ANNUAL PRECIPITATION 2 TO 30 INCHES tID
ANNUAL PRECIPITATION 30 TO eo INCHES
U. S. Weather BwrtlG"
DEDICATED TO THE TASK OF PROVIDING ADEQUATE WATER FOR A PROFITABLE AND DIVERSIFlED AGRICULTURE IN WESTERN AMERICA-THE CREATION OF NEW HOMES-THE STABILIZATION OF DROUGHT AREAS. THIS WILL MAKE AMERICA STRONG I
1119 NATIONAL PRESS BUILDING, WASHINGTON, D. C.
Personal To Our Members:
Throughout the hearings on the Interior Appropriations Bill when reclamation items were under discussion, the relation of the Nation's war demand for more food and fiber to the western irrigation and water conservation program was often dis- cussed. One can not read the hearings without concluding that most of the members of the committee, as well as mQst · of the witnesses, were of the opinion that with- in a year or so -- maybe less -- the demand for more western irrigated land upon which to grow a part of our increasing war requirements would be imminent.
Making available a supplemental water supply to an irrigation district which now has an inadequate supply, but could double its production if it had another foot or so of water, or preparing to store and deliver water to a new tract of land, and
mak~it productive, is not an over-night job, or one that can be done in a year.
If eventually needed, the completion of such projects should be accelerated now!
Our war efforts are proceedinr, in the democratic way; our attention and efforts are focused upon the problems of the moment, not those that are six months or a year away. We need only to refer to such present critical material as steel, cop- per, aluminum, tin and rubber, which go to make up the inanimate tools of war. It
is inevitable tha t a shorta[;e of food fiber and rubber with which to feed, clothe and transport the fighting men and the people of the United Nations will do as much or more to delay or prevent ultimate victory than a shortaee of metals .
Eastern humid America does not know or understand western arid or semi-arid America. Therefore, if we in the Hest are to be able to increase our agricul tural capacity to meet the real war needs in the future, we must acquaint Mr. Easterner, who is largely running the war effort, that the only way to materially increase our food and fiber output a year or so hence, is to start now to expedite the comple- tion of storage reservoirs and irrigation ditches which are far enough along or which can be started and completed in time to serve our war needs.
This is a job that every Westerner who knows the situation can work at in- season and out-of-season. Your best opportunity immediately is by calling the situation to the attention of your senators. Senate hearings on the Interior bill, which includes reclamation items, are scheduled to start late in April.
In appearing before the House Interior subcommittee on appropriations, the writer devoted his time almost exclusively to what appears now to be a greater de- mand in the near future for a much heavier agricultural production, which in Western America calls for more irrigation. I would be e;lad to have your comments upon the subject matter of my prese.ctation which has been reproduced and is here- with attached.
OFFICERS
O. S. WARDEN. PRESIDENT ORA BUNDY. FIRST VICE·PRESIDENT ROBERT W. SAWYER. SECOND VICE·PRESIDENT J. A. FORD. TREASURER
F. O. HAGlE. SECRETARY·MANAGER
HUGO B. FARMER. YUMA. ARIZONA J. R. FAUVER. EXETER. CALIFORNIA CLIFFORD H. STONE. DENVER. COLORADO N. V. SHARP. FILER. IDAHO
E. PORTER AHRENS. SCANDIA. KANSAS O. S. WARDEN. GREAT FALLS. MONTAHA
Sincere ly yours, F. 0, Hagie
Secretary-Manager
DIRECTORS
H. D. STRUNK. MC COOK. NEBRASKA A. M. SMITH. CARSON CITY. NEVADA E. W. BOWEN. TUCUMCARI. NEW MEXICO HARRY E. POLK. WILLISTON. NORTH DAKOTA FRANK RAAB. OKLAHOMA CITY. OKLAHOMA
ROBERT W. SAWYER. BEND. OREGON W. D. BUCHHOLZ. NEWELL. SOUTH DAKOTA R. E. BASKIN. SEYMOUR. TEXAS ORA BUNDY. OGDEN. UTAH J. A. FORD. SPOKANE. WASHINGTON
PERRY W. JENKINS. CORA. WYOMING
STATEMENT OF F. O. HAGlE, SECRETARY-MANAGER OF THE NATIONAL RECLAMATION ASSOCIATION
The CHAffiMAN. Mr. Hagie, will you state your full name and title for the record
~.
, I
:Mr. HAGlE. F. O. Hagie, secretary-manager of the National
~clamation Association, Washington, D. C.
1\11'. LEAYY. 'ViII you just make a brief statement as to what the X ational Reclamation Association is, otherwise there might be som~
misunderstanding or misapprehension that it is an organization that is carried on for profit.
1\11'. HAGlE. I will be glad to do that, Congressman.· .
