The CHAIRMAN. I don't know that I follow it. I am just trying to understand it.

Mr. SCHERLE. Mr. Chairman, may I inject a comment?

The CHAIRMAN. Certainly you may.

Mr. SCHERLE. I think perhaps my county, Mills County, has probably more terraces per square mile than any other county in the State of Iowa. I think perhaps what the gentleman has reference to, once the gullies are stabilized with dams, above this we will build terraces to hold the water where it falls to prevent additional erosion as far as the gullies are concerned, stabilize it from the top with terraces, and the dams further down, and will eventually fill in but not with the continued flow of water off the headland, as it has in the past.

The CHAIRMAN. Do I understand that what you are doing is you put these dams or gully plugs or drop inlets so that they backwater up over the present head of the gully?

Mr. LANE. For the 23, that is correct; yes.

The CHAIRMAN. So that you kill the actual head of the gully?
Mr. LANE. Right.

The CHAIRMAN. Having done that, that obviously is not the same concentration of water above the head of the gully that there is below the point where the gully is forming and you get the step grade? Mr. LANE. That is right.

Mr. SCHERLE. I think the same application applies to stabilizing our gullies as we see on locks on the Ohio River where to maintain navigation of the river, a lock is built so that a 9-foot channel exists which is required for the draft of a vessel. Then, as you proceed upstream additional locks are constructed to maintain this depth of 9 feet.

The CHAIRMAN. I think maybe I am understanding this. It is substantially the same thing we do along a great many highways rightsof-way. I know down in our county you will see a lot of highways, particularly out there in central west Texas where there is a whole series of drops along a highway right-of-way and each one backs water up to the tailrace of the one above it. In that way it keeps the gully from eating on up, and the lands on the side of the road would be comparable to the land on the side of these streams that you are talking about here. Since there isn't the abrupt drop that there is now, you can control the development of new gullies, whereas you couldn't control it if you had this very abrupt drop down here. I guess I understand it.

Mr. SCHERLE. I think one of the basic reasons for all this is that when I first came to Iowa in 1948 a farm group had two fine soil conservation agents visit us from the college at Ames. They said that the secret of land preservation and erosion is to hold the water where it falls. We have found that in succeeding years this can be very readily applied and accomplished through dams and terraces. Now, on my farm I recall very vividly a particular ditch that had been a problem for years. In fact, you could hide in it a tractor and a load of hay without any difficulty. With a simple construction of two terraces we have closed this gully. We have now established grass waterways on all drainage points. You would never even realize today

that this condition once existed. So the terraces and the dams do perform and serve a purpose.

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Lane, I would like to ask that you jog up the people who prepared this map and make them bring their legend into keeping with that of the rest of these maps so that we can tell where you are going to back water.

Mr. LANE. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. There ought to be some uniformity in the maps of the Soil Conservation Service so that a map for the State of Iowa reads the same as one for North Dakota or Kansas or Texas.

Mr. LANE. We apparently slipped on this one, Mr. Chairman. We will take care of it.

The CHAIRMAN. Are there any other questions of Mr. Lane? If not, we are much obliged to you for this departmental explanation.

We have with us our colleague from Iowa, Congressman Scherle, who represents this area. We will be delighted to hear from you on this project.

STATEMENT OF HON. WILLIAM J. SCHERLE, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF IOWA

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

Mr. Chairman and members of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation and Credit, the opportunity to appear before you is a particular pleasure to me because of the extreme importance of soil conservation in my congressional district of southwest Iowa.

Today you consider the work plan for the Waubonsie Creek watershed in Fremont and Mills Counties. I might add that my home is in Mills County, and it was an honor for me to represent both of these counties in the Iowa Legislature for 6 years prior to my election to the 90th Congress.

The Waubonsie Creek work plan, consisting of a drainage area of 30,000 acres which when complete, will provide watershed protection and flood prevention for over 9,000 acres and will benefit 177 landowners or operators. The benefit-cost ratio, including secondary and incidental recreational benefit, will be 1.4 to 1.

