generating capacity for economic and security reasons, here in the 308 report you find another agency effectively blocking such development in the interests of fish, regardless of whether such uses would, in fact, adversely affect the fisheries.

We have publicly branded it as double talk; and, in all fairness, I believe the Corps of Engineers agrees with us. Reference is made in the text to the possi bility that at some future time, economic growth may show a need for revision of fish sanctuary restrictions to permit power, flood control, and irrigation uses of the available tributary waters. We suggest that as to the Cowlitz, that time has now come. Factual approach assures us the economic need for power great, the damage to fisheries virtually nil at 52 miles above the Columbia.

Since the hands of the city of Tacoma and many other utilities are now tried by the influence of 308's appendix P, further responsibility for speeding power generation falls upon the Federal Government.

The blunt fact is that the Federal system operating through the Bonneville Power Administration is quite incapable of fulfilling its obligations to serve, even with all interlocking utilities pulling together. This situation clearly will persist over several years into the future until area generation of power catches up with area consumption of power. Even if all public and private agencies had clear sailing today, they alone could not finance and construct plants fast enough to keep pace with load growth in the area.

Successive Federal administrations and Congresses have set the pattern and preempted the available sites for development in the Columbia Basin, and have encouraged the growth of those obligations which they cannot today fulfill.

The engineers by this report provide the plan for construction, but that construction can only be brought to reality by action of Congress.

The CHAIRMAN. The next witness I have on this list is Mr. Kirby Billingsley, of Wenatchee, Wash. Do you have a statement about this matter? That is a fine town, great apple country. Are you for or against this dam up there in Idaho?

STATEMENT OF KIRBY BILLINGSLEY, ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT TO COLUMBIA BASIN COMMISSION, STATE OF WASHINGTON

Mr. BILLINGSLEY. For it. And I only wish to add that the Columbia Basin Commission of the State of Washington, of which I am administrative assistant, has taken formal action urging the develop ment of that dam, and urging the immediate development of Albeni Falls Dam, and urging the immediate authorization by Congress of the comprehensive plan as amended and coordinated with the Bureau plan.

The CHAIRMAN. That statement is hard to beat. You can pass it by, but you will never improve on it.

(Mr. Billingsley's prepared statement follows:)

PREPARED STATEMENT OF KIRBY BILLINGSLEY OF WENATCHEE, WASH.

The future of the State of Washington and the entire Northwest depends to a great extent upon the sound development and use of the waters of the Columbia River.

It is the main source of both water and power, water for the irrigation of our arid lands, and power for homes and industries. Most natural resources become exhausted as they are used, but this running water is wasted only when it is not used.

During the past year we have had disastrous floods and also an acute power shortage, and in other years we have had devasting droughts, all of which can be alleviated or prevented by building dams to harness the waters of the Columbia.

We in the Northwest need a blueprint which can be studied and followed as we carry out the orderly development of the resources of the Columbia River Valley.

We wish to proceed in an orderly, businesslike manner with these projects, making certain as we go that maximum benefits are obtained.

The Columbia River itself flows fast, carries a tremendous volume of water, and, fortunately, is confined through much of its course in a channel deep enough to permit complete control if dams are properly placed and constructed.

There is no other river of such size where the waters can be so completely controlled, and if controlled can be put to so many uses-power, irrigation, navigation, flood control, and others.

For over a hundred years the people living in that valley have planned and worked for development of the river.

We have long felt the need for a comprehensive plan-a thorough study of the resources and a blueprint for their development.

Two years ago the United States Bureau of Reclamation completed their survey and came out with a remarkable document, but no action was taken on it because the Army engineers were carrying on a more exhaustive study which was only recently completed.

The Columbia Basin Commission of the State of Washington considered both and requested coordination and integration of the two.

This has now been done, and the commission urges that the reports be approved and adopted by this session of the Congress of the United States. Following is the text of the commission's recent resolution addressed to the President and to Congress :

RESOLUTION

Whereas comprehensive plans for the development of the water resources of the Columbia Basin areas have been developed by the United States Bureau of Reclamation of the Department of Interior and by the Corps of Engineers of the War Department; and

Whereas coordination and integration of these plans is of fundamental importance and primary interest to the State of Washington and the Pacific Northwest; and

Whereas coordination and integration of said plans has already been accomplished to a considerable degree, and no obstacle stands in the way of final and complete coordination; and

Whereas such final and complete coordination and integration will result in efficiency, harmony, and continued orderly development of the region without delay: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Columbia Basin Commission of the State of Washington, That said plans represented by the "Blue Book" report of the Bureau of Reclamation and by the revised 308 report of the Corps of Engineers be finally integrated and coordinated and presented for adoption by the Congress of the United States; and be it further

Resolved, That copies of this resolution be sent to the Executive Office of the President of the United States, Washington, D. C. Done at Ephrata, Wash., this 16th day of April 1949.