The National Reclamation Association attempts to represent
t~eirrio-ation-rec1amation interest of the Western States.
Mr, LEAVY. Including how many States ~. . , )11'. HAGlE. The 17 western States. 'Ve have In the assocIatIOn as members: four or five hlindred irrigation districts in the wester~1.
States. These organizations are made up of farmers. on .both PrI- yately constructed irrigation projects and Federal proJects. . .
The
organization~I think, pretty ,yell represents all of the IrrIga-
tion projects in the 17 western States. .
~lr.
LEAVY. The organization is not carried on for profit
~~fr.
HAGlE. No. It is a nonprofit organization.
In addition to the above organization members' the associat.ion hat..
about 2.000 individual members who are the leaders of agrIculture and business in the communities that have been established through- out these irrigation districts.
.-\SSOCIATION PLIIDGES I~DIVlDB.L AND ORG.\NIZED EFlt'ORT TO WIN THE WAR
The members of the association meet annually and outline the program and conduct the business of the association . . Ai its last meetino- in Phoenix, Ariz., in October, where there were nearly 1,000 delega~s registered, they committed themselves individ~ally and as an association ' to do everything in their power to contrIbute to the winnino- of this war. They put that as the X o. 1 job. And these people,oI want to say, ~o not believe that t~ere are ~en, mon.ey, or materials enough to WIn the war and to conduct bUSIness as , usual.
So they put the winning of this war as the No.1 effort for themselves·
and the Nation.
In the absence of our president, Mr. O. S. 'Varden, who appeared before you last year, I am here today to represent the .membe.rs of this association, to call your attention to two or three Items, Items which the assoclation feeis are yita!.
RETARDATION OF IRRIGATION UNDER
Bl.1DGETESTIMATE
First of all, we notice that in the Budget this year about 90 to 95- percent of all the reclamation appropriations contained in this bill are for the deyelopment of the power features on the Federal reclama- tion projects, rather than for the irrigation feature; which are the feature of the projects that "'ill make it possible. to increase
~heproduction of food and fiber the war demands for wInch are becommg more apparent daily. The increased demand for the products of the farm would indicate that in another year food and fiber may be as critically short as other materials of the war now are. And that is one of the things that I want to call to your attention just as forcibly as I can.
WAR DEMANDS MORE FOOD A:'\D FIBER
The Secretary of Agriculture has already called upon the American farmer for an all-out all-time-high producfion of food and fiber, including the production of fats and oils, dairy and pou,ltry products, flax, hemp, wool, and pretty
nea~lyall of
th~other
agr~culturalconl- modities that you can name, WIth the pOSSIble exceptIOn of wheat, cotton and tobacco. 'Vho can · say that in another year or two these produ~ts may not be more valuable or critical than metal. or P?'Yer, or planes, or any of the other items that are under the head of crlbcal jtems today in the war effort.
GrA YULE RUBBER PLANT TO REQUIRE MII.LION OR .MORE ACRES OF IRRIGATED LAND
This Congress passed, within the week, I belie,:e, a bill that
wO~lldftuthorize the Department of Agriculture to go Into the
pr~ductIOnof the guayule rubber plant in this country. I
cit~that a? an Il.lus.tra- tion. I am told that the guayule rubber plant
~nl.IreqUIre, wI!hln 2 or 3 years, from a million to 2,000,000 a' : res of.
IrrIga~edland, In
t~eSouthwestern States, provided the pre
gr.a~IS carrIed forwar4 In accordance with the act and the apprOprIatIOn that was authorIzed for planting and
cult~vati?nof the guayule and other
:u~berproduc- ing shrubs. Where IS tlns 1,qOO,000
~r2,OqO,000. of IrrIgated acres coming from
~vVhat crops WIll we dIscontInue In order to get the necessary acreage for rubber
~Should ''''e not start now to complete some of the proJects now underway in that area and have the necessary J1eW land ready when needed
~SUGAR ·DEFICIT WILL REQUIRE HALF MILLION ACRES OF IRRIGATED LAND
vVe are faced with a sugar
shortage~and sugar beets are a
na~uralcrop in the irrigated sections. I am told that we are faced WIth a deficit right now of about a million tons of sugar. Irrigated l~nd
will produce about 2 tons to the acre. In other words, the ImmedIate requirement is for a half a million acres.
:Mr. FITZPATRICK. Have they taken off the sugar
quotas~~fr.
HAGlE. Yes; the sugar quotas are off. But while t1Ie quotas are off,
~1r.Fitzpatrick. The bottleneck is not so much in the pro- duction of the sugar beet as in the shortage of proeessing plants.
~lr.
FITZPATRICK. I see.
l\1r. HAGlE. ,\Ve can probably increase the sugar-beet production in the 'Vest by 20 to 25 percent. This year then we will run up against the shortage of processing plants
a~1din order to increase the
pro~essing plants the processor wants to know how long the domestIc producer may be allowed unrestricted production and how many years he will have to retire his investment before he makes an invest- ment of probably $2,000.000 in a processing plant.
