that you have reached agreement with the people supporting the project. As long as your waters are protected for power purposes downstream, you are in full support of the project?

Mr. KIBURZ. Yes, sir.

Mr. JOHNSON. The gentleman from Idaho, Mr. McClure.

Mr. MCCLURE. Mr. Chairman, I could not help but note one addition to the statement that was made because I think it is a very appropriate and pertinent observation, that you have an interest in the reclamation of these lands because it lies within your service

area.

Mr. KIBURZ. Yes, sir. As a power district we are interested in the economic development which is of great benefit to our area.

Mr. McCLURE. There is a very great community of interest even although the development may be along a slightly different line. Mr. KIBURZ. Yes, sir.

Mr. MCCLURE. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

(Mr. Kiburz' statement follows:)

STATEMENT OF MAX E. KIBURZ, General MANAGER, LOUP POWER DISTRICT,
COLUMBUS, NEBR.

The Loup River Public Power District has owned a water right on Loup River waters since 1934. This right permits them to use 3500 feet per second of Loup waters for the generation of power.

The Loup District serves electricity to Platte, Boone, Nance and Colfax Counties at retail and the economic development of this area is largely dependent on the waters of the Loup River.

There is a dire need for an overall comprehensive plan to provide maximum utilization of the Loup River waters for the benefit of all upstream and downstream interests.

The various interests have agreed to modify the North Loup Project by increasing the storage capacity so that it is not necessary to divert any water during the months of July and August. These months are the critical months so far as low flow in the downstream areas are concerned. I understand that these changes are incorporated in the present bill.

With these changes we feel:

(1) that this project will add to Nebraska's and our area's economy,

(2) that this project is the first step in a comprehensive program that will be supported by all interests in the Loup River basin, to make maximum use of the vital resource, and

(3) that Congress should encourage, promote and fund a comprehensive plan for the development of this river basin.

We respectfully request that this subcommittee give favorable consideration to the North Loup Project.

Mr. JOHNSON. We are going to recess now for lunch. Will Mr. Kenneth L. Cook, the director of the agricultural development, Burlington Northern, appear here or is his representative here to submit his statement?

Mr. CASEY. Mr. Chairman, Mr. Duxbury, who is associated with Mr. Cook, asked me to request that his statement be filed in the record at the proper place. We have the statement.

Mr. JOHNSON. You have heard the request. Is there objection? If not, his statement will appear in the record at this point. (Mr. Cook's statement follows:)

STATEMENT OF KENNETH L. COOK, DIRECTOR, AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT, BURLINGTON NORTHERN INC.

Mr. Chairman, and members of the Committee: My name is Kenneth L. Cook, Director of Agricultural Development for Burlington Northern Inc., with

headquarters at St. Paul, Minnesota. For more than a century, the growing economic development of the West has drawn its principal strength from the fruitful partnership of American agriculture and American Railroads. As Director of Agricultural Development for Burlington Northern-one of the oldest of the granger railroads and today the largest in track miles-I am pleased to submit for the record of this hearing a statement in support of the North Loup Division of the Missouri River Basin Project.

Our faith in the potential of this development is based on solid experience. Burlington Northern, through its predecessor companies, has been directly involved for many years in programs of the type proposed for the North Loup Division. Our record of cooperation in the development of agricultural resources throughout the Midwest and West speaks for itself.

Burlington Northern serves many outstanding agricultural areas in the vast territory linked by our 25,000-mile rail network. Agricultural states include Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri. Iowa. Minnesota, Nebraska. North and South Dakota. Wyoming. Colorado, Texas, Montana. Idaho, Washington and Oregon. In this richly productive region are a number of the nation's most highly developed areas of irrigated agriculture.

The degree to which irrigation as an economic factor can affect such an area is clearly demonstrated by the changes we have experienced in volume and character of traffic and the revenues generated. These are reliable measures of growth and improvement-not merely for Burlington Northern, but for the communities and businesses we serve.

The destinies of these communities are intrinsically linked with our own, and I can think of no better way of intensifying the agricultural economy or stemming the migration from rural America than through irrigation development. This is particularly significant to a state like Nebraska, which already is heavily agriculture-oriented.

Any of the irrigated areas we serve might be used as an example of how investment in irrigation has brought with it investment in plant and facilities and general economic growth. However, because of my familiarity with it, I would like to refer to the Columbia Basin Project. Some of you, of course, are acquainted with it also, and I believe it will be easy to illustrate the salient points I would like to make.

Burlington Northern operates 172 miles of line in the Columbia Basin Project, the most recent irrigation development on our railroad. Before 1952, we served only a handful of country elevators in the entire area-all that was needed for the lesser production of dry farming.