J. V. ROGERS, Chairman, Columbia Basin Commission.

Attest:

KIRBY BILLINGSLEY, Administrative Assistant.

The Columbia Basin Commission has also formally requested congressional authorization of the Albeni Falls project, and urged the earliest possible construction, thus firming-up the river flow and increasing power production at all dams downstream.

The commission also supported appropriation of local and State participation funds in connection with the Green River-Duwamish waterway project, and urges congressional authorization and early construction by the Corps of Engineers, United States Army.

The CHAIRMAN. The next witness is Mr. De Groot, of Washington. Do you have a statement that you would like to file?

STATEMENT OF THEODORE DE GROOT, WOODLAND, WASH.

Mr. DE GROOT. I have just an oral statement, Mr. Chairman. I am a grower in the State of Washington. Last year the floods took all of our possessions away. We have in this section 9,000 of the most beautiful acres in the world. What we need there is a better and bigger dike at approximately a cost of $20 an acre.

All over the Nation we are reclaiming more and more land. This additional or better dike will provide this section of the country protection. You know, for prosperity we need all these acres, and if we could only get a little better dike down there the people of Woodland, Wash., would be thankful.

That is all I have to say.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Mr. De Groot.

Mr. ANGELL. Mr. Chairman, and members of the committee: I would like to present Mr. Sterrett. Mr. Sterrett devotes all of his time to matters of this sort and is very well informed on this project and is on the staff of the chamber of commerce of Portland, Oreg.

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Sterrett, do you have a written statement? STATEMENT OF C. E. STERRETT, VICE CHAIRMAN, MAYOR'S FLOOD CONTROL COMMITTEE, PORTLAND, OREG.

Mr. STERRETT. I have two official statements here to present. One is the official statement of the Portland Chamber of Commerce; and the other is the statement of the mayor's flood-control committee, of which I am vice chairman.

The CHAIRMAN. May I ask here, is the Portland Chamber of Commerce and the people generally of Portland in favor of this 308 development?

Mr. STERRETT. We are in favor of the 308 report in general. The CHAIRMAN. And also the Albeni Falls development? Mr. STERRETT. Particularly the Albeni Falls development because it will help us out on our power supply situation at the present time.

The CHAIRMAN. Do you concur in the statements of the Army engineers and others that were given to the committee that Albeni Falls presents, perhaps, the best project which could be brought into production for increasing the hydroelectric power in the area? Mr. STERRETT. I do.

As vice chairman of the mayor's flood protection committee I would like to bring out the point that Portland, being the largest major city in the lower Columbia River area, is faced with flood danger from two sources. Last year our flood came from the backwater of the Columbia River. In addition we are faced with the possibility of flood from the Willamette River. Portland is on the Willamette River near the confluence with the Columbia.

When I left Portland the other morning the backwater of the Columbia River had reached an elevation of 23 feet at Portland. Our major flood last year was an elevation of 30 feet.

We are not anticipating great floods from the Columbia, but if something should happen and we have a tremendous rainstorm in the Willamette Valley, it would bring up the Willamette River and it would cause us considerable damage even this year.

For that reason we heartily endorse the engineers' report because it contains in there the Willamette Valley project which is necessary to us. It also contains sufficient funds for building up our levees and dikes in the Portland area. And from the long-range standpoint it controls floods on the headwaters of the Columbia River.

Mr. ANGELL. Mr. Sterrett, I called to the attention of the committee this morning that I have introduced H. R. 3774, which has for its purpose the improvement of certain works on Johnson Creek. That is a tributary of the Willamette River, as you know, and lies pretty largely within the corporate limits of the city of Portland.

Will you say a word as to the urgent need for the construction of that project?

Mr. STERRETT. I think that project is one that should be expedited. I happen to live within two blocks of Johnson Creek. Fortunately, I am about a hundred feet above it. But I do know in the early spring we have flash floods on the Johnson Creek which are very damaging to the residents that live along it in the Portland area. I think that should be expedited.

