a change concerning an authorized project, it should be free to make such recommendation. Therefore, I suggest that the words "and authorized projects" line 16, page 3, and that all of subsection (6) of section 7, page 11 be stricken from the bill. Subsection (5) section 7, states a priority of use of waters arising in States lying wholly or partly east of the ninety-eighth meridian. This may be intended as a reiteration of the policy as established in section 1 (b) of Public Law 534 approved December 22, 1944. If so, the word "east" should be changed to "west" in line 4, page 11. If this is not true and the intent is to establish a new policy, then I am opposed to all of subsection (5) of section 7. Such a policy would be contrary to the principle of riparian rights as recognized in this State and may prove to be detrimental to the best development of the resources of the State. I suggest that State agencies be included in line 24, page 6. Senator KERR. And I have an analysis of flood damages for the years 1946-48 taken from records in the office of the Corps of Engineers. That shows, Mr. Chairman, that in these 3 years flood damages in the United States amounted to $1,292,338,700. It shows that damage was across the Nation. Senator DoWNEY. It will be received for the record. (The table is as follows:) Summary of flood damages for the years 1946-48 Senator KERR. I would like to include in the record a telegram from Governor McMath, of Arkansas, a letter and statement by the Governor, of Arkansas, a letter from the Governor, of Kansas, and a letter from the Governor of New Mexico, and a statement by Congressman Wilson. Senator DOWNEY. They will be received and made a part of the record. (The documents are as follows:) Hon. DENNIS CHAVEZ, STATE OF KANSAS, Chairman, Public Works Committee, United States Senate, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR SENATOR CHAVEZ: I understand that hearings will begin next week on S. 1576, the bill to establish a United States Study Commission on the ArkansasWhite and Red River Basins. There is need for a coordinated comprehensive general plan for flood control and sound economic development of the streams in these basins for beneficial purposes. In the preparation of such plans the States in these basins should have an active part. I have given the proposed measure careful consideration 94522-49-pt. 1- -41 and believe that it meets these objectives and that they can be attained under its provisions. Accomplishment of the purposes of the bill would be in the best interest of the people of Kansas. I therefore endorse the measure and urge its favorable consideration by your committee and the Congress. I would appreciate it if you would present my views to the committee. With kindest regards, FRANK CARLSON, Governor. Senator DENNIS CHAVEZ, LITTLE ROCK, ARK., July 19, 1949. Chairman, Committee on Public Works, United States Senate, Washington, D. C.: Understand that Senate bill 1576 by Senator Kerr and others, to provide for an integrated and cooperative investigation, study and survey of the land and water resources of the Arkansas, White, and Red River Basins will shortly be before your committee for its consideration. I have heretofore expressed my approval of the general objectives of this legislation and wish to go on record in favor of the bill. Senator DENNIS CHAVEZ, Chairman, Committee on Public Works, United States Senate, Washington, D. C. SID MCMATH, Governor of Arkansas. STATE OF ARKANSAS, OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR, DEAR SENATOR: I would appreciate your bringing the attached statement to the attention of the Committee on Public Works at the hearing to be held Friday, July 22, 1949. Very truly yours, STATEMENT BY GOVERNOR SID MCMATH SID MOMATH. The creation of the proposed United States Commission on the Arkansas, White, and Red Rivers appeals to me as Governor of Arkansas and to our people concerned with river development as a logical and valuable approach to the whole problem. The full control and use of the waters of our streams is basic to all our efforts to stabilize and improve our economy. All efforts in that direction have been handicapped by the fact that planning has necessarily been divided between several agencies and no provision has been made for integrating and coordinating existing plans nor for full planning for the entire basins of these streams. The purpose of the bill under consideration is highly desirable, both from the viewpoint of the people in the area affected and the viewpoint of the Federal Government. Basin-wide planning plus coordinated plans for works to be done by the several Federal agencies will produce a better balanced development, consolidated support of all the people affected behind the same objectives, and avoid waste and duplication with their unnecessary cost. The plan of organization proposed in this measure preserves a proper balance between Federal and State interests through the method of selection of the members of