Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. Lujan.

Mr. LUJAN. Well, certainly, everybody in Carlsbad gave us all of the good points. Do you know anybody in Carlsbad that is against this project?

Mr. O'NEAL. Congressman, I do not. We are all in favor.

Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. Runnels?

Mr. RUNNELS. Mr. Chairman, I think you have already seen the evidence, but I can testify that Carlsbad, N. Mex., has one of the most active chambers in the State of New Mexico and the United States. They have worked long and hard, not only on this project, but many projects over the years, from my observation, and I congratulate them. Mr. O'NEAL. Thank you, Congressman.

Mr. JOHNSON. I noticed that yesterday when we arrived here. We generally do not get that type of red-carpet treatment. Sometimes, when we go into areas with a project that is a wee-bit controversial, we have demonstrations and we have very stormy hearings. But this has been a very pleasant one, and it was a most hospitable reception that was offered to us yesterday afternoon.

Mr. O'NEAL. It has been our pleasure, Congressman.

Mr. JOHNSON. Well, thank you, Mr. President.

Mr. O'NEAL. Our next witness will be Mr. Maynard G. Shearer, president of the Artesia Chamber of Commerce.

We are glad to have you here as president of the Chamber of Commerce of Artesia.

STATEMENT OF MAYNARD G. SHEARER, PRESIDENT, ARTESIA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Mr. SHEARER. It is an honor to be here and a privilege to speak on behalf of our chamber of commerce.

We are in support of this mainly for the life and property-
Incidentally, I am just going to summarize.

Mr. JOHNSON. Your statement will appear in the record and you may summarize it as you see fit.

The prepared statement submitted by Mr. Shearer reads in full as follows:)

STATEMENT OF MAYNARD G. SHEARER, PRESIDENT, ARTESIA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Artesia, New Mexico is located approximately 15 miles North of Lake McMilat Dam and 36 miles North of Carlsbad, New Mexico.

The citizens of Artesia have experienced tragic death and costly destruction of property as a result of flooding in North Eddy County. Because of these experiences and a knowledge of damage done to Carlsbad during those same periods we are greatly concerned about the health, welfare and safety of our Eddy County neighbors living South of McMillan and Avalon Dams.

Water that caused these tragedies in Artesia eventually passed through Carlsled. New Mexico via the Pecos River. These flooding conditions have occurred periodically in varying degrees of intensity and destructiveness but a much greater loss of life and destruction was prevented because of the effectiveness of M-Millan Dam in containing a large amount of the flood water. Over a period of many years silting has decreased in the effective capacity of the dam and rging of the structure causes concern for its capabilities and protection to South Eddy County, if placed under severe stress.

The Directors of the Artesia Chamber of Commerce recognize the potential bazards to life and property from flooding that presently exist in South Eddy

County. With these hazards acknowledged, the Directors formally passed a resolution on July 14, 1969 supporting and endorsing the construction of Brantley Dam.

We respectfully urge your favorable consideration of the Brantley Dam Project.

Mr. SHEARER. Our main purpose is the property and lives of our citizens down here. It is very important as far as we are concerned, and we want to do everything we can within our power for the construction of Brantley Dam.

I might add that in the present condition of the bill we feel, in Artesia, quite fortunate that we are above it and not below it.

So, we are in very much sympathy, and we do hope that you will give this project your highest consideration and that the bill does That would be the end of my statement.

pass.

Mr. JOHNSON. Well, we certainly will. There is nothing that looks worse than an area that has been hit by flood, where there is loss of life and property damage, with debris and everything else to clean up after the flood.

So, if we can take care of these things in advance I think that is the time to do it. I am glad to hear your chamber is in sympathy with the people here.

Mr. SHEARER. We definitely are.

Mr. JOHNSON. The gentleman from New Mexico, Mr. Lujan.

Mr. LUJAN. Thank you, Mr. Shearer, for taking the time to come down and testify, and I think Artesia is kind of having a little pang of conscience there for sending that water on down here. So, we are glad that you are here.

Mr. SHEARER. Thank you. That solves one of our problems, but it did not help yours down here any.

Mr. JOHNSON. The gentleman from New Mexico, Mr. Runnels.

