Rural property: Damage, July 22, 1948, Neosho River flood 30,000 acres growing wheat, corn and alfalfa inundated to total destruction Corn, wheat, oats, and alfalfa in storage__ Houses, barns, sheds, and fences----. Movable farm machinery, tractors, etc--. Railroads, highways, bridges, and levees- Loss of income and wages due to suspension of business_ Total_ $1,680, 000 50,000 100, 000 10,000 250,000 5,000 10, 000 2, 105, 000 I arrived at the above figures after a careful survey of the damages following the flood, and believe the amounts to be conservative to the best of my knowledge. The 1948 flood at Iola on the Neosho River was 2 feet higher than any preceding flood, and at Humboldt it was 10 inches above any previous mark. Yours very truly, A. W. YOUNG, County Engineer. FLOW STABILITY IN THE NEOSHO RIVER AT IOLA, KANS. In only 2 years during the decade following 1931 was the minimum flow in the Neosho River great enough to meet the 1947 water requirement of Iola with a desirable flow of 16 second-feet. If the flow of water in the Neosho River at Iola should cease, the cities of Iola, Gas City, LeHarpe, and Bassett, with an estimated population of 9,000, would be placed in a serious predicament and their very existence threatened. If the flow of water in the Neosho River should cease, it would mean closing down the city power plant and practically every citizen in Allen County would be affected, since this plant furnishes electrical energy to the REA as well as to Iola and the surrounding communities. In time of drought many farm families are dependent on the water supplies of Iola and Humboldt. Farm ponds and wells go dry and the city water sources are the farmer's only supply. The water consumption pumped to the city of Iola amounts to nearly 3 secondfeet and the desirable flow for cooling water for the steam-driven turbines at the power plant amount to 16 second-feet. This cooling water is not consumed but is returned to the river after passing through the condensers. A flow of water is desirable for dilution of the treated sewage entering the river at the mouth of Elm Creek. This effluent from the sewage treatment plant now amounts to approximately 14 second-feet. Low flows contribute to contamination or pollution of water supplies. It creates conditions offensive to sight or smell and leads to the destruction of food fish and other aquatic life as well as destroys the usefulness of natural waters for recreation, commerce, or industry. Water is directly or indirectly involved in almost every phase of the life of a community and inadequate supplies of potable water can be the limiting factor in a community's economic growth and development. In a report to the Governor of Kansas relative to water resources, the committee brought out the fact that the average yearly run-off in Kansas streams for the 9-year period 1922-30, as compared with the 9 years 1931-39, inclusive, run-off from watersheds of streams in southeastern Kansas decreased 48 to 50 percent. This included the Neosho, Verdigris, and Walnut Rivers. The acute water shortages which have been brought about by drought conditions have become widespread, resulting in serious losses to farmers and stockmen. Aside from repeated crpo failures, many of them have been confronted with the necessity of hauling water for their livestock. This became so burdensome that it was necessary in a great number of instances to dispose of most of the livestock and in some cases foundation stock has been sacrificed. The losses sustained by agricultural enterprises due to water shortage have not been estimated, but there is no doubt they far exceed losses resulting from floods. Many cities in the State have been adversely affected and some industries have been severely handicapped as a result of water shortages. In many cases it has been necessary to obtain emergency supplies at considerable expense and to drastically restrict the purposes for which it might be used. In addition to the materially increased costs which are involved, most communities as well a sindustries in those circumstances, are faced with hazards incident to the limited availability of water supplies for fire protection. As in the case of agricultural enterprises, the loss sustained by municipalities and industries because of water shortages have not been estimated, but it is likewise obvious that the amount is a substantial sum representing a large economic loss to the State. The little town of Neosha Falls in Woodson County probably is the hardest hit by the flooding Neosho. Neosho Falls had the distinction of being host to the President of the United States on the first visit of a President west of the Mississippi River. Rutherford B. Hayes, accompanied by Gen. William T. Sherman and a host of brass hats, attended the fair. The town was the county seat and about the best town in southeastern Kansas. It was the first city or town in Kansas to have all of its streets surfaced and for many years was the only one. Then continuing floods of increasing frequency and depth, causing greater losses each time, caused many residents to leave. Its professional men moved away. Its newspaper quit and no town in Kansas can thrive without a newspaper. A survey made last month shows that 70 houses in the town have been torn down or moved away-and very few were moved. The population fell from 452 in 1940 to 354 in 1947, the latest figure I have. There are 102 city blocks. Only five of them escaped the July 1948 flood, and most of them were entirely under water. Only 32 of the 136 homes escaped flooding and most of these had floodwater in the yard. Basements, wells, cisterns, etc., were flooded with polluted muddy water. As the town has no public water system, each flood creates a tremendous health hazard. Houses, stores, and public buildings had many inches of muddy water. The The river entirely surrounded the five blocks which were not