the commission. It avoids creation of a new permanent agency. It preserves the distinct responsibilities of the existing development agencies in the Federal Government. This measure completely meets my approval as Governor of Arkansas. It like wise meets approval of the Arkansas Resources and Development Commission. the Arkansas State agency responsible for preservation and development of our natural resources, and of the private citizens of the State who have been con cerned over the years with river control and use. We hope your committee will give it favorable consideration. STATE OF NEW MEXICO, Hon. DENNIS CHAVEZ, Chairman, Public Works Committee, United States Senate, Washington, D. C. DEAR SENATOR: I have today talked with Senator Robert S. Kerr regarding S. 1576, which would establish a United States Study Commission on the ArkansasWhite and Red River Basins. Officials of New Mexico have hitherto expressed their approval of this bill as now drawn, but I am writing you so that you will know that the State of New Mexico is heartily in favor of this measure and that the passage of S. 1576 in its present form is strongly recommended. With best wishes and kindest personal regards, I am Yours sincerely, THOMAS J. MABRY, Governor. STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN GEORGE HOWARD WILSON Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the opportunity afforded to me to file this statement in support of S. 1576 which would establish a 13-man study commission on the development of the Arkansas-White and Red River Basins. I am vitally interested in the welfare of this region since I represent 12 counties of northwest Oklahoma in this region and a portion of my district formed part of the famous, or rather infamous, Dust Bowl of the thirties. Water erosion and flood control are problems to this region equally as important and perplexing as were the problems of wind erosion in the thirties. Floods alternating with severe and perennial droughts makes the utilization and conservation of every cubic foot of water a must. The river basins involved include all of the area of Oklahoma and parts of seven other States; each State has sovereign rights and yet these States acting individually are incapable of providing for over-all and coordinated planning for the development and welfare of this potentially rich area of nearly 230,000 square miles. The probabilities of these States acting in concert to accomplish this purpose without Federal encouragement and assistance is indeed remote. It is equally true that to permit existing governmental agencies to plan the development of this area in a piecemeal and haphazard manner would result in a wholly inadequate and incomplete approach to the total problem of this area. We have long experienced and tolerated the wasteful competition of Government agencies in the field of water development as high-lighted in recent reports of the Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government. Each agency naturally makes its surveys stressing the features of development in which it is interested. The purposes of these agencies are admirable and I am sure that they are sincere in the emphasis they place on particular projects. While the studies of these agencies are most comprehensive insofar as they relate to the agency affected their work should still be subordinate to the general welfare and all agencies should work together. 8. 1576 is identical to H. R. 4331 which I have introduced in the House of Representatives and I believe is well suited to coordinate the efforts of the Government agencies and the States involved. By its terms a 13-man study commission representing the Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation, Soil Conservation Service, Federal Power Commission, Fish and Wildlife Service, and other agencies and the eight States would make a comprehensive survey and study of this basin and submit its findings to Congress within 2 years. This bill does not provide for the construction or the authorization of the construction of a single dam, terrace, or windbreak. It does provide the machinery which will provide us with a comprehensive pattern on which Congress can intelligently pass judgment and base its future action. I believe that such a program would result in the maximum utilization of the taxpayers' dollar. It is certain that this procedure would furnish a most enlightening comparison as to effectiveness with other regions which have had haphazard development or which have been developed with emphasis on a particular resource such as power or irrigation to the detriment of all others. Investigations provided for in this bill would include not only power, flood control, and irrigation, but also soil conservation, navigation, fish and wildlife resources, pollution abatement, domestic and municipal water supplies, salinity, silt control, recreational development, and improvement of transportation. I would be remiss in my duties as a Congressman representing a portion