The purpose of this appropriation is to provide funds for use in emergencies, protection and flood fighting which may be necessary incident to floods in the river at points where the Commission, and insofar as the United States is concerned, the United States section is charged with the responsibility of providing flood control. The United States section of the International Boundary and Water Commission is charged with the operation and maintenance of the Rio Grande canalization project and of the United States portion of the Rio Grand rectification project, the Lower Rio Grande flood-control project, and the Falcon project. These projects are located along the Rio Grande as follows: The canalization project from the Caballo Dam in New Mexico to El Paso, Tex., a distance of about 112 miles; the rectification project from El Paso, Tex., to the canyon below old Fort Quitman, a distance of about 90 miles; the Lower Rio Grande flood-control project from Penitas to the gulf, a distance of about 180 miles; and Falcon Dam and Reservoir, about 75 miles downstream from Laredo, Tex. These projects have been constructed primarily for flood control and in total represent a Federal investment in works amounting to $57,572, 109, which protects some of the most highly developed irrigated areas in the United States. It is estimated that the value of the improvements protected by these projec's aggregate nearly $1 billion. The regular annual appropriations made for operation and maintenance of these projects cover only the amounts estimated as required under normal and average conditions.

The river in the lower Rio Grande Valley is subject to floods originating below Falcon Dam as severe as that which occurred in 1932 when about 60,000 acres of United States lands were inundated and flood damages amounting to more than $1 million were suffered. The river through the canalization and rectification projects is subject to floods whenever flows from the uncontrolled drainage areas below the reservoir occur and whenever the Elephant Butte Reservoir spills, as occurred in 1942. The flood of that year required an emergency expenditure in the neighborhood of $350,000 in protective and preventive measures in addition to the funds available to the Commission for the regular operation and maintenance of these projects. It may be anticipated that similar floods will occur in future years.

In the last days of June 1954, a record-breaking flood poured into the Rio Grande from the Pecos and the Devils Rivers destroving gaging stations and other stream gaging equipment located in that area that will cost this section an estimated $15,000 to replace. Damages to Government constructed works were relatively minor due to the fact that this flood occurred downstream from the location of the Rio Grande canalization and rectification projects and upstream from Falcon Dam which contained the flood thus saving the lower Rio Grande flood-control project from very extensive damages.

PREPARED STATEMENT

Mr. HEWITT. I may possibly refer to these maps and charts here. Senator KILGORE. May we keep these?

Mr. HEWITT. Yes, sir; they are for the benefit of the committee.

Senator KILGORE. Thank you.

Your statement may be made a part of the record at this point. (The statement referred to follows:)

STATEMENT OF L. H. HEWITT, INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY AND WATER COMMISSION, UNITED STATES AND MEXICO

BACKGROUND

The International Boundary and Water Commission, United States and Mexico, created pursuant to the treaty of 1889, with Mexico, is an international body composed of the United States section, with headquarters in El Paso, Tex., and the Mexican section, with headquarters in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. The Commission is charged by the 1889 treaty, and a series of subsequent treaties, the latest being that of 1944, with the accomplishment of a long-term and positive program of cooperative action between the United States and Mexico for the solution of joint engineering problems arising along the boundary, including problems relating to changes in and stabilization of the fluvial boundary, equitable division between these two countries of the waters of the Rio Grande, the Colorado and the Tijuana Rivers, flood control, water conservation, and storage for beneficial uses in the two countries, development of hydroelectric power, and elimination of sanitation hazards. Participation by the United States in these activities has been specifically authorized in advance by treaty or an act of the Congress.

Because of the international character of the problems and in accordance with express treaty provisions, the United States section of the Commission operates under the policy guidance of the Department of State, while the Mexican section operates under the policy guidance of Mexico's Ministry of Foreign Relations.

SALARIES AND EXPENSES

This appropriation will finance (1) the general administration and engineering activities essential to fulfillment of the basic responsibilities of the United States section, which is composed of the United States Commissioner, secretary, two principal engineers, legal counsel, and includes supporting administrative and engineering services personnel; and (2) preliminary surveys and investigations aimed at development of specific projects for the solution of international problems determined by the two Governments to be properly within the jurisdiction of the Commission.

