OCR Text |
Show Conclusions The acreage limitation should be retained, even though its application will not greatly change the development of the basin. It is needed to assure widespread participation by irrigation farmers in the benefits resulting from Federal expenditures; to foster and perpetuate the family farm and encour- age community life in the area; and to prevent or at least substantially discourage speculation in irri- gable land and its attendant evils. A tenant purchase program would facilitate the sale of excess lands within the number of years now permitted under the acreage limitation. C. Problems of Land Inundation 1. Conflicts Between Plans for Storage Reservoirs and Desire of Local Groups To Prevent Land Inundation The Problem Factors to be considered in the resolution of con- flicts between plans for reservoir construction and regional or local desire to prevent land inundation. The Situation Reservoir development programs invariably en- counter opposition which stems predominantly from local inter-ests in the proposed reservoir areas. The comprehensive plan for the basin involves the inun- dation of some 2,463,000 acres of land, of which 836,000 acres are accounted for by Bureau of Rec- lamation projects and 1,627,000 acres by projects of the Corps of Engineers. Less than one-third of the total land to be flooded is cultivated cropland. The estimated total annual reduction in gross crop value is about 8.3 million dollars. While the impact on people directly affected is serious, it is small in comparison to the total annual benefits from the plan. The agricultural loss is less than 5 percent of the benefits which will derive from irrigation. When benefits from other developments also are considered, the losses are even smaller in proportion. Objections to reservoir projects on ac- count of inundation have not been particularly widespread in the headwater areas where lands to be flooded are generally of low value. Opposition is more r>ronounced for projects on downstream tributaries where flooded lands are more valuable. In the upstream area, as a result of local opposi- tion to the inundation of agricultural land from Canyon Ferry Reservoir, the congressional appro- priation restricted operations until an equivalent acreage is brought under irrigation in the same county. The Mission, Keyhole, and Moorhead Reservoir Projects have also been opposed by local groups, principally by occupants in the areas to be inundated. Opposition to projects also accrues from those whose access to highway facilities has been severed or greatly inconvenienced. This is especially true where a valley highway is required to be relocated to one side of a reservoir. The people on the opposite side of the reservoir are often required to travel many additional miles to reach the main highway. Such cases require new local access roads, resulting in increased taxes and travel costs. The Fort Scott Dam and Glen Elder Proj- ects in Kansas are examples of limiting access. The inundation by reservoirs of private agricul- tural land in some public land areas in the western portion of the basin has interfered in a small way with the local livestock economy. Grazing privi- leges on public lands attach to base properties (generally croplands) which are used in the year- long cycle of ranching operations. Loss of such base properties eliminates grazing privileges unless alternate and equally suitable base-ranch properties are acquired. Indian lands also will be seriously affected by reservoir inundation in the middle and upper basin. For the downstream tributary area, the opposition voiced to the original plan for the Osage River Basin in Missouri is typical of the objections en- countered. In that case a restudy by interested State and Federal agencies resulted in the develop- ment of a plan that would meet flood control re- quirements of the basin and would be satisfactory to the State. The new plan, however, eliminated the main stem Osceola Reservoir which included conservation storage and the possibility of develop- ing about 30,000 kilowatts of dependable hydro- electric power capacity, and substituted therefor a system of seven reservoirs for flood control only, in addition to the authorized Pomme de Terre Reservoir. For the Grand River Basin in Missouri, State and Federal agencies are combining efforts to determine the effects of proposed reservoirs on areas in that basin and downstream therefrom. Present studies indicate that headwater and tributary reservoirs 228 |