Laserfiche WebLink
<br />lS <br /> <br />It this recoIllll8l1dation bad been followed, over 2,000,000 acre <br />teet would have been available tor flood control at this point. But in <br />spite at the General's warning, the power facilities were instaJ.led <br />befbre the other reservoirs were built and the tlood control storage <br />capacity was reduced to the top 20 feet of the reservoir, which con- <br />tained 960,000 acre teet ot space. Then as the power pl.e.nt was oper- <br />ated, another 10 feet was taken over for power, leaving but 540,000 <br />acre feet for the gross storage capacity for floods. This reduced the <br />net storage tor floods to about 100,000 acre feet, which in such a large <br />drainage area is negligible. <br /> <br />In Mq of 1943, a heavy storm swept the watershed. Over ten <br />inches of ra1n fell at some points in a three-dey period. As a result, <br />a hlNlVY flood swept down the river, already swollen by an earlier rise. <br />On Mar 13, the crest at a critical point on the river reached a level <br />3.7 feet above the previous record. The levees were overtopped and it <br />is estimated that over $50,000,000 of damage was done. The multi-pur- <br />polle power and flood control du, built to meet such catastrophes, 1'eil~ <br />in its purpose. It wes f'ull 01' ft'ter lStored 1'01" power and instead of <br />holding beck the flood, it is reported to have actual:Q>" increased the <br />height of the crest of the 1'lood below when its gates were belatedly <br />opened. <br /> <br />A recent report advocates a multi-purpose project to cost <br />over a half" billion dollars, over $266,000,000 01' which would be for <br />the additional reservoirs to be approved. These reservoirs would flood <br />permanentJ,y about 288,000 acres of land, over 152,500 of which are WIder <br />cultivation. This lS8IIIe report sets an annual crop value of over ~0.60 <br />per acre tor the cultivated land. Thus an ennual loss 01' $6,.300,000 in <br />crop values ill ignored in the report. The average annual flood benefits <br />claimed froJII aJ.l sources is but $912,800, or only about 14-1/2 per cent <br />of the 1081 in crop values. The study that purports to justifY this <br />project takes no account of this great loss. The project will not pro- <br />vide coaplete protection for the vaJ.ley, the claiJlls of benefits being <br />