The basic administrative and engineering responsibilities include: (a) administration on behalf of the United States of the applicable treaties and other agreements in force, in accordance with acts of the Congress governing the functioning of the section; (b) policy formulation and management of the United States section; (c) technical engineering guidance and supervision on behalf of the United States of accounting of national ownership of boundary waters, and of planning, construction, operation, and maintenance of international projects; and (d) general engineering studies relating to international problems within the purview of the Commission which are either of a continuing nature or have not developed sufficiently to warrant the formulation of a specific project.

The preliminary surveys and investigations during 1956 will probably be restricted to: (a) those agreed to by the two Governments in article 12 of the 1944 water treaty relating to flood control on the lower Colorado River; and (b) the sanitation problem which has developed along the boundary in the vicinity of San Ysidro, Calif., and Tijuana, Baja California.

OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE ACTIVITIES

Operation and maintenance of completed projects, or of completed integral segments of projects under construction, as authorized by existing treaties and/or acts of Congress, are wholly from this appropriation.

El Paso projects

This

The Rio Grande canalization was authorized by act of June 4, 1936. project, extending from Caballo Dan in New Mexico to El Paso, Tex., a distance of 110 miles, was developed specifically to conserve water for compliance with the 1906 convention which, with certain exceptions, guarantees Mexico 60,000 acre-feet of water annually.

The American Dan and Canal were authorized by the acts of August 29, 1935, and of June 4, 1936. These structures located in the United States are used

exclusively to effect the division of water between the two countries in accordance with the 1906 convention.

The Rio Grande rectification was authorized by the treaty of February 1, 1933. The project, extending from El Paso southeastwardly to Fort Quitman, Tex., shortened the international boundary in this section from 155 to 88 miles, and serves the dual purpose of stabilizing this portion of the fluvial boundary and providing flood control for the benefit of the highly developed irrigated lands lying below El Paso-Ciudad Juarez on each side of the Rio Grande.

These three exclusively operation and maintenance projects are under the supervision of the same personnel stationed in the vicinity of El Paso, Tex.

During the years 1954 and 1955, when the funds available for operation and maintenance of these projects were severely curtailed, they could not be maintained in a manner which would assure their proper functioning. It was necessary to defer certain major items of work. Moreover, funds made available in previous years have not permitted the replacement of heavy duty equipment, now 18 to 20 years old and no longer economical of operation. Further deferment of these features will result in increased costs to the Government as well as impair the purposes of the projects. To establish the projects on a sound and efficient operating basis, it is proposed to replace the obsolete equipment over a 5-year period; increase the hourly wages paid to laborers to meet the rates prevailing in the area; restore to proper standards the normal maintenance of the projects; and complete, over a 6-year period, revetment of the remaining 43 miles of river banks that require such protection. To carry out this program an increase in the amount of $244,656 is needed over the 1955 allotment, making the total amount needed for the El Paso projects for the fiscal year 1956, $616,000.

Lower Rio Grande flood control project

The Lower Rio Grande flood control project was developed pursuant to an exchange of notes in 1932 between the United States and Mexico and to the act of August 19, 1935. The project is located in both the United States and Mexico, protecting the fertile and highly developed delta of the Rio Grande. On the United States side it extends from the town of Penitas, Tex., to the Gulf of Mexico, a distance of 180 miles, and includes interior floodways as well as levees. Experience gained in the operation and maintenance of this project during 1954 demonstrated the inadequacy of the reduced funds made available for it. Portions of the maintenance items had to be wholly deferred, and a major part of the work that was performed was below the standard necessary to assure proper functioning of the project. Moreover, as in the case of the El Paso projects, funds made available have not permitted the replacement of heavy duty equip ment which is no longer economical of operation. Further repetition of this situation will not only jeopardize the purpose of the project, but will result in higher costs to the Government. It is therefore proposed for the fiscal year 1956 to (a) restore the maintenance of the project to proper standards; (b) catch up on items of work wholly deferred in recent years; (c) begin a 5-year program of replacement of heavy duty equipment; and (d) increase the wages paid to hourly employees to that necessary to meet the prevailing wages paid in the area. These items, essential for the establishment of this project on a sound and efficient basis, make necessary a total increase of $201,062 over the amount allotted in 1955, making the total amount needed for fiscal year 1956 $434,400.