Then, of course, the farmer wants to know the same thing before he shifts from his present crops to sugar-beet production. The po- tential sugar-beet producer wants to know what he is goin.g to be. up against some 4,
5~or 6 years from now. He must plan hIS farmIng operations for a definite time.
t
/
~I
1'.~lJI·:I'P.\R1). Do you 1Iot tIl illk~ ~Ir. Ha;.d(', that if indllstry and
PHWYOlW
{'be woul(l
aSSlIllIethat they will stay in business as long a:-; the sol(liPl's earry
gll11Sthat they wOlll<1 all be a lot better off ' 1
~fl'. H,\(JJB.
Yes; illsofar ns that is possible.
MI'. tJOHN:-iON. Hillce
W(~are discussillg that qu{'stion, I t.hillk t.lwrc is one thing the public does not. quite ulHlCl'st:nul about this sugar IHlSi]l('ss, aIHI that is that we have bN'll making alcohol out of sllgar awl
n~fllsillgto make it out of corn and wheat..
Mr. HAGlE. That is right..
~-fJ'. JOHNSON. Now, ,ve have a surplus of IHllldreus of millions of Luslll'h; of wheat. and several hundred llli Ilion hushels of corn that.
will make just as' good
01'a bett('l' gl'u,(le of alcohol than sugar.
Of ('om'sc, 1<10 llot wallt to get into the q~lestioll of pl'ohibiti()l1~ but in the prepl'oliibitioll dnYR we '
'n~rpt 01<1 that. witll a
l'dlll'nof tlw liqllo1'
tL':dfi(~that tlwy were going to make alcohol out of corn and wlwat. · It just (h)('s
1Wtslllack right; somet . hillg is "Tong- with the progralll.
1\1 ... I-IAGIR I qllite
a~J't'ewith yon. ,
~rl'
.. JoHNSON. ",Vhrll you are makillg alcohol out of sugar and H'fn8ing to lllake it
Olltof corJl awl wheat, when "'e have a shortage of sligar aIH1 a stu'plus of corn and wheat.
NIl:.
FI'l'jWATHlCICThat n lcollOl, of course, goes illto indllstl'ialuses.
~'l)'
.• J()IIi"\f;ON. T l1lHl<'rstan<i, for JIIaking 1'0\\'(101', and so
011.: Mr.
FITZI'N1"HH'ICI nlll
illsympathy with what yon
Hay,but whell you refer to prohibit.ion, as I understand, that nlcohol is going into industrial W';('s.
MI' .• JOH!II:-i()N. T lllldp)'stalH1 that they have ma(le ellongh liquor already to last for 6 Yl'ars if
110more liqnor
i~ma<le. In other wOl'ds.
"'{~ hilVP 110!:'hortage of liquor, hut we do have a shortage of sngar; a shortage of a IcohoJ, with a surp lus of corn and a surplus of wheat.
}\Ir. RICH. Bnt. would not t.he liquor lIser 1'nther do without sugar than to do without his liqilOr?
MI' .•
JOIJNHON.I do llOt. know; I do
llOt.think the stnff.
1\11'. RICH.
~eithpr do T.
ADlHTION.\L PIWUUCTION IN \\,1<:1"1' WIJ.lJ ll";(~UIJ:E MOIu<; IImIGATION WATER'
Mr.
HAGn~.Spc1'etnl'Y Wickard has made an appeal to the fanners of the country to prodnce more of everythIng except wheat, cotton, and tobacco. The point I am trying to make is that so far as the West is concerned, if it is going to be in position to carryon an additiOlwl agricllltural program-that is, to inerease its productive capacity-it mllst cOllie lal'gply from putting more water on t.he.
land that is now irrigated, where yon have a.n insufficient water supply; or (b) it mllst hc met by puttiJlg water on new land that.
CHn
ue brought into cultivation; or (c) it. will be brought about as it was ill the last ""aI', in the Great Plains
Ul'(':twherc the rainfall is from 15 to 20 inches, by plowing up sOllie of the grassland and g)'owing grain of which we now have a surplns and which we
fe-~lL'will bring baek tll<' Dust Bowl. with all of its associated ev-ilf;,
I agree with 1\11'. Ryan, that if you are going to calf upon the Great Plains States to produce more agriculturally during the war that, ·it·- should be done by applying the wateI:, conservation and utilization program to that area rather than permit the plowing up of the grass- land and inviting the snme disasters that occurred following the last
· war.
Mr. FITZPATIUCK. And is it not a fact that the reclamation pro- gram has paid back about 98 percent of the loans made 1
~Ir.
HAGlE. Yes; that is correct.