flooded. town was entirely cut off from the rest of the world and its only railroad, the Katy, was out of business for many days. The business section, once the pride of the Neosho Valley, was all under water. Every place of business in town was flooded, the water ranging from 57 inches deep down to 19 inches in the few stores which were on unusually high foundations. The memorial hall, jail, firehouse, churches, hydroelectric plant, telephone office, school building, post office, railroad station, playground, city park— in fact everything in the town was hit. The accompanying pictures show something of the flood, and the figures show the losses in farms and in homes. Neosho Falls, which had a population of 452, still had a population of 357 in 1947 in spite of the frequent floods, as the valley around it produces fine crops when floods permit. With the construction of the dams recommended by the engineers, Neosho Falls will be protected from overflow and have a chance to regain its place in the world. Neosho Falls alone can do nothing but linger and die. I have here itemized statements of the losses of individuals in the ctly of Neosho Falls-losses which came in spite of the fact that they tried to move their goods where they thought would be out of reach of the flood. The losses of the 18 individuals and firms in business in this little town totaled $17,620.33. That is a small portion of the loss and no insurance is available to cover flood losses. I have also losses by 40 farmers in Neosho Falls township outside of the city. These losses are figured at prices prevailing at that time and total $263,440.83. Only one of the 40 farmer listed any loss through damage to the land itself, although farmers along practically the full length of the river declare that the July 1948 flood did much more damage to the land than any one preceding flood. Great gullies were washed in some fields, debris piled on others, timber along the river damaged and great quantities of the rich top soil carried down stream. SCS workers declare that nowhere is there any better soil in Kansas than in the Neosho Valley. Neither is the cost of cleaning out the wells, cisterns, cellars, etc., figured in these losses. Nor the cost of cleaning a couple of inches of the nastiest, stickiet sort of mud out of the houses-possibly because the housekeepers realize that it will be many months before they get rid of all of it. Merchants did not figure anything for loss of business or the onerous days of cleaning up and replacing stocks, and few figured damage to foundations undermined by the swift current. While no other town in the watershed has been hit as hard in proportion as Neosho Falls, many others suffered losses, notably Strong City and Saffordville on the Cottonwood. Neoho Falls does not have a waterworks system but depends upon individual wells for its domestic supply. Every well in town was flooded and had to be pumped out, cleaned out and disinfected before its water could be used. For a number of days volunteers in row boats risked their lives in the swift current carrying drinking water to those who were surrounded by water, but had none to drink. Fortunately and most miraculously, the people at the Falls and throughout the valley have escaped typhoid fever, which so often follows flooding of wells and cisterns. Health authorities and others took prompt precautions against typhoid. It is feared, however, that immunity from epidemics may not always continue, and the residents of the valley beg for the authorization of the Neosho Valley proj ects recommended by the Corps of Engineers in House Document 442. Mr. REDMOND. Mr. Barker was too bashful, I think, to bring out one point in his statement on the low water end of it. The State board of health told us there was seven times as much water used in the towns as they get from their water supply from the Neosho in 1936 as pass down the river, and they tell us that dry Kansas is still supposed to be dry. The CHAIRMAN. I thought you always were wet out there. [Laughter.] Mr. REDMOND. They will drink anything, but they do draw the line. The next witness is Mr. Walter Chappell, of Chanute, Kans. STATEMENT OF WALTER H. CHAPPELL The CHAIRMAN. What points do you want to make now in that statement that you would like to file? Mr. CHAPPELL. I have been asked by the chairman to make a statement with regard to the agricultural losses of the valley. The CHAIRMAN. In your area? Mr. CHAPPELL. Well, yes, sir, of these 11 counties that are repre sented. The CHAIRMAN. Do you have that statement there so that we can look it over carefully? Mr. CHAPPELL. Yes, that is right, sir, and I have some photographic maps. The CHAIRMAN. Do you want to keep those maps or leave them? Mr. CHAPPELL. I want to leave them. The CHAIRMAN. Emphasize the high points of that statement, without reading it, and you can file that statement. Mr. CHAPPELL. All right, sir, be glad to. One is fairly We have this from two different sections on the river. complete in Neosho County and the other around LeRoy, about 30 miles up the river. It is practically impossible to get from every farm the losses, but we have sustained damages to the extent-well, it is far above your estimates here. But these fellows say they have had these losses, so we kind of have to go by our figures, and we hope that they will be helpful to you. The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, and we are glad to have had your statement. You may file that with the reporter and the clerk will take good care of all these photographs and make them available to the committee, and they are very constructive. (Statements submitted by Mr. Chappell follow :) 92329-49 -28 AGRICULTURAL LOSSES IN THE COTTONWOOD-NEOSHO VALLEY WATERSHED IN KANSAS The Cottonwood-Neosho River Valley, consisting of 11 of the richest agricultural counties in Kansas, is affected by seasonal floods. The flooded