of the area affected by this proposed legislation if I did not direct your attention to the terrible toll that wind and water erosion and extreme droughts have taken in this area. This coupled too frequently with yearly planting of soil-depleting crops will in time result in the impoverishment of this region when it has the potentialities of being a rich reservoir of commodities and industry in our protected interior. The annual hazard of our floods and the barren hand of our droughts are convincing proof that we should control rather than encourage further ravages of nature. Given comprehensive program for combating the inroads of nature on the resources of this region we can best prepare for the eventualities that lie ahead. I thank you. Senator KERR. For the benefit of the committee I have prepared photostatic copies of newspapers. I do this for this reason: I said in my statement that we have a condition of floods somewhere all the time and over wide areas some of the time. If it were possible that we could see at one time a comprehensive picture of the terrible damage from floods, I believe that we would move with dispatch more rapidly than we have ever moved to meet the challenge of controlling flood waters. Here is a photostatic copy of the Roanoke Times of June 19, 1949: Five killed, over 20 missing in floods. Torrents lash West Virginia, Virginia areas. And the Parkersburg News of Parkersburg, W. Va.: Hundreds homeless in West Virginia flash flood, 2 towns isolated, heavy rains persist. Senator MALONE. What are the dates? Senator KERR. That was June 18, 1949. This is May 19, 1949, the Daily Oklahoman : Washita runs wild; flood peril grows as new storms hit. The Houston Post of May 18, 1949: 13,200 persons homeless in flood. Six drown in Fort Worth; crest nears Dallas area. And the Daily Oklahoman, October 9, 1946: Flooding Canadian sets record in Beaver; city lowlands alerted. I notice over in the other corner: Feud with OPA may drive out 19 city families. We have eliminated that danger to the national economy. The Louisville Times of January 8, 1946: State flood tops 1929 high levels. Thousands fleeing homes; Pineville twothirds evacuated. The St. Louis Globe-Democrat of June 29, 1947: Worst flood ever moves on city. High water near record of 103 years. And the St. Louis Globe-Democrat of June 9, 1945: Four drown in Missouri flash flood. And the Oregonian of June 1, 1948: No dead found; Denver dike breaks. Water spills into Kelso, Woodland Meadows threatened; Vanport debris covers fate of possible dead. Breach in dike inundates rich farm land and city of Woodland. Relentless tide engulfs Vanport, spells death in 90 minutes. The Oregonian of June 2, 1948: Willamette falls after hitting 29.95-foot top. River drop to continue but warming weather may bring new water. And from the same issue: Cresting Columbia changes map as grim dike fight continues. The Louisville Times of March 7, 1945: Rain over 471⁄2 feet Thursday. flood wall periled by new top. River's crest due to hold for 24 hours. Jeff's The Oregonian of May 31, 1948: Flood crumbles Vanport. Thousands escape death. 18,500 made homeless as dike breaks. Scores injured. Toll unknown. The Nashville Banner of February 14, 1948: Flood rescue work pushed in mid-State. Air photos tell story. 52-foot crest expected here by next Friday. The Daily Herald, Biloxi, Miss., January 9, 1946: Twenty-one die in record floods. Waters reach all-time highs in many sections. The Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, Miss., February 14, 1948: Winds, floods spread havoc, death. One hundred and fifty families floodmenaced near Crowder. The Miami Herald, Fla., October 13, 1947: Two thousand Dade families left homeless; guard may be used to halt looting. Federal aid rushed to flood areas. Fort Lauderdale, Opa-Locka, Canal Point are soggy with flood water. The Miami Herald, September 24, 1947: Workers battle to bolster flood-battered road dike guarding Dades farmland. The Sunday Oregonian, December 30, 1945: Six persons feared drowned as flood damage mounts. The Augusta Chronicle, Augusta, Ga., November 29, 1948: Floods threaten three States of South as streams overflow; many Georgia areas inundated. The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 29, 1946: Floods engulf many cities in Pennsylvania. Eleven dead, 13 lost in two-State area; damage millions. The Detroit Free Press, March 20, 1948: Floods bit State; tornadoes kill 45. Homes evacuated by thousands. Boy, 5, killed in barn collapse- and so forth. Senator DOWNEY. Senator Kerr, perhaps the Senator from California is unduly sensitive, but you have rather injured his feelings because you have not given any account of the floods in California. Senator KERR. I was going to ask the Chairman to supply that for the benefit of the Senator and the record. Senator DOWNEY. I will be happy to do that. It may surprise the committee to know that one of the most dangerous flood spots in the United States is the Los Angeles area. I think |