Mr. FITZPATRICK. So the money does not come out of t he taxpayers;
.it · comes out of the· receipts from the projects.
Mr. HAGlE. Yes; that is right.
Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. Hagie, you have a further statement to make.
Mr. HAGlE. Yes~ if I may.
~fr.
JOH. NSON. Let me suggest that the witness be l.lermitted to pro- ceed with his statement until he finishes, if it is not too long, and .then we might ask him sorp.e questions.
Mr. LEAVY. I hnd one question I wanted to ask for the record right along this line.
Mr. JOHNSON. All right.
ADDITIONAL ACRES Nl<:EDED FOB DEFIOIT <mops
Mr. LEAVY. Mr. Hagie, in connection with the war effort, Secretary Wickard testified before the Agriculture Subcommittee on Appro- priations that this year, 1942, there would be tremendous shifts re- quired to meet the increased demands for certain crops.
For instance, Secreary Wickard said that the peanut acreage in 1941 was around I,f:OO,OOO, and that has got to be increased to 5,000,000 acres to meet the oil demands.
Soybean acreage in 1941-and, by the way, I understand soybeans can be raised on the irrigation lands .of the West-was 2,000,000 last fear, and that must be stepped up to 6,000,000 acres this next year to meet the needs.
And flax production-I cannot give the acreage-but the production needs to be quadrupled to meet the needs. And many of these tre- mendous shifts in ag6culture products do fit into the western irriga-
tion program. .
Mr. HAGlE. Yes; in those three instances you have indicated the need of several millions of new acres of farm lands that must be pro- vided somewhere.
Mr. CARTER. And that would mean additional irrigation projects?
Mr. RICH. In that connection, let me ask you this question, that if we stopped paying farmers to not raise crops, as we have been doing, and to utilize these men on the farm who are being employed to build roads and trails in the parks, would not that increase the supply of our output 1
Mr. LEAVY. If we want to let t.he great forests of this county be
sabotaged. '
Mr. RICH. Well, we have had these forests for years and we have
been building many new roads and trails during the last 10 years.
Mr. LEAVY. But we have a lot of aliens here now who are walking through these forests. .
Mr. RICH. 'Ve, harl a war in 1918.
Mr. LEAvY. And we stepped up our forest protection.
O\DDITIONAL ACREAGE NEEDED FOR VEGETABLE FATS AND OILS
Mr. HAGlE.
~Ir.Chairman, in connection with the point that Judge Le.avy has just made, Secretary Wickard, in a recent radio address made this statement, in reference to what he was asking the farmers of this country to plant this year, that for vegetable fats and oils alone this country would need to plant 7,000,000 more acres of land than they planted last year.
I point that out to show that, in my judgment and the judgment of our association, there is going to be an acreage shortage, a shortage of agricultural acreage for producing the requirements of this country.
INCREASE IN PHODUCTION OF HI';MP
I
ju~tnoticed in the Information Digest <lated March 12, which came to my desk this morning, this statement with reference to in- creasing the supply of hemp, in which Secretary 'Vickard asked--
that the farmers iIlcL'ease IH'mp seed pl'oduction this y('ar by at l('as.t 33
t~mesover 1941 proeluction to be able to lIl('ct thp
~ubstalltialiIlcr('ase in nellland for hemp fiber in 1$)43 anel
tooyerCOJllC tll('
~hol'tng(' ('reated by the Htoppage of imports from the Philippine Islands and the
~ethel'laJ\(lsBnst Indies.
ACRF.AGE EQUIVALI<;NCI'; OF IMl'OW.I'S FOH DOMEHTlC OONSUMPTlON
That brings us to another question: We imported during the first 9 months of this last year for domestic consumption, according to the Department of Commerce figures, $1,191,000,000 worth of food and fiber. That is at the rate of a billion and a half dolla, rs a year for the year 1941.
Mr. FITZPATRICK, Those are imports ~ Mr. HAGlE. Those are imports.
Mr. FITZPATRICK. Could you give us what the exports were
~Mr. HAGlE. No. I do not know what the exports were, but these figures cover imports for domestic consu.mption only.
Mr. FITZPATRICK. I was wondering how far they were out of bal- unce, if any.
Mr. HAGlE. I do not know. I think our exports were mostly in- dustrial stuffs, and our imports largely food and fiber; at least, that
is my general impression. ,
But, as you will see, the billion and a half of imports is one-seventh of the $11,000,000,000 worth of farm products grown by the American farmers last year, and those $11,000,000,000 worth of proo. 'l. cts were produced on 344,000,000 acres, and one-seventh of the 344,000,
'f)()acres represents 50,000,000 acres. In other words, assuming that the Ameri- can farmer is called upon to produce in kind or in substitutes for the duration of the war, to make up for the absence of these -im,?orts, we will require the production from 50,000,0001 new or additic .. lal acres.