Where there were nine industries handling agricultural production before irrigation, there are now at least 140- an increase of more thn 1300 per cent! Obviously, such industrial growth represents a substantial investment by many firms. We estimate that along our lines alone, approximately $75 million has been invested in facilities to handle products from the Columbia Basin Project. And two other railroads also serve the project. Our business in the area has more than doubled in the past 10 years. The growth since the start of irrigation in 1952 has been of even greater proportions. This is not to say that the North Loup Division will necessarily produce the same spectacular results; yet they will be similar and the industries which will develop are of the same nature. They include sugar beet, potato and dry bean proeessing, as well as those supporting agricultural production-fertilizer, farm machinery and other products and equipment. These same crops and agricultural inputs are part of Nebraska's agricultural economy today, and will expand with irrigation development.

Burlington Northern presently operates a branchline through the North Loup River Valley. Like many branchlines in Nebraska, it was built before the turn of the century and is generally constructed of light-weight rail. Although the revenues derived from the area have been fairly stable, the costs to maintain and operate the line are constantly rising. Th economic improvement of the area which will result from authorization and construction of this project will help toward putting the branchline on a sounder economic basis.

The stakes involved in a project of this scope are high, but the economic benefits are substantial and far-reaching. Irrigation would provide long-term economic stability which would undergird even further development.

Burlington Northern's long years of experience in serving irrigated agricultural regions convinces us that the proposed North Loup Division development is an asset with unique and valuable potential.

Mr. JOHNSON. This afternoon we had about 12 witnesses scheduled to appear. The subcommittee will recess until 2:00 o'clock and we would like to get through by 4:00 o'clock. How much interruption we are going to have in the afternoon by the legislative procedure is more than I can say at this particular time. We will try and have members here so that we do have a legitimate number of at least one minority member with us when we continue the hearings at 2 o'clock.

We will recess until 2 o'clock.

(Whereupon, at 11:55 am., the hearing was recessed, to reconvene at 2 p.m., this day.)

AFTERNOON SESSION

Mr. JOHNSON. The Subcommittee on Irrigation and Reclamation will come to order.

Our first witness this afternoon is Mr. George Svoboda, attorney, city of Fremont, Nebr., accompanied by Mr. Tom Eason, the Lower Loup-Platte Water Association, Inc.

STATEMENT OF GEORGE SVOBODA, ATTORNEY, CITY OF FREMONT, NEBR.; ACCOMPANIED BY TOM EASON, LOWER LOUP-PLATTE WATER ASSOCIATION, INC.

Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. Svoboda.

I notice from your statement that you have considerable extraneous material. Your statement will appear in the record and the other materials will have to be made a part of the file under the House rules. You may summarize your statement any way you see fit.

Mr. SVOBODA. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Congressmen. I am George Svoboda, attorney. I am principally the attorney for the board of public works of the city of Fremont which handles all the water functions of the city. I am also attorney for the Loup-Platte Water Association, Inc., and Mr. Tom Eason is the director of it and will speak on the farm aspects. I will confine mine to the urban aspects.

This organization was founded some years ago when I held political office locally. Because of our opposition to this particular project and others, over a number of years, I regret to say we have perhaps delayed this project, but in recent years we found an area of agreement between the Bureau of Reclamation and myself and our organization and there is a paragraph 5 in this bill which everybody is referring to. This wording comes from our-at our request and our suggestion and we have been assured that these flows that will come through in July and August and partially at times in September, part of the time in September, will be sufficient to keep what we call a wet Platte. We are not even on the river, on this map up here. We in Fremont, and other cities have our wells next to and close to the Platte River, and those of us who are familiar with it know that the Loup River is the principal source of water for the

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Platte in our area, and with it being shut off we would have a dry Platte. We would have no place to canoe. We didn't know we were environmentalists when we started out on this objection, but we find out what we have been saying has been picked up by the environmentalists.

We are here to register our approval of this project because of its general value to the economy of Nebraska. We do wish to make a record of the fact that there is in my statement a study by E. Bruce Meier, a consulting engineering now, at that time a professor at the University of Nebraska, who drew a conclusion based on detailed study saying that 80 percent of the water in the Lincoln city wells in Nebraska comes by induced flow from the Platte River surface flow. Based on this and other similar kinds of studies this was the basis for our objection.

Now, we have been assured by the Bureau of Engineers that we shouldn't have the problem that we thought we would have because waters are being released during the critical months.

Mr. JOHNSON. I want to make one comment based upon your stating that your area is not shown on the map. We generally ask that we confine the map to the project area and make it as big as possible so all can see it. Therefore we don't have enough room for detail. Mr. SVOBODA. Yes, sir. I have nothing further unless there are some questions.

Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. Eason?

Mr. EASON. Mr. Chairman, the Lower Loup-Platte Association is a group of people who associate themselves together from the town of Genoa which is on the Lower Loup River on down along the Platte to Omaha where the Platte makes its confluence with the Missouri. It is primarily an area of shallow depth irrigation wells. We feel that this provision as George has stated is very good for our purposes and we want to endorse the authorization of this project.

Now, to speak for just a moment on the State level, I represent the Governor on the Soil and Water Conservation Commission in Lincoln. We have what I think is a well recognized framework study for a State water plan in Nebraska.

I believe it has been recognized at the national level by the formation of your water resources council the need for coordinated planning.

Projects such as this and such as the O'Neill project, other projects in Nebraska, all have to be taken into consideration. The soil and water commission has been charged by the Nebraska Legislature with coming up with a priority plan for projects to be developed in Nebraska.

So, I would like to urge that authorization of such projects as are in the works here be approved in as speedy a way as possible because it is very difficult to formulate a long-range plan unless you know what blocks you have to build with and what water supply you have to work with.

That is all that I have to say, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. JOHNSON. We want to thank you, Mr. Eason, for your remarks and those relating to your other capacities in the soil conservation area.

I want to say, Mr. Svoboda, the exhibits that you have prepared are very well laid out and documented. The staff will have a lot of reading to make sure that we know everything that is in the exhibits that you have placed in the file for our information.

We want to thank both of you for coming here. I have no real questions. I am glad to learn that the problems have been worked out and that you are both in support of the project.

The gentleman from Oklahoma, Mr. Camp.

Mr. CAMP. I will just say yak sha musch.

Mr. Svoboda. Dobja.

Mr. JOHNSON. Thank you.

(The documents referred to will be found in the files of the subcommittee.)

(Mr. Svoboda's statement referred to follows:)

STATEMENT PRESENTED BY GEORGE E. SVOBODA, ATTORNEY FOR BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS OF CITY OF FREMONT, NEBR., COUNTY OF DODGE, NEBR., AND LOWER LOUP PLATTE WATER ASSOCIATION, INC.

(Exhibits indexed in this statement are in the files of the subcommittee)

I am George E. Svoboda, attorney of Fremont, Nebraska, who primarily represents the Board of Public Works of the City of Fremont, Nebraska, which controls and handles the water functions of the city. It operates twenty-three city wells now and projects thirty more for use in the next 20 years. It also is generally in charge of the flood protection for the City. I am also attorney for the Lower Loup Platte Water Association, Inc., an organization of various counties and cities on the Lower Loup Platte river system from Monroe, Nebraska, to the month of the Platte. These cities through the Lower Loup Platte Water Association have been instrumental in providing a constant objection to piece-meal installation of irrigation projects in the Upper Loup Rivers, which failed to recognize the down stream interests. The cities along the Platte have a direct interest in a controlled wet flowing Platte, because of the relationship between first: surface stream to the underground stream in the Platte Valley and second: flooding situation as regards their water wells, and third: for those cities like Fremont who are right next to Platte, the flooding potential of the Platte.

I have been asked to present the urban interest in Lower Platte River waters and to emphasize that aspect. These urban water interests include the water needs and problems of Schuyler, North Bend, Fremont, Valley, Lincoln and Omaha, constituting little less than a majority of the population of the State of Nebraska.

The Loup River System in Nebraska is the principal source of water for the Lower Platte. The Lower Platte is a sand-bottomed river and the whole Platte Valley is underlined with sand and gravel strata through which surface waters of the Platte permeate down to well level aquifers. We consider the Upper Loup System a part of "our" stream. Fremont, Schuyler, North Bend and probably Lincoln were using the waters of the Platte long before a single irrigation project was ever installed on the Upper Loup. Omaha's interest through the Metropolitan Utilities District of Omaha has within the last four years developed a well field on an island in the middle of the Platte. Fremont has also filed all of our city wells with the Nebraska Department of Water Resources to stake out their claim to underground water rights, which we believe are related to surface flow in the Platte. It is no secret that almost every summer west of Columbus, the Platte River is virtually dry. There is attached to my statement a photocopy of a story from the Fremont Tribune as Exhibit No. 1, covering general effects of the dryness of the Platte near Fremont in 1963, indicating by picture it would not even float a Boy Scout's canoe that summer. We city people were first told by Upper Loup River interests, when we voiced objection as to the effect of their projects, that it was no concern of ours and that there was no danger in the Loup irrigation dams cutting off all the water. We are pleased to