Excerpt from the Rivers and Harbors Acts of 1882 and 1884.. Cochran, H. Dean, regional forester, north central region, United States Department of Agriculture: Statement. Ghormley, C. E., head, engineering and watershed planning unit, Soil Conservation Service, United States Department of Agriculture: Johnson, Gilbert R., counsel, Lake Carriers' Association: Excerpt from statement re improvements in the Detroit River by 1379 Jones, Hon. Robert E., a Representative in Congress from the State of Alabama and chairman, Special Subcommittee on Water Resources Excerpt from Task Force Report on Water Resources and Power. 1355 List of persons invited to appear at the hearing at Milwaukee, Kirshner, L. D., United States Lake Survey: Minimum levels of the Great Lakes during the winter of 1955-56, news release from the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Statement on Illinois Waterway 9-foot navigation project, by Col. Philip F. Kromer, Jr., Corps of Engineers, Chicago dis- Knuese, Hon. William, mayor, city of Wauwatosa, Wis.: Letter from Lipscomb, Hon. Glenard P., a Representative in Congress from the State of California: Excerpt from Commission Report on Water 1252 Loeft, Louis, assistant fire chief, Milwaukee Fire Department: Ex- cerpt from communication of Chief Wischer, to Mayor Zeidler, McCerrow, Gavin W., Pewaukee, Wis., chairman, Wisconsin Com- Quotation from former President of the United States Franklin 1322 Moore, Herbert, Maxon & Moore, consulting engineers, Milwaukee, 1414 Map of Metropolitan Milwaukee showing location of the proposed 1417 Muegge, O. J., State sanitary engineer, State board of health, Madison, Findings of fact, conclusions, and order, before the committee on water pollution and State board of health, in the matter of the alleged pollution of Lake Michigan and the Milwaukee and Page 1180 1200 1202 1257 1351 1351, 1352 1353 Letters, statements, etc.-Continued Wisconsin public-health law: Chapter 162-Pure drinking water (amended 1953)... Nash, Jack L., superintendent, Wauwatosa Waterworks: Letter from Excerpt from veto message of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Excerpt from Wisconsin act, to set up a committee to cooperate Letter from William L. Nelson, to William Sturdevant, November 1266 Model zoning ordinance prepared by Waukesha County Park and 1267 Reuss, Hon. Henry S., a Representative in Congress from the State Excerpt from Commission Report on Water Resources and Excerpt from statement of Thomas Jefferson. 1142, 1143 1143 1167, 1168, 1169, 1234, 1255, 1320 Spencer, Lyndon, president, Lake Carriers' Association, Cleveland, Letter from Arthur W. Page, New York, N. Y., to Lyndon 1173 1315 Letter from Hon. Sinclair Weeks, Secretary of Commerce, to Lyndon Spencer, August 2, 1954.. 1315 Letter from Lyndon Spencer, to Arthur W. Page, September 23, 1954 1315 Hon. Robert E. Jones, November 9, 1955_ 1314 1315 Wisniewski, Theodore F., director, committee on water pollution: 1424 Zeidler, Hon. Frank P., mayor, city of Milwaukee, Wis.: Resolution adopted by the Common Council of the City of Milwaukee, May 1949. 1232 COMMISSION ON ORGANIZATION OF THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH OF THE GOVERNMENT (Water Resources and Power Report) MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1955 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SPECIAL SUBCOMMITTEE ON WATER RESOURCES AND POWER Milwaukee, Wis. The special subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, in room 400, county courthouse, Milwaukee, Wis., at 10:15 a. m., Hon. Henry S. Reuss presiding. Members present: Representatives Jones (chairman of the special subcommittee), Reuss (presiding), Griffiths, and Lipscomb. Also present: William C. Wise, staff director; William L. Sturdevant, staff member, and Robert Morris. Mr. REUSS. The Special Subcommittee on Water Resources and Power of the House Committee on Government Operations will be in order. This is another in a series of hearings on water problems being conducted by the Special Subcommittee on Water Resources and Power of the House Committee on Government Operations. Our chairman is Congressman Robert E. Jones of Alabama, to whom I am grateful for permitting me as a member of the subcommittee to serve as acting chairman for the 2 days we will be in Milwaukee. The other members of the subcommittee, whom I will now introduce, are Mrs. Martha Griffiths of Detroit and Congressman Glen P. Lipscomb of Los Angeles, Calif. In our hearings held in several sections of the country in the past few weeks, this subcommittee has heard much testimony on a variety of water resource programs and problems. In eastern Pennsylvania and New England, for example, the people were acutely conscious of the need for water control as a result of the floods that recently struck those sections. The same was true in North Carolina. We have just come from the great Tennessee Valley, where we heard much testimony on navigation, flood control, hydroelectric power generation, pollution control, and associated manifestations of water resource development. While the great problem in New England today is flood control, either through multipurpose or single-purpose dams, and adequate power supply is the question of the moment in the Tennessee Valley, the water problems in the Milwaukee area take on different character istics. Here we have the paradox of poverty in the midst of plentyof water shortages on the banks of Lake Michigan-of a growing metropolitan community faced with the alarming possibility that there may not be enough water to keep pace with expected population growth and industrial development. What brings this subcommittee to a study of the water resources of the United States is a report on Water Resources and Power of the Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government, commonly known as the Hoover Commission. Specifically, this subcommittee is studying the report of the Hoover Commission on Water Resources and Power and the accompanying report of the Hoover Commission Task Force on this subject. The reports took many months and $430,000 to prepare. These 2 reports encompass 5 volumes of some 2,000 pages. They cover practically the whole range of water resources programs, policies, and problems. The question of water supply is covered by the Hoover Commission in the following words (vol. 1, p. 5): The demand for water will increase every step in the growth of our population and every step of our scientific discoveries and inventions. The Bureau of the Census projects the population of the United States to a high of 221 million people in 1975. Per capita consumption of water was estimated at 125 gallons per day in 1946. Latest estimates indicate water consumption has increased 140 gallons per day in the larger cities. The results of these two contributing factors indicates an increase in municipal water consumption of about 4.5 percent per annum. A study made by our task force states that our industrial needs-including cooling water-will rise in the next 25 years by an estimated 133 billion gallons per day, and that domestic consumption will rise in the same period by another 7 billion gallons per day. By 1975 the total prospective increase for domestic and industrial use over present amounts will be 145 percent-equal to the additional supply of 145 New York cities, requiring the flow of about 11 Colorado Rivers. (Vol. 1, p. 29 :) That domestic water must take precedence over any other use requires no affirmation. The provision of water supplies for domestic and industrial use has remained from the beginning of the Republic a responsibility of individuals, the local communities, and the States. The Federal Government's interest arises where these supplies relate to Federal activities, more particularly as they at times draw from Federal reservoirs or where proposed reservoirs should aid in such water supplies. As there is little direct Federal development of domestic water, it does not come within the purview of this report. These findings of the Hoover Commission on water supply boil down to two: That the problem is one of vast magnitude, and that its solution is entirely a local one, with no national interest concerned. We look forward to testimony on whether the Milwaukee area shares in this water problem and on constructive proposals for solving it. Recent discussions in the press and among citizens and public officials indicate that the problem of water supply in this metropolitan area is not being adequately met. Letters to the editor and other public complaints symbolize a growing dissatisfaction with low water supplies and inadequate pressures. Suburban areas that depend on wells for water supply are reporting a steady drop in the underground water supplies. This has its effect on our industrial future as well as our water supply for home use. The problem of inadequate water brings a corollary problem of pollution-a very serious public-health problem. There is a conflict between the urban and suburban areas |