Mr. RICH. We paid the farmers last year to leave out of ,?roduction
ho\\" many U('I'('.s? \ Suppose ,,·e lItlllz(' that. aCl'('age antI st.op paying the farmers for not raising ' food commodities, what would be the l'(,Sll1t
~~11'.
H.\(:m. I think the amonnt you paid the farmers under the pl'ograms
YOIll'efetT('d, to
\Y:lSabout $750,000:000.
~fl'. RIcrr. llow man,Y acres were out of cultivation as a result ~ MI'. lIAGIE. On the basis of a Lill ion amI · a half dollars of . imports .. hsplacillg 50,000,000 American fill'm acres, that would be about
~5.000,OOO
acr('s;
Mr.' LEAVY. Mr. Hagie, pardon this correction, hut what
w('paid the farmers lnst y('al' was $:")00,000,000 instead of $750,000,000; amI this year it is rC'dllce<1 to $4f>0,OOO,000, .
I~Ir.
II."OTE, I am glad to have that correctlOn.
II make the point, gentl~m~n, to indicate ~hat. to the eX~e1~t ~mr people are dependt'l1t upon Import s of foodstuffs thIs rOllntl'Y
ISfacmg an u{,l'eage shortage.
III c01~n('ctiol1 with imports, I 'Should like to suhmit. for the record
:t
list of the food :llH1 fih('L' al'tieies for · donH'~tlc c011S11mptiol1 illlport.e(l in the first 0 months of 1041 as taken from the
~IoTlthly,Summary of Foreiu'll Commerc(' for the United States for September of this yeal', This is .at the rate of $l,;)()O;OOO,OOO fot' the 12-l\l(lllth pel'io(1.
(T1H~
(lata reft'l're(1 to follow:) "
IMl'Olt'l'S FOR DOMJ';S'l'IC <- 'ON'SUMPTJON DUlUNG
1941
The
agl'knl tliru
Iimvorts
forthc
first 9l.pollths of 1!H1, a:-; talwn
frolllthe :\oIollthly
HlllllllHlI·,Yof
l!'o]'('ign ('.AllIllllPI'ce of tl~(~ UBitl'd Statp:-;for SPllt<. 'mbpl', are us follows:
Groull
00:
JA
nimH
18alld
1111 i 1ll:1 I Vl'O(lllds,
p(lihl<' ___________________ ----~k:t t. VI'odlld:L---:---
.\l1iIual oil:-; aJl(I fats, (.>(lible_. _____________________________ _
1)a i l'Y l)l'o<lnds--.-- ---.--- ---.---- ---Fi~h
__________________________________________________ ---
OHwr(_'dible
animal pl'o<lnds ____________________________ _Value of i11tports
$16,077,899 Hi, 5B4,
3~a260,749- 3, ()04,5B8 20.682,422 1, H18, 04-5- TIltal _____
______________________________________________ _:i8, 228, 058
Gr(,up
0:
HieleH alH. l
:-;}{ills (raw) __________________________________ _ L(,H tiler ______________ - ---.---LpIL 01(,1'
lllH Bufn du J'es ___ --- -
-1- - - -.-- - - -- - - -Animals,
oil!".fats. alln
gl'easps.ill('dihl(' ___________________ _ Other allinwl
anelanimal
products, iuediblc _______________ _Total _____________________________
____________________ -Group
1 :
Grai
II~ a 11(1 IIl·j·pul'ations ______ --- ---Fonc1en;; ;uIIl f(_'(·ds _________ .
______________________________ _ Vpgptuhl('s alid 1I1'eIlarations.- ____
~________________________ _ FJ'lli
t:-;a
1111lIrepa m tions_ --- --- ---
Nllt~ 1111(1
}H'Pllarations---
-____ ._____
-4 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Vt~g(_'l.ahle oil:-;alln
fat~,edible ____________________________ _ Cocoa, ('offee, aud tea
_____________ ~---~nga I' anel
l'elutf'd products ____________________________ .