area covers 65,000 acres out of a total of 368,640. Recently erosion practices have been pushed to keep the upland soil from being further washed away to the creek and river bottoms. Much of the rich topsoil has already been washed into the flooded area, which is nonproductive during the flood years. The flood losses in Neosho County were over $3,000,000 in the 1948 flood. The other 10 counties in the watershed had comparable losses. Seven hundred families in Coffee County alone were hit by the fall flood of 1926. Three hundred and seventeen of these families were rehabilitated by the American Red Cross, the other 385 families were financially able to get by without Red Cross assistance. The Red Cross rehabilitated 1,216 families in a distance of 80 miles in eight counties following the 1926 flood, and that was just one of many floods. Fifty years ago, most of the best rural homes in this region were in the valley, which was the most thickly settled. Now, practically all of these big houses are gone-abandoned or moved because of the frequent floods which washed away livestock and poultry and crops that were growing and crops already harvested; flooded the wells, cisterns, and cellars, and in many instances entered the houses. Higher and more frequent floods in the later years caused great losses and forced the owners to move out. The frequent floods also made these places undesirable to tenants, although high prices and good crops in recent years without floods have brought some back. The program for reservoirs in this area, along with soil conservation practices will complete and round out an effective flood-control program. Without the reservoirs, we will continue to have flood losses such as the 1948 and many preceding disastrous years produced. (Papers submitted by Mr. Chappell enumerating action flood damages to many farmers in the Cottonwood-Neosho Valley are on file with the committee.) STATEMENT OF M. F. COSGROVE, REPRESENTING THE KANSAS CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION The CHAIRMAN. Now we will have the opposition, and who is the gentleman in charge of the opposition? Mr. COSGROVE. M. F. Cosgrove, sir. The CHAIRMAN. From Topeka ? Mr. COSGROVE. That is right. The CHAIRMAN. How far is that from this project? Mr. COSGROVE. That is quite some distance from this project. I am interested in this as a landlord in the area which will be inundated. Members of my family are interested in the area which will be inundated. The CHAIRMAN. All right, sir, we will be glad to have any statement you desire to make with respect to this. You live behind all the dams or just one of them in particular? The CHAIRMAN. Is your land behind all of it? Mr. COSGROVE. Just two. Now these are petitions, and the signatures on the petitions are people who are opposed to these four projects, one at Council Grove. The CHAIRMAN. How many of them live around the lower dam there? Mr. COSGROVE. Oh, I would say approximately a third of them live around the lower dam and the others in the upper three dams. The CHAIRMAN. We have heard from practically all of them. Mr. McGREGOR. Approximately how many signatures do you have? Mr. COSGROVE. There are something over 2,000 people there, and I might state that in addition to those who signed the petition, the following people have made the trip here, though we are not going to ask all of them to testify: Harry White, Alvin Weight, James Meisner, Mrs. J. C. McKinney, Henry White, A. E. Funk, Warren Mush, Francis Gorman, Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Lillian, Pat Sauble, Mrs. Ora Pearson, and Mr. Kreitsinger. Mr. McGREGOR. Do they live below the dam or above the dam? Mr. COSGROVE. These people either live or own land above the dam, that is, those who came here. Many of those people who signed the petition that I have filed here live below as well as above the dam. Mr. MCDONOUGH. Do all of the people that signed the petition-are they in opposition to the construction of the various reservoirs in the area that is affected by the reservoirs? Mr. COSGROVE. Either above or below. Many of them live in the towns. Mr. MCDONOUGH. They all own land that is affected by it? Mr. COSGROVE. Yes, and the people that live in Hartford may not own farm land, but the entire town of Hartford will be wiped out by this. Mr. MCDONOUGH. In other words, there are no signatures on any of these petitions of people that do not own land that is affected by the construction of any one of the four reservoirs. Mr. COSGROVE. Will you state that again? Mr. MCDONOUGH. I say, are there any names on these petitions of people who do not own land that is affected by the construction of any one of the four reservoirs-who do not own land? Mr. COSGROVE. I think that question can be answered, there are people who signed that live all over the area. Mr. MCDONOUGH. Then there is the expression in here, in these petitions, that the people are both affected economically, and they are lending their moral support to your side of the question. Mr. COSGROVE. That is correct. Mr. MCDONOUGH. And what percentage of those who own land represent the total number of petition signers? Are there more people own land that signed the petition? Mr. COSGROVE. There are more people signed the petition than own land. Mr. MCDONOUGH. I see. Then there are more people giving moral support than own land. Mr. COSGROVE. That is correct. Mr. MCDONOUGH. Can you inform me what do you consider the value of the land that the people who signed the petition-they know they are going to be reimbursed. You know they are not going to lose the land. They are going to get something out of it. Mr. COSGROVE. That is quite true. They expect to be reimbursed for the fair and reasonable market value of the land. They understand that. If that is not allowed by the appraisers, they have the right to go to court, and they will let that matter be passed upon by a jury. |