90TH CONGRESS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2d Session { REPORT No. 1072 DESIGNATING THE OAHE RESERVOIR AS LAKE OAHE FEBRUARY 5, 1968.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed Mr. JOHNSON of California, from the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 2901] The Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs to whom was referred the bill (H.R. 2901) to designate the Oahe Reservoir on the Missouri River in the States of North Dakota and South Dakota as Lake Oahe, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass. PURPOSE The purpose of H.R. 2901, by Representative Reifel, is to give the official name, Lake Oahe, to the reservoir behind the Oahe Dam. An identical bill was introduced by Representative Kleppe. NEED The Oahe Dam was constructed by the Army Corps of Engineers. under the Flood Control Act of 1944. It is one of the largest earthfill structures in the world, and impounds a maximum water surface pool of 376,000 acres with a shoreline of 2,250 miles. The reservoir has never been named officially. It is fitting that the reservoir be named for the Indian people who first lived in the area. Oahe is a Sioux Indian word meaning "foundation, a place to stand upon, or a stepping stone." Oahe Reservoir is, in fact, the foundation. of the Missouri Basin development program. It is expected to be the foundation of great future development. The name is already generally accepted and in common usage. DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS Favorable departmental reports are as follows: DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY, Hon. WAYNE N. ASPINALL, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Reference is made to your request to the Secretary of Defense for the views of the Department of Defense on H.R. 2901 and H.R. 3553, 90th Congress, bills to designate the Oahe Reservoir on the Missouri River in the States of North Dakota and South Dakota as Lake Oahe. The Department of the Army has been assigned responsibility for expressing the views of the Department of Defense on these bills. The purpose of these bills is stated in their titles. The Oahe Dam, located in South Dakota, was designed and constructed by the Army Corps of Engineers and is one of the largest earthfill structures in the world. The project was authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1944 (58 Stat. 887, 891). Construction was started in 1948 and was completed in 1962. The project provides for flood protection, irrigation, navigation, municipal water supply, power development, fish and wildlife, and recreation. The Oahe Reservoir controls a drainage area of 243,490 square miles and has a maximum water surface pool of 376,000 acres. The pool extends from the center of South Dakota northward into North Dakota and has a shoreline of 2,250 miles available for recreation. The project was named in honor of the Oahe Indian people who in earlier times inhabited the region. The Department of the Army has no objection to H.R. 2901 and H.R. 3553. The Bureau of the Budget advises that, from the standpoint of the administration's program, there is no objection to the presentation of this report for the consideration of the committee. Sincerely, STANLEY R. RESOR, Secretary of the Army. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Hon. WAYNE N. ASPINALL, Chairman, Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, DEAR MR. ASPINALL: This is in response to your request of March 13 for the views of the Department on H.R. 2901 and H.R. 3553, identical bills to designate the Oahe Reservoir on the Missouri River in the States of North Dakota and South Dakota as Lake Oahe. The bill would provide that the Oahe Reservoir on the Missouri in the States of North Dakota and South Dakota shall be known and designated hereafter as Lake Oahe in honor of the Indian people who inhabited the great Missouri River Basin. Any law, regulation, document, or record of the United States in which such reservoir is referred to by any other name shall be held and considered to refer to such reservoir by the name of Lake Oahe. H. Rept. 1072 The Department of the Interior would interpose no objection to the subject bill. This is a Corps of Engineers project. The Bureau of the Budget has advised that there is no objection to the presentation of this report from the standpoint of the administration's program. Sincerely yours, KENNETH HOLUM, Assistant Secretary of the Interior. COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION The House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs recommends that the bill be enacted. |