OCR Text |
Show Conclusions Present procedures of property acquisition for Federal reservoir projects often result in hardships to the affected property owners, excess costs to the Federal Government, and delays and opposition to the Federal program. The procedures could be improved, both from the standpoint of the prop- erty owners and the Federal Government, if suffi- cient funds were available to initiate an orderly program of land acquisition at an early stage in project development and if the property owners were assured of adequate Federal assistance in resettlement. Disruptions in connection with reservoir devel- opment should be held to the minimum. Sufficient information should be made generally available to the residents of affected areas to enable them to form a well considered opinion of the merits of the proposed plans. Considerations involved in con- tinuing, implementing, and supplementing policies and procedures with respect to land acquisition should include: (1) Initial appropriation of funds for project construction and subsequent appropriations should provide adequate funds for prompt initiation and orderly prosecution of the acquisition program. (2) Provisions should be made for productive use of all economically usable reservoir lands not subject to permanent inundation. (3) Recreation and other activities on reservoir projects which will serve to offset local trade losses should be developed by State, local public, or Fed- eral interests. Authority for Federal acquisition of areas of particular significance for such purposes, in the absence of State or other local public interest in such acquisition, is desirable. (4) Adequate assistance in relocation should be available to all people displaced by land acqui- sition programs of the Federal Government. 4. Road JRelocation The Problem Replacement of roads, highways, and bridges, and alteration of highway bridges. The Situation Replacement or relocation of highways and bridges.-A review of the Corps of Engineers re- port on the Ohio River Basin shows that there are 45 authorized reservoirs on which construction has not yet been started, 14 recommended reservoirs, and approximately 100 potential dam sites included in its program for this basin. Detailed study to ascertain what effect each reservoir might have on existing highway facilities has not been made, but data concerning the authorized and recom- mended reservoirs have been examined to show that some of them (such as reservoirs on Licking River in Kentucky, Big Darby, Millersburg, and Rocky Fork in Ohio, and Brookville and Metamora in Indiana) will require relocation of major high- way routes; others (such as Eagle Creek, Deer Creek, and Paint Creek in Ohio) will affect second- ary roads; and still others (such as East Fork, Little Miami River, and West Fork Mill Creek in Ohio) will affect local roads only. Specific problems arising out of highway re- locations in this basin, as pointed out by high- way officials, are discussed below: (1) The Ohio State Highway Department has programed the improvement of sections of high- way which cross areas that will be inundated or otherwise affected by the construction of authorized reservoirs on Deer Creek and Rocky Fork. Im- provement of these highways only to have the area inundated a few years later is economic waste. Wherever possible, highway officials will defer im- provements until the water resources project is undertaken, provided that the cost of constructing the highway on the new location is no greater than it would have been on the original location. In certain instances, however, increased traffic de- mands may require construction of the highway notwithstanding the fact that a water resources project has been authorized in the area. (2) There is a need for clarification of the basis for determining the equitable division of highway relocation costs. Some State highway officials ex- press the view that reimbursement policies of the Corps of Engineers are not being applied uniformly throughout the basin. For example, West Virginia State highway officials indicate that the settlements for highway relocations near Bluestone Reservoir and the Elkins flood-protection project are satis- factory. The Indiana State Highway Department is satisfied with the highway relocation agreements at the Cagles Mill Dam, now under construction. Kentucky and Ohio State Highway Department officials have not been fully satisfied with recent settlements. (3) There appears to be a need for a more equi- 690 |