Mr. RUNNELS. Mr. Chairman, yesterday, in the airport and later on today, in case you thought some of the men were wearing faded coats on, I want you to know that there is a distinct difference between the Carlsbad Gold Coaters and the Artesia Big Orange Country. The big orange is quite a big thing in Artesia, and they have a right to be proud of the things they have done. They live just north of Carlsbad in the same county, and there is some rivalry between the chambers and the cities, but it is all in good spirits.

And, Maynard, I want to say thank you for appearing and supporting the project.

Mr. SHEARER. Thank you.

Mr. JOHNSON. In line with that, when we landed in Roswell, there were the red coaters. Yesterday, we had gold coaters and sometimes we may be coming back here during the groundbreaking ceremonies or the dedication and run into the orange coaters.

Mr. RUNNELS. I guarantee that there will be many colored coats when you come back here.

Mr. JOHNSON. Thank you, Mr. President.

Mr. SHEARER. Thank you.

Mr. JOHNSON. Our next witness will be Mr. Bill Langenegger, chairman, Pecos River Pumpers Association, Hagerman, N. Mex.

STATEMENT OF A. W. LANGENEGGER, CHAIRMAN, PECOS RIVER

PUMPERS ASSOCIATION, HAGERMAN, N. MEX.

Mr. LANGENEGGER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. JOHNSON. We are very glad to have you people here. Do you want to have your associates or group at the table there? Mr. LANGENEGGER. No, sir. We just have our statement to go before the committee.

Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, Congressman Runnels, I certainly want to express my appreciation for your conducting these field hearings. You know I have something in common with the Mayor. I do not think I can afford another trip to Washington. So we certainly appreciate your bringing the hearings here and our opportunity to appear.

At the outset, I want to make it clear that we have never opposed Brantley Dam per se. We are merely fearful that, unless proper operating criteria is established, we will suffer severe damage and loss to our rights. We do support the project with these reservations, and I want that to be abundantly clear, because we are not, really, opposed to the project if we can be protected.

I do not disagree with any statement that is made here today in regard to the need for the project, the necessity and the benefits concerned, so, really, we do not have a lot of disagreement, and maybe we can work those out.

Mr. JOHNSON. I am very glad to have that type of a statement in the record, because I know how concerned you are as users of the river. Certainly, without water you will be out of business altogether. Of course, you want to remain in business and you want to work out a proper solution, yet be protected.

Mr. LANGENEGGER. That is correct, sir.

Mr. Chairman, if I may, I would like to read my statement.
Mr. JOHNSON. Go right ahead.

Mr. LANGENEGGER. I believe I can do it in 5 minutes.

Mr. JOHNSON. Go right ahead.

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

Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I am A. W. Langenegger, a farmer and a resident of Hagerman, N. Mex. I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you to present the views of a minority group of water users, diverting their water directly from the Pecos River. I appear here in behalf of the Pecos River Pumpers Association. The association is an unincorporated group of 24 farmers who irrigate their lands by pumping water out of the Pecos River. The average size farm of all but one of us who have the right to appropriate the waters of the Pecos River is less than 150 acres. We irrigate about 3.900 acres of land with Pecos River water. Our water rights are legal; they, like those of the Government, have been adjudicated in Federal District Court; they stretch back in time of inception from the 1920's to before the turn of the century. Some of our rights are superior in point of time to most of the irrigation storage rights of our downstream neighbors who are represented by the Bureau of Reclamation and the Carlsbad Irrigation District, and the remainder of our rights are subsequent in time to those storage rights. Our rights are superior in point

of time to a very large percentage of underground water users in the Roswell Artesian Basin.

Our downstream neighbors irrigate with Pecos River waters about 20,000 acres under their Bureau of Reclamation Project; they claim the right to irrigate 25,000 acres. Our acreage is about one-sixth of theirs. We are smaller than they are. What does this mean? It should mean nothing. We both produce the same crops under the same climatic conditions. Not more than 80 miles separate the farthest farms. The water requirements for our crops and soil conditions are similar.

To irrigate the 25,000 acres in the Carlsbad Irrigation District, the United States through the Bureau of Reclamation claims the right, and it has been adjudicated the right, to divert up to 1,000 cubic feet per second of the flow of the Pecos River. This amounts to a maximum rate of diversion of 1 cubic foot of water for every 20 or 25 acres of land. Until not too many years ago the Pecos River pumpers upstream were limited to a diversion rate of 1 cubic foot of water per second for every 70 acres irrigated. In other words, we could divert water at only one-third the rate which was permitted to the Carlsbad Irrigation District. We felt that diverting water at such a low rate was not agriculturally sound, and so we took the matter to court. We proved to the court that our low rate of diversion was extremely wasteful of water. The court ruled in our favor. Who opposed and fought our effort to increase our diversion rate in order to save water? The Carlsbad Irrigation District as representative of the U.S. Government.