Falcon Dam and powerplant

Falcon Dam, substantially completed in November 1953, is the first of the major international storage dams which the Governments of the United States and Mexico agreed in the 1944 treaty to construct, operate and maintain jointly through the International Boundary and Water Commission. The hydroelectric plant at the dam, authorized insofar as the United States is concerned by the act of October 5, 1949, was virtually completed and was placed in operation in October 1954.

The joint operation and maintenance of the dam, reservoir and power plants by the International Boundary and Water Commission is accomplished through overall supervision by the Commission and close coordination at the field level between the superintendents at the dam of the respective sections of the Commission. The cost of operation and maintenance of Falcon Dam is, pursuant to the terms of the 1944 treaty, prorated between the 2 Governments in proportion to the conservation capacity allotted to each country in the reservoir, i. e., 58.6 percent to the United States and 41.4 percent to Mexico. The cost of operation and maintenance of the hydroelectric plant is, pursuant to the treaty, divided equally between the two Governments and the energy generated is assigned to

each country in like proportion. The division between the two sections of the cost of the work involved in the operation and maintenance is accomplished as it was in the construction of the dam and powerplant, by allocation to each section of the Commission of a part of the work items in such a manner that the cost of the work performed by each Government will conform to the above stated percentages. The United States share of the energy generated at the dam, and not required in the operation of the United States portion of the project, is delivered to the Secretary of the Interior for transmission and disposition pursuant to the terms of Public Law 406, 83d Congress.

The benefits which have already accrued from the Falcon Dam and Reservoir project are noteworthy. Before its completion, the dam impounded floodwaters in August 1953 which, together with smaller flood inflows in the months immediately following, provided a supply of domestic and irrigation waters for the Lower Rio Grande Valley in both the United States and Mexico during the year ending June 1954. In the last days of June 1954, a recordbreaking flood poured into the Rio Grande from the Pecos and Devils Rivers, having a peak discharge of about 1,140,000 second-feet at Del Rio, Tex.. nearly twice as large as the previously recorded peak, and including more than 2,500,000 acre-feet of water. While this flood took a disastrous toll of lives and caused serious damage to properties in border cities and in agricultural areas above the dam it was entirely contained in Falcon Reservoir, saving the Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas, where about 350,000 people reside and properties are valued at about half a billion dollars, from loss of life, and from damages which it is estimated would have amounted to at least $55 million. Thus, in the first year of operation of the Falcon project its accrued benefits to the United States, from flood control alone, amounted to more than the total cost of the project to the United States-estimated to be about $37,650,000. Moreover, storage of the June 1954 flood waters, which would have otherwise wasted to the gulf, reasonably assures an adequate supply of domestic and irrigation waters for the existing developments in the valley during 1955.

International gaging stations

The construction, operation and maintenance of gaging stations on the international streams between the United States and Mexico are required by the 1944 treaty and are specifically assigned therein as the direct responsibility of the two sections of the Commission. Their purpose is to secure a joint record, mutually acceptable to both the United States and Mexico, of the flow of the Rio Grande and of the Colorado River in their boundary sections and of the tributaries thereto, and of the diversions therefrom, to serve as the basis for the determinations of the national ownership of the boundary waters available at any given time, in accordance with the allocations to each country stipulated in articles 4 and 10 of the 1944 treaty.

The storage of international water which began in Falcon Reservoir on the Rio Grande in August 1953 poses a unique international operation problem from a water control and regulation standpoint, in that waters of both the United States and Mexico are stored in a single reservoir and continuous determination and record of the ownership of the waters in storage are essential. Related hydrographic responsibilities on the international streams also include joint flood forecasts and hydroelectric energy production forecasts.

Douglas-Agua Prieta sanitation project

The construction of the international Douglas-Agua Prieta sanitation project was authorized by the act of August 19, 1935, to correct an international sanitation problem at these adjoining border cities. Operation and maintenance of the project by the International Boundary and Water Commission was authorized by Public Law 786, approved September 13, 1950.

