OCR Text |
Show (11) A Federal contribution through the agency responsible for the project should be given to coun- ties or other local governmental units which suffer an economic loss from flooding and for which ade- quate recompense from downstream interests may not be feasible. Some contribution in lieu of the tax loss should be negotiated in each case, taking into account local benefits from Federal facilities and the effects of the project on the requirements of local governments. Possibilities of improving local services through consolidation of units af- fected by construction should also be considered. (12) The extensive water resources development program will cause the relocation of many miles of highway. The substitution of good road locations for inferior relocation sites will increase the prob- lems of highway organizations. Agencies with highway responsibilities therefore should be repre- sented in the process of project and program plan- ning from the earliest stages. 3. Indian Rights and Water Development The Problem Conflicts between water development and In- dian rights, and adjustments necessary to provide just treatment of Indians and orderly progress in water development. The Situation When the plan for Missouri River Basin develop- ment was adopted in 1944, the extent to which Indians and their lands would be affected was not fully appreciated. It is clear now that they are deeply involved in many units of the project. The preference of the 70,000 Indians of the basin for living along streams, which originally prompted the location of their reservations, has placed their 13 million acres of land holdings in the midst of the greatest program of resources development ever un- dertaken in the region. The effects of the program on the Indians and their resources are manifold. Two types of prob- lems are outstanding: the taking of Indian lands for reservoirs, canals, and other rights-of-way; and the use of water to irrigate Indian land. The acre- age involved is shown in table 14. In addition to these appropriations, reservoir rights-of-way involving smaller areas will be re- quired for Soral and Owl Creek Projects, in the Wind River Reservation of Wyoming. The reservoir rights-of-way for the Garrison, Oahe, Big Bend, and Fort Randall Projects re- quire the taking of river-bottom land, important to the Indians because of its almost ideal adapta- tion to their way of life. About 700 families will have to be removed from these reservoir sites, but the effects extend beyond these particular families TABLE 14.-Lands lost by Indians to specified Federal projects, and Indian lands benefited Project Purpose Reservations affected Acres lost by Indians New- Indian acres to be ir- rigated Acres with supple- mental irriga- tion Garrison, N. Dak. Oahe, S. Dak. . . . Reservoir. .....do... Fort Randall and Big Bend, S. Dak. (combined). Boysen, Wyo................ Yellowtail, Mont............ Missouri-Souris, Mont........ .do. Dam site and reservoir. .....do............. Reservoir and canal. . Fort Berthold............... Standing Rock, Cheyenne Riv- er. Yankton, Rosebud, Crow Creek, and Lower Brule. Wind River................. Crow...................... Fort Peck.................. 155,000 100, 000 20, 000 26, 000 8,850 70, 000 14,352 60,896 48, 000 92, 600 58, 800 23, 700 Estimated total. 379, 850 215,848 82, 500 Source: Department of Agriculture. 911610-51- -17 235 |