Mr. ANGELL. It is a project included in this 308 report?

Mr. STERRETT. It is.

Mr. ANGELL. I also have introduced another bill, H. R. 3968, which has for its purpose the strengthening of the levees of peninsula drainage district No. 1 in the Portland area, and which is the drainage district where the break-through occurred which destroyed Vanport. Will you say a word as to the emergency need of strengthening that dike?

Mr. STERRETT. I concur in your feeling that those dikes in peninsula drainage district No. 1, and the other drainage districts along the Columbia River in the Portland area should be fixed up and improved as soon as possible.

Mr. ANGELL. It is true, is it not, that the so-called dike where that break occurred was really not a dike but a fill made by the railroad to carry its tracks, used for some 30 or 35 years, and was not constructed as a dike?

Mr. STERRETT. It was constructed principally as a railroad fill, and the people unfortunately thought it was a dike. But it was not constructed for that purpose.

Mr. ANGELL. All that has taken place now since the break occurred is the filling of that earth fill by the railroad so that they might resume traffic on their railroad, and needed work by the Army engineers to strengthen the dike is necessary to prevent another disaster of that sort.

Mr. STERRETT. That is so. If we had another flood of as high as last year, that fill would go out again, I am sure.

Mr. ANGELL. In a very brief statement, what was the result of the break-through at that point?

Mr. STERRETT. That precipitated the disastrous Vanport matter which caused $25,000,000 damage, wiped out the Vanport housing project which housed over 15,000 persons in that area, which we had to take care of in other dwellings there.

Mr. ANGELL. And their homes were completely destroyed and have never been rebuilt, and the Vanport area now is vacant?

Mr. STERRETT. The area is vacant there except that the district along the Columbia River on little higher ground is still to be protected by peninsula drainage district No. 1; we have such industries as Swift & Co., Western Waxpaper, that are still in that district.

Mr. ANGELL. Those are very substantial industries, are they not, with large pay rolls?

Mr. STERRETT. Very substantial.

Mr. ANGELL. And they are subject to being flooded out again? Mr. STERRETT. They are, if something is not done to strengthen those dikes.

Mr. ANGELL. Unless some emergency relief work is done in accordance with the bill that I have introduced?

Mr. STERRETT. That is right.

Mr. ANGELL. One other point, Mr. Chairman. I have also introduced H. R. 3969, which has for its purpose the construction of works for improvement on the lower Columbia River to prevent flood damage such as took place in the 1948 flood to reinforce and strengthen those dikes, those on the Oregon side and the Washington side. Part of that territory is in my district. What would you say with reference to that?

Mr. STERRETT. All those projects are included in the United States engineers' review report. I think they should be expedited if they

can.

Mr. ANGELL. In your judgment they are of an emergency nature? Mr. STERRETT. They are.

Mr. ANGELL. Thank you, Mr. Sterrett.

Mr. Chairman, I have introduced another bill, H. R. 4679, pending before our committee which I will ask later to consider and present the report of the Army engineers thereon and to submit other testimony in support thereof.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much. You may file your

statement.

(The statements referred to follow :)

STATEMENT PREPARED BY MAYOR'S CITIZENS COMMITTEE ON FLOOD CONTROL PLANNING, PORTLAND, OREG., ON UNITED STATES ENGINEERS' REVIEW REPORT, COLUMBIA RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES

SUMMARY STATEMENT

As the first anniversary of the disastrous flood of May 1948 approaches, this committee of interested Portland citizens appointed by Mayor Dorothy McCullough Lee, submits to Congress its endorsement of the review report of the United States engineers prepared by the division engineer of the North Pacifie Division on October 1, 1948.

Although the primary concern of this committee is to implement the protection of the Portland area from any floods that may occur in the future, we urge the speedy adoption of this comprehensive plan of development of the Columbia River and its tributaries, because it is our opinion that only through the completion of this whole program can the maximum flood protection be provided Portland and other communities in the lower Columbia and Willamette River Valleys.

It is estimated that the backwater of the Willamette River in the 1948 flood inundated 5,000 acres in the Portland area, and caused a damage to property in the amount of $10,275,000. This figure does not include the damage done to the neighboring community of Vanport. This housing project was completely destroyed with attendant loss of life, destruction of buildings, and loss of furniture and personal belongings.