HEARINGS BEFORE THE The Library of Congress Revod AUG 3 0 1942 COMMITTEE ON IRRIGATION AND RECLAMATION.J HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEVENTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS A BILL TO AMEND AN ACT ENTITLED "AN ACT TO PREVENT FOR OTHER PURPOSES MARCH 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 18, 19, 21, AND APRIL 29, 1942 Printed for the use of the Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation 69725 UNITED STATES WASHINGTON: 1942 RLM CONTENTS Introductory statement of Chairman Compton I. White_. Hon. Knute Hill of Washington_. John C. Page, Commissioner, Bureau of Reclamation__ Page 8 11 18 74 74, 162, 183 Joseph H. Smart, Assistant Director of the Resettlement Division of Edward Davis, director of the Department of Conservation and De- 97 98, 131 105 E. H. Wiecking, Associate Land Use Coordinator, Department of Agri- 143 Kirby Billingsley, news editor, Wenatchee (Wash.) Daily World.. 167 172 208 Harlan H. Barrows, Planning Consultant and Codirector of Joint In- EXHIBITS 1. H. R. 6522, Seventy-seventh Congress, second session. 7. Section by section summary of the proposed Columbia Basin Project Act (H. R. 6522) as introduced....... 8. Description of lands involved and how the appraisals were made__‒‒‒ 9. Statement re provision in H. R. 6522 of authority for the Federal Gov- ernment to purchase the lands on the Columbia Basin project_-_- 10. Chronological steps in connection with approval and development of 11. Summary of appropriations and emergency fund allocations, fiscal 12. Public, No. 117, Seventy-fifth Congress, an act to prevent speculation 13. Public, No. 260, Seventy-fifth Congress, Reclamation Project Act of 1939_ 14. Memorandum of amendments suggested for inclusion in H. R. 6522_ 15. Amendment proposed by Congressman John R. Murdock. 16. Joint investigations, Columbia Basin irrigation project---. 17. Telegram of March 4, 1942, from James O'Sullivan, secretary, Quincy- THE COLUMBIA BASIN PROJECT ACT WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 1942 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON IRRIGATION AND RECLAMATION, Washington, D. C. The committee this day met at 10:30 a. m., Hon. Compton I. White (chairman) presiding, for consideration of H. R. 6522, which reads as follows: [H. R. 6522, 77th Cong., 2d sess.] A BILL To amend an Act entitled "An Act to prevent speculation in lands in the Columbia Basin prospectively irrigable by reason of the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam project and to aid actual settlers in securing such lands at the fair appraised value thereof as arid land, and for other purposes," Act of May 27, 1937 (50 Stat. 208), and for other purposes Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Act entitled "An Act to prevent speculation in lands in the Columbia Basin prospectively irrigable by reason of the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam project and to aid actual settlers in securing such lands at the fair appraised value thereof as arid land, and for other purposes," approved May 27, 1937 (50 Stat. 208), is hereby amended to read as follows: "SECTION 1. That, in addition to the purposes for which the Grand Coulee Dam project (hereinafter called the 'Columbia Basin project') was authorized under the provisions of the Act of August 30, 1935 (49 Stat. 1028), which are the primary purposes of such project, the said entire Columbia Basin project is hereby authorized and re-authorized as a project subject to the Reclamation Project Act of 1939; and the provisions of said Act of August 30, 1935, together with said Reclamation Project Act of 1939 and the specific provisions of this Act for said project shall govern the repayment of expenditures and the construction, operation, and maintenance of the works constructed as a part of said project. "SEC. 2. That no part of the funds heretofore or hereafter appropriated or allotted for the construction of the Columbia Basin project or for the reclamation of land in connection with said project, shall be expended in the construction of any irrigation features of said project, exclusive of Grand Coulee Dam and appurtenant works now under construction and of the pumping plant and equalizing reservoir and dams, until after the following provisions have been complied with: "(a) The lands proposed to be irrigated under said project (including county lands and such State lands as the State may desire and be able to subscribe for irrigation under said project and to subject to the terms of this Act) shall have been impartially appraised in a manner and to the extent prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior (hereinafter called the 'Secretary') for the determination of their value at the date of appraisal without reference to the proposed construction of the said irrigation works and without increment on account of the prospect of the construction of the said project. In the administration of sections 2 (b) (iv) and 3 of this Act it may be necessary from time to time to reappraise lands covered by the recordable contracts therein provided for. In such reappraisals the Secretary shall take into account, in addition to the value found in the first appraisal, improvements made after said appraisal and such construction charges on the land as have been paid. |