__ _ Bpvpl'ng<'l'L ________ ._. ________ . ________________________ ---Total ___
_____
. __________
_______________ --- ---
()6,90(),720 4, !J46, (X)6 2,089,851 3,462,581 2(),639,933 94,044,141
16, 47a,
45S9,210,247
14, 8f)!), 378
33,360,456
11,9S;;,171
1,967,641
167,581,952
135, sas, 008
38,521,230
429,798,541
GI'UUP :!:
('il~('p(l~ ______ ---.--- Vegpt:lhle oil:-; _____ ---.... --- Ii:~s(·llt-inl oils_ .. _____ --- SpPo:-;, PX(·PI.t oi1:-;('p(l:-; ______________________ ---- - - - Misc('llaJI{'1 'us Y<'I;(' 1 allie }Il'o<lw.:ts _________________________ _
.Ttl
te, 1I(,1ll1l-_ --___ - --- --- --- Other y('~dahl(' lil,('1':-; __ - --- Wool find llloilni t', (·t (' _____ ---\\'01') :
~'klll illlHlIllfH<'i lll'('S______ -_________________________ .. ~--
l\I;Il111f;wt 111'(':-; - -__ --.. --- - - -- - - -- - - ---- --- -- - -- - - H.nhher ___________ .. - --- ---.. --- T(~nl _____________________________________
J _________ _ _ -
Value of imporf."1
$22, riG5, :3fi6 3H,7:38,201
G,n62,1nG
1,453,17;) :{, l:!O, H60
1 :3,
483, tmO2:~, !is-!, (jG~
1(i:~, 27:!, 2H!i
G, !i14, GIG
14, ()(jt), ~0"2;n4, Na, 221
6il!), 194, fi{}':)'rotal
ngl'i('ultlll'a)imports of all
grotlllSfor first n
monthsof 1!l41 _____________________________________________ 1,
HH,
21):;, H4:!!AV~;H.\(j/I; .\NNUAL l)H~~CIPITATION IN WI';I';Tlo;J:N (TNIT~;» RT_\T~;S
Mr. HAGlE. We lUl,Yo only been in this war a few months, but if we can learn allY l~sson ut all from the last ,val', it is t.hat an a<leqw~te r-;upply of food for our own people, Ollr :lrllwd for('es, and
0111'alla.>s js just about as important ~s the instrument s of ,~'al', an(~ that t)le fiber necessary to clothe tlns same group and to fill our lTldustnal demands is ju~<;t as important as any of the critical materials.
If you would be intercsted, I have a map here that would gl'Hph- jcally illustrate what I am talking about. Keep in mind that it l'eqllires from 30 to 50 inches of rainfall to pr()(l11ce the normal agricultural crops.
Starting with the Atlantic seaboard and going to the most ,,'est- erly Stat.cs, the avernge rainfall over in this section is about 50 inches-referring' to pastern seaboHrd.
The normal annual precipitation reduces progressively as we go west until at t.his point, about tIl(' ('cnter of the United Statcs, we hav('
ao ineJres of rainfall. The :W-inch rainfall lille rllns down th1'ollgh Lincoln, Nebr., and hits t.he Gulf of Mexico at about Corpus Christi.
Tex.
Mr. LEAVY. You are pointing to the map a.t about. what points
~~:IL'.
HAOlE, The 30-inch rainfall I ine runs about through Lin"coln, Nebr., aml south approximately through Oklnhoma City.
The 25-inch rainfall is furt.h('r
",est.~almost paralleling the 30-inch line.
The 20-ineh rainfall line is st.ill farther west; and, of course) still farther west is the 15-inc11 rainfall, which parallels that, except, through the H.oeky MOllntains
]Jlthe State of Colora<lo, ",here the 11 ne is very irregular.
Mr.
SlIloJPPARO.I sllggest for tlw record yon
illClud~the areas you have l'efClTPd to so we may have t.he information before us in 'the prillte(l record.
~:Il'. HAGn~.
TIl(' 30-1n('11 rainfall line cuts through central Min- nesota and nortll\YPs( ern
Iowa~and rllns almost south through ('ast- ern
Nebra~ka, ('ast~rllKansas, easterll Oklahoma, alHl ('Plltral Tt'xas.
It hits the Gulf of Mexico at nbont. Corpus Christi, Tex.
The 25-inch rainfall line passes through northwestern Minnesota, southeastern South Dakota, central Nebraska, central Kansas, western Oklahoma, and west-central Texas.
The 20-inch rainfall line parallels the 25-illch rainfall line about 150 miles further west through ea::;tern North Dakota, central South Dakota,
w~st-celltralN ebru, ska,. we::;tern Kamms, the Pa llhandles of Oklahoma and Texas, and fo11O\-\'s down the Rio Grande River.
The 15-ineh rainfall area runs- north and south throllO"'h eastern
M~)iltana, eastern Wyoming and. iJ'l'egulQ,dy' through the Ro~ky Moun-
tallls of - Colorado; extend.s through the central part or . New Mexico into Texas and on to the Mexican border in the Big Bend country.
And from the 15-inch line westward for a thousand miles to t.he
C~scade
and .8ierr,a
J\Io~Ultains,except in the
~llountainareas, the raulfall generally
I~15 lnc'hes or less. ApprOXImately one-third of the area enjoys less than 10 inches, with considerable of the area as little as 3 inches of precipitation annually.
';l'hat gives you u picture of what is meant by the phrase "The arid and semIarid West" and why the reclamation ;tnd water conservation and utilization programs are so essential to
a~riculturalproduction in the western half of the United States.
