Page images
PDF
EPUB

STREAM CHANNELIZATION

(PART 3)

HEARINGS

BEFORE A

SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE

·S. Congress, Nonst. COMMITTEE ON

GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS, Consewatu
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES and Valeri

NINETY-SECOND CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

x

JUNE 9 AND 10, 1971

Printed for the use of the Committee on Government Operations

62-365 O

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON: 1971

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office
Washington, D.C. 20402 Price $3.50

KFRI

6636
1971

COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS

JACK BROOKS, Texas

CHET HOLIFIELD, California, Chairman

L. H. FOUNTAIN, North Carolina
ROBERT E. JONES, Alabama
EDWARD A. GARMATZ, Maryland
JOHN E. MOSS, California
DANTE B. FASCELL, Florida
HENRY S. REUSS, Wisconsin
JOHN S. MONAGAN, Connecticut
TORBERT H. MACDONALD, Massachusetts
WILLIAM S. MOORHEAD, Pennsylvania
CORNELIUS E. GALLAGHER, New Jersey
WM. J. RANDALL, Missouri

BENJAMIN S. ROSENTHAL, New York
JIM WRIGHT, Texas

FERNAND J. ST GERMAIN, Rhode Island
JOHN C. CULVER, Iowa

FLOYD V. HICKS, Washington
GEORGE W. COLLINS, Illinois

DON FUQUA, Florida

JOHN CONYERS, JR., Michigan
BILL ALEXANDER, Arkansas
BELLA S. ABZUG, New York

FLORENCE P. DWYER, New Jersey
OGDEN R. REID, New York
FRANK HORTON, New York
JOHN N. ERLENBORN, Illinois
JOHN W. WYDLER, New York
CLARENCE J. BROWN, Ohio
GUY VANDER JAGT, Michigan
GILBERT GUDE, Maryland

PAUL N. MCCLOSKEY, JR., California
JOHN H. BUCHANAN, JR., Alabama
SAM STEIGER, Arizona

GARRY BROWN, Michigan

BARRY M. GOLDWATER, JR., California J. KENNETH ROBINSON, Virginia WALTER E. POWELL, Ohio

CHARLES THONE, Nebraska

HERBERT ROBACK, Staff Director
CHRISTINE RAY DAVIS, Staff Administrator
JAMES A. LANIGAN, General Counsel

MILES Q. ROMNEY, Associate General Counsel
J. P. CARLSON, Minority Counsel

WILLIAM H. COPENHAVER, Minority Professional Staff

CONSERVATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES SUBCOMMITTEE

HENRY S. REUSS, Wisconsin, Chairman

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]

Frye, Dr. O. Earle, Jr., director, Florida Division of Game and Fresh
Water Fish__.

1338

Gettinger, George D., executive director, Wabash Valley Interstate
Commission of Illinois and Indiana__

1320

Hanten, Robert, South Dakota Department of Game, Fish, and Parks.
Huenefeld, Fred, Jr., president, Louisiana Soil and Water Conserva-
tion Districts_

1355

1363

Kelley, Charles D., chief, Game and Fish Division, Alabama Depart-
ment of Conservation__

1334

Turcotte, W. H., chief of Game and Fisheries Division, Mississippi
Game and Fish Commission_.

1345

Subjects of possible investigation relative to the Watershed Pro-

tection and Flood Protection Act (Public Law 83-566) .

Frost, S. L., deputy director for water, Ohio Department of Natural
Resources, statement..

1370

Jantzen, Robert A., director of the Arizona Game and Fish Depart-
ment: Map delineating various vegetation clearing project areas___ 1317

Letters, statements, etc., submitted for the record by-Continued
Murphy, Dean A., superintendent of game management, Missouri
Department of Conservation, statement.-

Turcotte, W. H., chief of Game and Fisheries Division, Mississippi
Game and Fish Commission: Sundry attachments (I-VII) re stream
channelization___.

Page 1297

1349-1353

Warvel, Harold, assistant director, Tennessee Game and Fish Com-
mission:

Channeled stream in Crow Creek watershed project, Alabama,
illustration___.
Statement___.

1290

1290

Unchanneled stream in Crow Creek watershed project, Tennessee,
illustration.

1289

Yancey, Richard K., assistant director, Louisiana Wildlife and Fish-
eries Commission, statement_._.

1279

APPENDIXES

(Appendixes 1-9 appear in part 1 of these hearings)

(Appendixes 10-13 appear in part 2 of these hearings)

Appendix 14.-Communications from State agencies

1385

Appendix 15.- Watershed projects involving channelization work-approved and pending...

1621

Appendix 16.-Additional communications relating to stream channelization_..

1799

Appendix 17.-Correspondence relating to the Alcovy channelization project, Georgia.......

1903

Appendix 18.-Statements of the Water Resources Council_

1937

Appendix 19.-U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Circular 39: "Wetlands of the United States," 1956..

1987

Appendix 20.-Stream channelization: 1971 amendment to Agriculture
Appropriations Act for fiscal year 1972__

2059

STREAM CHANNELIZATION

(Part 3)

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 9, 1971

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, CONSERVATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES SUBCOMMITTEE

OF THE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS,

Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met, at 10 a.m., in room 2247, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Henry S. Reuss (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.

Present: Representatives Henry S. Reuss, Gilbert Gude, Paul N. McCloskey, Jr., Sam Steiger, and John E. Moss.

Staff members present: Phineas Indritz, chief counsel; David B. Finnegan, assistant counsel; Michael B. Gross, legal assistant; and J. P. Carlson, minority counsel, Committee on Government Operations.

Mr. REUSS. The subcommittee will come to order.

Today we resume hearings concerning the dredging, modification, and channelization of waterways conducted or financed by the Soil Conservation Service, Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation, and other Federal agencies.

Last week Assistant Secretary of the Interior Nathaniel Reed testified that "a complete review of all river and stream channelization projects should be initiated." In connection with this review, the Assistant Secretary said that he "would support" a moratorium on stream channelization projects of the Soil Conservation Service while such a study was going on, "because," he said, "it would give us all time to come up with a reflective policy and not substantially damage any projects contemplated."

Mr. Reed testified that the facts show that extensive channelization is not sound.

Earlier, a dozen national conservation organizations, which testified before our subcommittee, all recommended that the stream channelization programs of the Department of Agriculture be halted until they have been reviewed and their effects on the environment reevaluated.

The Executive Director of the Water Resources Council, Mr. W. Don Maughan, told us last week that channelization "is such a controversial issue" that "a study should be made" and that his agency had the expertise to do such a study. He also told us that the Council staff had recommended a 2-year moratorium on channelization projects with some limited exceptions. Although the Department of Agriculture is a member of the Council, its agency, the Soil Conservation Service, testified against such a moratorium.

« PreviousContinue »