands, towns, and villages. The State highway department would be willing to accept any part of the cost of flood protection which could be rightfully assessed against the road user. We do not feel, however, that we should be obliged to build structures of unusual size and excessive cost to accommodate conditions which should be controlled as a matter of protection to the surrounding property. In other words, we feel that the benefit which the State highway department would receive from the construction of flood-control facilities on the Rio Grande should be considered as incidental, and that the real necessity is the construction of such facilities for protection for the millions of dollars in real-estate values along the river.

In view of what appears to us to be an emergency of extreme gravity we urge all possible consideration of the request for flood control in the middle Rio Grande Valley, and speed in its construction. Delay will be costly not only to the New Mexico State Highway Department but to the people of the entire State of New Mexico.

STATEMENTS OF AUSTIN D. LOVETT ON THE NEED FOR ADDITIONAL AUTHORIZATIONS UNDER THE APPROVED COMPREHENSIVE PLAN FOR FLOOD CONTROL AND RECLAMATION IN THE MIDDLE RIO GRANDE VALLEY

My name is Austin Lovett. I am a businessman and live in Belen, N. Mex., where I have resided for the past 20 years. I am the immediate past president of the Middle Rio Grande Flood Control Association and am at present a member of its board of directors. This organization is a voluntary association of over 2,000 businessmen, farmers, and salaried employees who have banded together to seek protection against the flood hazards of the Rio Grande River.

The members of this organization are representative persons from communities along the Rio Grande in New Mexico from Elephant Butte Reservoir northward to the Colorado-New Mexico State line.

However. I am also a member of the chamber of commerce of Belen, N. Mex., and they have authorized me, while appearing before this committee, to officially speak for them also. Therefore my statement in behalf of that association will be centered on Blen, N. Mex, in particular and the middle Rio Grande Valley in general.

Both organizations are representative of all the inhabitants of the valley, regardless of their business or station in life. In fact, the benefits to be derived from this comprehensive plan would redound favorably to the economy of the entire State.

An exhaustive study by the most highly qualified engineers in our Government proves that we will have a drastic flood in this area. A flood treats everybody alike. It damages all. Floods destroy property and kill people. We have no protection. The insurance companies will not write insurance against floods in this valley because their statistics indicate certainty of a destructive flood under present conditions of the river.

The Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation went into these problems very thoroughly. They have determined that comprehensive measures must be undertaken for flood protection, sediment control, and conservation in order to preserve the economic welfare of the inhabitants of the basin.

They have jointly recommended a plan consisting of flood control and sediment-detention reservoirs, channel improvements, levee reconstruction, and other related work.

This plan is of great importance not only to the local inhabitants but also from a national standpoint. The Santa Fe Railroad runs through this valley and carries supplies for many national-defense activities in the State.

The railroad is faced with the threat of interruption of service and destruction of roadbed and trackage by floods along an extensive reach of the Rio Grande. If this should happen, there would be no alternate route short of El Paso to the south and Colorado to the north. This grave threat to the work of the Atomic Energy Commission and the guided missiles project should not be tolerated.

The following data is merely supplemental information on Belen, N. Mex., and I submit it with the thought in mind that it might be helpful in depicting the various segments of our business economy:

Belen is the center of an extensive network of transportation facilities, both State and transcontinental.

Here the Sante Fe Railroad maintains important division point facilities, employing about 450 persons the year round with an estimated annual pay roll of $1,080,000.

The railroad yards, which handled 635,861 freight cars in 1948, consist of a series of 22 tracks, 10 of which are each 3 miles in length.

There is a roundhouse for constant locomotives repair, repair tracks for freight cars, and a Diesel refueling station.

Here, too, is located an ice-manufacturing plant of the Railways Ice Co., which produces 162,000.000 pounds a year, ices an estimated 40,000 freight cars annually, has a storage capacity of 10,000 tons, and employs up to 125 workmen.

Four transcontinental trains, two in each direction. provide daily passenger service to Chicago and the East, Los Angeles and the West, Denver to the North, and El Paso to the south. There are four shuttle trains daily operating between Belen and New Mexico's largest city, Albuquerque.

Two major bus lines operating through Belen provide 20 daily schedules to Albuquerque and the North and an additional 20 daily schedules to the South and El Paso.

Numerous important truck lines operate through Belen providing daily service in all directions and one line maintains headquarters in this city.

Situated near the center of the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District, which encompasses an irrigable acreage of nearly 125,000 acres, Belen considers agriculture its principle industry. Since the valley is wider at Belen than at any other point, a third of this acreage is within a 10-mile radius of this city. Here small farms of 40 acres or less comprise the majority of irrigated tracts.

The most important crop in this vicinity is alfalfa. This crop provides protein for New Mexico's major industry of cattle raising. All the production is for local consumption.

On behalf of the chamber of commerce of Belen, N. Mex., and the Middle Rio Grande Flood Control Association, I join with the other witnesses from the valley in urging favorable action on the request for additional authorizations under the approved Comprehensive Plan for Flood Control and Reclamation in the Middle Rio Grande Basin.

EXTENSION OF REMARKS OF GEORGE LUSK, MANAGER, ALBUQUERQUE CHAMBER OF OF COMMERCE, ALBUQUERQUE, N. MEX.

Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee: Albuquerque's dynamic econ omy has attracted Nation-wide attention. So much so that the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City conducted its own survey of Albuquerque to factually deter mine its economic base. Results of this study indicate a 68-percent increase in

population within the urban area (Bernalillo County) from 1940 to 1948. Population in 1940 was 69,391; in 1948, it had increased to 116,000.

The study further reveals a 211-percent increase in the number of wage earners engaged in construction for the same period. In 1940 there were 1,362 active construction workers in Albuquerque. In June of 1948 there were 5,152. Today the figure is much greater due to the accelerated construction program now being carried on at Sandia Base of whose purpose I am sure you are familiar.

By the end of the current fiscal year, June 30, 1949, the United States Army Engineers advise us that in the Albuquerque area alone they will have expended $21,500,000 on construction alone for military and defense purposes.

The same Federal Reserve bank study indicates the next highest increase in wage workers occurred in the finance, insurance, and real estate classification which increased 107.5 percent in 1948 as compared to 1940.

In 1940 building permits issued within the city limits amounted to $2,355,930. In 1948 there were $14,734,012 of building permits issued; an increase of 601 percent.

The figures quoted above on military and civilian construction are given to point up the tremendous military and civilian activity taking place in Albuquerque. A flood in Albuquerque would seriously affect the progress of the defense effort by calling off construction workers for emergency relief work and would disastrously affect property values in the flood areas.

The total population in the danger area of the middle Rio Grande Valley subject to flood exceeds 250,000. Present property values exceed $400,000,000.

Additional economic data on the city of Albuquerque is attached. This data presents a picture of our dynamic economy.

The early completion of the comprehensive plan for flood control in the middle Rio Grande Valley is essential for the protection of life and property.

A new branch of the telephone company has gone into operation since May 1, and since that time approximately 1,000 new telephone connections have been installed. Exact figures will not be available until about June 10.

A large amount of building in metropolitan area not reported because outside corporate limits and does not include military construction.

1940_.

1946.

1947.

1948.

ARKANSAS RIVER

The CHAIRMAN. Colonel Gee, we have under consideration today the matter of increased authorizations along the Arkansas River, and