Mr. LEAVY. It ,requires 22 inches, more or less of rainfall to pro- duce an annual crop?
Mr. HAGIE. Yes; _ you must have at least that to be -assured a crop
in t.hat area [indicating]. .
It
v~ries. ~"orinstance if
yo~have an average rainfall of 50 inches, or 35-Inch raInfall, and the raInfall drops off say 7 to 10 inches you are not
particu~arlyhurt; but if you are getting a 30-inch rainfall and your rain!a~l d,rops down 7 t~ 10 inches yO~l are definitely hurt. ' And, the preCIpItatIon trend of thIS whole area IS downward.
PRESENT -DROUGHT CYCLE IN THE WEST
If I may, I would like to take just a minute to indicate that trend.
At Beaver City, Nebr., during the past 60 years, the United States W eather
~~rea~has maintained a
weat~erstation, its figures of an- nual preCIpItatIOn recorded at that. statIOn tell their own story and are anything but reassuring.
From 188:l to 1890, the average rainfa.ll at that station was
26.1~inchei3.
Fr~m 1891 to 1900, it
Wi ...21 n~ inches.
From 1901 to Hno it was 22.48 inches.
From 1911 to 1920 it was 22.46 inches From 1921 to 1930, 22.78 inches.
And from 1931 to 1940, 18.11 inches.
A net decline of 8.08 inches in 60
y~'trs,of which 4.67 occurred during the last 10 years.
Mr. FITZPATRICK. How does the Weather Bureau account for that decrease?
Mr. HAGlE. I do not know that they account for it. The Weather
Bureau does not make predictions or explanations for such periods; it
merely
'ree~rdsthe data. 'Ve have. some people who have been
studYIng thIS matter, and have gone Into it from the standpoint of
both cause and effect especially for the purpose if possible of ascer-
taining the duration and intel}::-;ity of former droughts and in the hope of aid in predicting the duration and intensity of present and future droughts. For instance Halbert P. Gillette of California has, made, I think, OIle of the most detailed st.udies of this phenomenon
of the drought cycle, and he makes the statement that it will be 43 years more before the maximum dryness will occur; that the depth of the dry cycle will be in 1984. There he says that there will be severe recurring droughts for another !)o years.
Mr. F'ITZPATRICK. How does he accotunt for it; what explanatidn does he make?
Mr. HAGlE. I do not know what his explanation is, but he has arrived at his conclusions by studying tree rings, going back four or fi' ve
thousand years, and also studying the formation of rocks that have been formed in lakes where silt is washed in; and formed rocks. By
such studies he -has arrived at the conclusion that we face a rather definite dry cycle; he claims that the present drought is a combination of two well-e~tablished cycles both approaching their depth in 1984~.
A 200- and a 600-year cycle at ~he same time, and therefore we can look forward to many more years of declining rainfall in that area.
It is evident the only way to stabilize th:it area and to meet the in- creased war requirements is to utilize to the maximum. the water
!-\upply that is available. As you go west in this area of the 10-inch nunfaJI the only agriculture that amounts to mnch of anything is the irrigation districts, irrigation agriculture, as indicated on this map.
Mr. JOHNSON. Where does the 10-inch rainfall area begin?
Mr. HAGlE. The area of 10 inche:s or less of rainfall lies generally between the Rockv Monntains on the east and the Cascade and the Sierra Nevada Range on the west. And covers a part of the :follow- ing States, Washington, Montana, 'Vyoming, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, {\llifornia, Arizona, and New Mexico.
Mr. LEAVY. It extends to a distance of almost a thousand miles?
Mr. JOHNSON. And in that area the water level has been con- stantly falling?
~Ir.
HAGlE. The nnderground water level?
Mr. JOH~STON. Yes. The underground water level has been falling- for many years.
Mr. HAGlE. That is true. I was showing you figures covering the
Hverage precipitation. ..
Here is another weather station in Kansas with a record of 40 years, just south and east of Beaver City, Nebr., which shows as follows:
From 1901 to 1910 the average precipitation was 28.23 inches.
From 1911 to 1920,25.31 inches.
From 1921 to 1930 it was 23.18 inches.
And from 1931 to 1940, 21.90.
As you will note, that indicates a net decrease. in the fourth year·
period · of 6.43 inches.
EFFECT OF DROUGHT ON UNDERGROUND WATER STORAGE
~£r.
SHEPPARD. Let me ask you a question on that point: Irrespec- tive of the precipitation which at times almost constitutes
fl~odcon- ditions, the lowering of our underground water table
me~nsthat this going down of the water level is a mathematical fact? ''''hen you st'op to figure that during a hundred years in which precipitation has
filled the::;e llndel"lYronncl basins, the fact remains that we have had these droughts awl that the water level hajj fallen more rapidly during thi::; drought cycle.