Sheet and gully erosion damage to agricultural lands, roads and other improvements, and sediment damage to the downstream drainage ditch are the major problems in the watershed.

The watershed contributes great amounts of sediment to the Waubonsie drainage ditch, which requires frequent cleanouts to prevent flooding of bottomland areas of the Missouri River flood plain. Where sheet erosion is a problem, land treatment measures for erosion control will be installed. These will consist of terraces, grassed waterways. woodland improvement, wildlife habitat developments, and conservation cropping systems.

Of the 224 farms located entirely or partially within the watershed. 140 farms are district cooperatives and 73 have basic plans. Local landowners and operators have installed land treatment measures valued now at $362,860. The local people are prepared to do their share to install the improvements contemplated in this program.

In conclusion, I wish to thank this subcommittee for its outstanding work and deep concern for America's conservation needs. It is

my hope that you will approve the Waubonsie Creek watershed work plan at the earliest possible date.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, Mr. Scherle. We are always happy to have you come before the committee. We are glad to have your comments on this project.

Are there any questions of Mr. Scherle?

Mr. TEAGUE. No questions, Mr. Chairman. I would like to commend Mr. Scherle for his obvious realization of the problem and his knowledge of the importance and really his understanding of the importance of solving these problems, and certainly for his thorough acquaintanceship with this area.

Mr. GATHINGS. Mr. Chairman.
The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Gathings.

Mr. GATHINGS. Mr. Scherle, I understand you live on the farm.
Mr. SCHERLE. Yes, sir; I do.

Mr. GATHINGS. That impresses me. By the way, you haven't been in Iowa but for just a few years.

Mr. SCHERLE. No, I haven't, Mr. Gathings.

Mr. GATHINGS. Do they consider you an outlander there?

Mr. SCHERLE. Perhaps at one time. I was born and raised in upper New York State. After I returned from overseas in World War II, I was stationed in various places throughout the country, and then came to Texas, of which I am very proud. Incidentally, Mr. Chairman, I attended Southern Methodist University. My wife is a graduate of Iowa University. She also went to Baylor, Mr. Chairman. My young son will be enrolled at Texas A. & M., Mr. Chairman. It is becoming a little difficult for me to explain our educational situation.

The CHAIRMAN. I hope he goes to the James Connally Institute of Texas A. & M. at Waco.

Mr. SCHERLE. It is getting a little difficult for me to explain our educational facilities in Iowa any more, particularly with all of us going to Texas. But then I married a fine Iowa girl from Council Bluffs. In 1948 I requested a temporary leave of absence from the Geo. D. Barnard Co. of Dallas. I found Iowa so much to my liking— I enjoy farming, I like working with my hands. The satisfaction of seeing things grow, you might say I am not a native of Iowa, but no one could love the State more. In essence, I guess my taproots are not only in Iowa but in Texas, as well.

Mr. GATHINGS. I commend you, Mr. Scherle, for doing such a splendid job in such a short time. No doubt, you meet with the full approval of your people.

Mr. SCHERLE. No one could be more grateful and no one could be more humble for the confidence that has been placed in me by people from my adopted State. I am very grateful and very thankful for this opportunity, also, if I might say this, to work with the many fine. colleagues and gentlemen in this Congress. It is my belief that the greatest reward we receive from service in public life is the people we meet and the friends we make. I must say I have had a grand opportunity to meet the finest.

Mr. TEAGUE. He has a good bodyguard here in H. R. Gross.

Mr. STUBBLEFIELD. Mr. Chairman, I don't think he needs a bodyguard.

The CHAIRMAN. We are very obliged to you. We are always glad to have you before the committee. We appreciate the interest that you have expressed in this project.

Mr. SCHERLE. It has been a real pleasure and I thank all of you. The CHAIRMAN. Is there anyone else who would like to be heard on this project?

If not, we will proceed to the next project.