To irrigate the 20,000 acres in the Carlsbad Irrigation District, the United States through the Bureau of Reclamation claims the right, and it has been adjudicated the right, to store up to 397,000 acrefeet of water in the existing Avalon and McMillan Reservoirs and in any additional reservoirs which it desires to build upstream from Avalon. In other words, each irrigated acre of land under the Carlsbad Irrigation District has the adjudicated right to about 20 acre-feet of backup storage rights. The 20.000 acres are presently relying upon three reservoirs, Avalon, McMillan and Alamogordo. While this Subcommittee is now considering the possibility of the construction of Brantley to replace McMillan, the Government and the Carlsbad Irrigation District have recently filed with the New Mexico State Engineer an application to transfer part of their storage rights from Alamogordo Reservoir to a fifth reservoir which is proposed to be built at Los Esteros farther upstream. Thus we see the fair possibility of four reservoirs on the Pecos River to serve a single 20,000-acre Bureau of Reclamation project. The Pecos River pumpers, of course, have no storage capability and are without any backup storage rights.

To irrigate the 20,000 acres in the Carlsbad Irrigation District, the district diverts about 3.6 acre-feet of surface water per year for each acre of land. On the other hand, the Pecos River pumpers divert about 2.8 acre-feet of water for each acre of land, or 28.5 percent less water per acre than the Bureau of Reclamation project. 2.8 acre-feet of water per acre is slightly below what we actually need for effective irrigation and below what we are entitled to take.

The principal reason for our low diversion rate is the lack of river water of satisfactory amount and quality at the times when we need to irrigate.

To irrigate the 200,000 acres in the Carlsbad Irrigation District, most of the farms have a supplementary source of water. It has been estimated by the State Engineer's Office that over 400 wells pump underground water for the supplemental irrigation of these lands, an average of at least one well per 50 acres. Water pumped from these wells is not metered and is in addition to the 3.6 acrefeet of surface water diverted for use upon the project farms. The constant availability of a supplemental source of irrigation water is invaluable insurance to a farmer who primarily uses surface waters for his irrigation. It is money in the bank. Among the Pecos River pumpers only two have supplemental sources of water for their surface-water rights. Obtaining the right to drill supplemental wells was a difficult and expensive experience, for it required two contested hearings before the State engineer, two contested trails in District Court, and one contested hearing before the Supreme Court of New Mexico. Who opposed and fought this effort to obtain a supplemental source of irrigation water, this effort to obtain the same insurance which most farmers under the Carlsbad Irrigation District enjoy? It was the Carlsbad Irrigation District in behalf of the Government's Carlsbad project. I might add that there now appears to be very little chance that most of the Pecos River pumpers will be able to find usable water underneath their farms. Consequently, most of the pumpers may continue for some time to be without any supplemental source of water.

Why are we here today? The answer is that we have been running short of water during the irrigation season, and the construction and operation of the Brantley project may worsen our position depending on how the Government operates the project. There are two reasons for our water shortage.

One reason is that the drilling of water wells in the Roswell Artesian Water Basin and the large development of underground waters have caused a diminishment in the upward percolation of these waters into the Pecos River stream system, thus decreasing the flow of the river. A partial solution is for the pumpers to form a water company to develop underground wells to furnish a supplementary source of water to their farms. The New Mexico Interstate Streams Commission has offered us some assistance in this respect, but with certain conditions. Conversely, the Government's Carlsbad Irrigation District continues to oppose this solution, for only in the last month the district protested the application to the State engineer of one of our pumpers who seeks the right to obtain supplemental underground waters, a right which the Supreme Court of New Mexico has upheld.

The other reason for our water shortage was the construction by the United States of the Alamogordo Dam and Reservoir on the Pecos River approximately 160 river miles upstream from our pumpers. This dam, built in 1937 for the benefit of the Carlsbad project, intercepts 100 percent of the flow of the river; no water is allowed to pass through except that required by the Fort Sumner Irrigation District which lies immediately below the reservoir and except that which is released for the benefit of the Carlsbad project.