WSP07094 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

1 Appendi:: D THE CORPS OF EllG J:liEETIS' \J1IruERSTANI1ING OF ',!'liE 0' M.AJIOljjE:/"Ir.LIKIi A1.!;'~jm.lEi'rr ; Presented by ~B~or General Keith R. Barney Division Engineer, U. S. fumy Engineer Division, JiLssouri River before the l/Jissouri Basin Inter.,Agency Committee Grand Forks, j,orth Dalwta, p.pril :20, 1960 !.t a previous meeting some interest was expressed in an explanation by the Corps of Eng'.l'.eers of its und.ers~an(lin3 of the O'l,:ahoney-).lillikin Amenoo'ent. Althov~h the views of the Corps on this matter have previously been furnished to this Cw.mi.ttee and to CongrE;ssional Committees as well, I am pleased to StlIn~arize briet:!.y the views of the Corps of Engineers concerning this very important p2,rt of our llational ,later-resources legis- lation. , At the outset, I wish to emphasize that the Corps of Engineers has adhered to, and "Iill continue to adllere to, the provisions of' this Amendment in the l.lissouri Basin and in all other areas to vhich it applies. The Amend- ment s:ponsored by Senator O'j,ls)loney and Senator l-lillildn, as finally modified and adopted, constitutes tlle f::nJc.j Te fi.'r~t. ~p(>7.i nn ("If' +./1t=> li'l (V'''; "0..,.,+....0' !~~-t:. approved December 22, 1944, and the entire first section of the River and Harbor Act approved ~arch 2, 1945. The vording of the first section is practically identical in both Acts. Section 1 (a) of both Acts provicies that, before any plans, proposals, or reports of the Chief of Engineers for any Horks of iwprOveI!ent for navi- gation or ~lcOQ control are sub~itteQ to Congress, the investigations shall be coordinated with each affected State and the reDorts shall be slwmitted to such States for co=ent and reco=endation. Se~tion 1 (c) of both Acts pl'ovides that the Secre'~a:r.r of the Interior, in making investigations of, and reports on, worl<s for irrigation and purposes incidental thereto shall, in relation to an affected State or States, be subject to the same provisions regardi"g investigations, plans, proposals, and reports as are prescribed in Section 1 (a) for the Chief of Engineers. The Corps of Engineers understands these provisions as expressing the intent of Congress that the States shall be given every opportunity to participate in the planni.ng of Federal water- resources developments which affect them. I believe this is the only inter- pretation possible. lie consider that the most significant feature of the O'r"ahoney-l-lillikin Amendment is this recognition of the interests and rights of the States in vater-resources development. To the best of its ability, the Corps of Engineers endeavors to achieve full coordination with the States and other local inter- ests during the course of its investigations. Of' course, this Committee, \lith its strong representation from all of the Basin states, has contributed mate- rially to such coordination in all phases of our project planning and develop- ment. Further, we in the Corps, do not limit such coordination to investigaticr D..l, .'