BUTTON WILLOW MANAGEMENT PROJECT, CALIFORNIA

BUTTON WILLOW WATER MANAGEMENT PROJECT WORK PLAN

Size and location.-75,423 acres in Kern County.

Tributary to Kern River.

Sponsors.-Buena Vista Soil and Water Conservation District; Buena Vista Water Storage District.

Cropland

Total watershed land use

Percent

92

Miscellaneous

Total watershed privately owned.

Number of farms: 200.

Size of farms: About 350 acres average.

Purposes.-Watershed Protection and Irrigation.

Principal measures.-Soil conservation practices on farms and structural measures consisting of about 89 miles of improved irrigation mains and laterals with associated appurtenances.

Benefit-cost ratio.-4.8 to 1. With secondary benefits excluded, the benefit-cost ratio is 4.1 to 1.

Area benefited.-69,854 acres.

Number of beneficiaries.—About 200 farm operating units will benefit directly from the installation of the structural measures.

This is primarily the cost of applying land treatment measures by landowners. Cost sharing from Federal funds appropriated for the agricultural conservation program may be available if included in the county program developed each year in consideration of approved State and National programs and the annual authorization by the Congress. 2 Consisting of:

The value of measures already installed ($2,205,950) increases this to 64 percent.

$3, 179, 185 409, 560 58,550

Prorated Public Law 566 structural cost per acre benefited.-$52. Carrying out the project.-The Buena Vista Water Storage District assumes all local responsibilities for installing, operating and maintaining the structural measures. The estimated annual cost of operation and maintenance is $126,295.

The CHAIRMAN. We now pass to the next project. We pass to the Buttonwillow project. This is listed Buttonwillow water management project. We will hear from the Department and then be glad to hear from our colleague.

Mr. LANE. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I am sure that the committee will recall that the Buttonwillow project is one of the four projects that was discussed earlier this year with the committee because of the fact that these projects do not conform to the recently enunciated policy of the committee with respect to the primary purpose.

The Georgetown, Idaho, project which follows later in the morning is also one of these four.

The CHAIRMAN. If I may, I would like to state that the committee recognizes that these four projects are not in keeping with the enunciated policy. All the rest of these projects, every one of them, Darrs Creek watershed, Waubonsie Creek watershed, all the rest listed, Suwanee Creek watershed, but this is listed as a water management project which I think certainly distinguishes it. The committee understood full well they are not in keeping with the normal type of project that the committee feels we should approve, but we understand that the local people were led to believe that they could get this kind of project.

The committee felt, in fairness, that we should hear these projects justified and waive the basic objections as to the type of project with the clear understanding that there are not going to be any more. This is the third time we have shut the door. We hope that we have it locked this time.

I think the Department fully understands that we are not going to listen to any more of these kinds of projects that are brought up here beyond the four that have been agreed to.

Thank you.

Mr. LANE. The Buttonwillow water management project is located in the western portion of Kern County, in the southern San Joaquin Valley, and contains 95,000 acres. It is about 24 miles west of the city of Bakersfield. Buttonwillow, population 1,500, is the only urban center in the project area. The area occupies the dry Buena Vista Lake bed and the portion of the Kern River bottoms between the towns of Tupman and Lost Hills. About 75,000 acres of the area are in agricultural use. There are 200 farms in the watershed with an average size of 350 acres.

The economy of the watershed is based on agriculture. The principal crops are grains, cotton, alfalfa hay, sugar beets, and some miscellaneous field crops. Cotton is the principal cash crop. Except for cotton, most of the agricultural products are shipped to Los Angeles, about 140 miles from the project area. Most of the cotton is Acala 442, a longer staple variety, used in the production of wash-and-wear fabrics. About 65,000 acres are presently developed for irrigation. The irrigation water is secured from the Kern River and from ground water. Until the construction of the Lake Isabella Dam and Reservoir and the Kern River Canal, water deliveries to the project area were highly variable and of limited duration. Irrigation canals were designed and built with large capacities in order to carry as much as possible during periods when the river was high. Now that the river is controlled by