This project was completed in 1947 at a cost to the United States of $185,000. The United States section, in accordance with Public Law 786, negotiated an agreement with the city of Douglas, Ariz., under date of June 9, 1952, contingent upon satisfactory agreement being reached between the United States and Mexico as to a division of the costs of operation and maintenance, whereby the Commission would operate and maintain the plant and the city of Douglas would contribute 75 percent of the share of the cost assumed by the United States. It is anticipated that such an agreement with Mexico will be reached by July 1, 1955. Nogales, Ariz.-Nogales, Sonora, sanitation project

Construction of the international Nogales, Ariz.-Nogales, Sonora, sanitation project was authorized by the acts of Congress approved August 19, 1935, and

July 5, 1946, to correct unsanitary conditions affecting these adjoining border cities. Operation and maintenance of the project jointly through the International Boundary and Water Commission was authorized by Public Law 150, approved July 27, 1953.

This project was completed in 1951 at a cost to the United States of $280,000. The Commission will take over the operation and maintenance of the project, pursuant to the terms of Public Law 150, whenever the conditions stipulated in that law are fulfilled, namely: (1) when the United States Section secures a satisfactory agreement with the city of Nogales relative to its contribution of an equitable proportion of the costs allocated to the United States, and (2) when a satisfactory agreement is reached with Mexico relative to equitable division between the two countries of the costs of operation and maintenance. Negotiations to this end are in progress. Such appropriations as may be needed, if any, to defray such costs as may accrue to the United States, authorized by the law, will of course be sought at the proper time.

Falcon Dam and powerplant

CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES

With the successful joint construction by the Governments of the United States and Mexico, through the Commission, of the international Falcon Dam and powerplant, creating an international reservoir having a total capacity of 4,085,000 acre-feet for conservation and control of floods on the Rio Grande and providing joint hydraulic power-generating facilities having a capacity of 63,000 kilowatts, the first phase of the Rio Grande international dams program which the two Governments agreed upon in the 1944 treaty has been completed. There remain certain minor construction items at the dam and certain portions of the land acquisition and relocation program in connection with the United States portion of the project, which are intended to be completed during the current year. This work will be financed with prior-year funds. Upper Dam

The second phase of the integrated Rio Grande international storage dams program, envisaged in the 1944 treaty for the optimum regulation and use of the greatest quantity of the annual flow of the Rio Grande, contemplates the construction of a dam in an upper section of the river, near Del Rio, Tex. The need from the standpoint of both countries for a dam in this section below the mouth of the Pecos and Devils Rivers was tragically demonstrated by the unprecedented flood of June 1954 from those tributaries which, as hereinbefore described, caused loss of lives and multimillion dollar property damage along the Rio Grande above Falcon Dam. The background and present status of work in connection with the upper dam project are briefly described as follows:

Comprehensive investigations beginning in September 1948 in the entire upper section of the Rio Grande from Fresno Creek in the Big Bend country to Del Rio, Tex., a distance of 345 river miles, determined that 1 of the 4 sites, referred to as the Diablo sites, located below the juncture of the Pecos and Devils Rivers with the Rio Grande, would afford the greatest conservation and flood-control benefits. Intensive investigations of these sites were started in August 1953. The Diablo dam and reservoir sites, all underlain by limestone formations which commonly contain cavities, required especial, thorough, and time-consuming examinations to determine their suitability, particularly from the standpoint or watertightness. Field studies have consisted principally of detailed mapping of the surface geology, subsurface explorations by means of core borings and geophysical techniques, and construction material prospecting. Concurrently, office engineering studies have been in progress to develop the most appropriate basic designs, including determinations of maximum feasible reservoir capacity and the most favorable of the four sites with regard to construction costs.

Late in September 1954, a joint conference of geological consultants for the Commission convened to review the findings of the first phase of the field investigations. They recommended site No. 1, the farthest upstream and the most favorable from the standpoint of economy of construction, as the most suitable. Immediately thereafter the Commission entered into, and is presently engaged in, a program of specific site explorations, and initiated office engineering studies to determine the most appropriate basic designs for a dam at the Diablo No. 1 site and the respective reservoir capacities required at this site for optimum regulation of the river's flow.

In December 1954 a series of joint conferences were initiated between the engineers and technical advisers of the respective sections of the Commission with the