~1r.
HAGlE. That is very true. .
Mr.
SHEPPARD.The thing, which to my mind, makes the reclama- tion pro(rram
f'0important is we must store surface water to supplant uur gre:rt lllulergrou1ld reserves that we have been pnmping from.
Mr. IIAGlE. Yes. In that connection, it might be of interest to the committee to state, that 2 years ago I \'ra::; going over the Central Valley nroject investigating this very thing to which Mr.
Sheppard has just referred-the depletion of the underground water.
I spent a dav at the DiGeorbria vineyard, where there are about six or seven "thousand acres under irrigation in one vineyard. I met the foreman, who took us ove- r the vineyard, showed us the log of the well::; from which he \yas pumping water to irrigate that six or seven thousand acres of vineyard. He gave me the 10-year record on 32 wells which showed that the \vater level in those wells was lowering at the rate of 7lj2 feet a year. He was raising water 75 feet higher, on the average, for the 32 wells than he was 10 years previously; in other words, an average of 7112 feet a year.
DIPOHTANCE OF RIWL_\MATION PRO,JECTS TO PRODUCTION IN Wl<;S'l'
The point I am trying to make to you gentlemen on this map is to indicate that the land in the West is irrigated to the extent of about 20,000,000 acres, about one-follrth of which is irrigated by Federal projects, and three-fourths by private enterprise.
That is where the production from the 17 "T estern States must largely come from, and the only way that you are going to increase production to any extent is by either furnishing a supplemental water supply to some irrigated projects that have an inadequate water supply, and could produce twice as much on them if they had a full water supply, or by supplying a new water supply to entirely new acreage.
Mr. JOHNSON. Are you in position to make a definite recom- mendation to this committee as to what it should. do; or do you have in mind a long-time program of reclamation that you believe the Congress should embark upon, in view of the possible shortage of food supply during the grave emergency? .
Mr. HAGlE. I feel that the COll(yress should go forward. as rapIdly as conditions warrant in impoundlng water and making it available for irrigation, now. '
Mr; JOHNSON. Not in any partjc'nlar section but in all sections?
Mr. HAGIE. Yes; taking the most feasible projects first, which are now under construction and are well on their way to completion.
Mr. FITZPATRICK. Do you not think it · would be well to take the projects that can be completed in a short period because of the emergency now existing, rather than planning to go over a long period with projects that cannot be completed soon?
Mr. HAGlE. For the immediate future.; yes.
Mr. FITZPATRICK. Yes.
Mr. HAGlE. I have lu're some
figlll'(>Sas to what the Bureau of
Reclumation is prepared to do in tlu..> next a years if given the money
to provide additional water to some lands now in irrigation as well
as by furnit;hillg an entirely new water supply for dry lands not now in cultivation.
~1r .•
JOHNSON.Will you place those in the record ~
~lr. HAGlE. Yes; I wil be glad to do so.
For 1942 tl\(:' Burean of Reclamation could supply supplemental water to 11,000 acres and can bring into cultivation 93,000 acres of new land.
~lr.
f.JOHNSON.With the appropriation it is now receiving~
Mr. HAGlE. No.
Mr. FITZPATRICK. With additional appropriations ~
Mr.
H,\GlE.Y(\s ~ that woul(l require additional appropriations.
Mr .•
JoHNSON.Of how much ~
Mr. HAGlE. I do not have the figures, but I presume Mr. Page has already put them in the record. .
In 1943 O'iv('n the money, they can furnIsh a supplemental water supply to' 8''5,000 acres, and bring in new acreage which could be furnished a full water supply on new land, of 106,000 acres, or a total of 191,000, in 1943.
Mr. FITZPATlUCIC And the money invested would be returned to the Treasury of the United States.
Mr. H.\.GIJ<~. Ye~; that would all be repaid except, of course, it would be interest free.
In 1944 they could supply supplemental water for 479,000 a~res and bring in 432,000 acres of new land, or a total of 911,000 acres Just in that 1 year.
Now that means a total that could be supplied with supplemental water ~f 575,000; a total of new land. brou~ht in,. of 631,000 acres, or a grand total of 1,206,000 acres durIng tIle perIOd 1942, 1943, and 1944.
DEMAND ON FARMS DUE TO LACK OF IMPOP.T8
Mr. FITZPATRICK. Do you feel ,that it is necessary to bring in that additi011al aCI'(,H!!e if thi~ emergency continues ~
Mr. HAGlE. Yes; I definitely do for this reason: G<;>ing ba~k to our imports. according to the figures of the Raw MaterIals .N atlOnal Coun<;:il, and I believe the.ir figures are ac~urate, we hav~ Impo~·ted by years what it · would require the followmg number of Amel'lcan farm acres to produce in food and fiber products.
- In 1935 72.000 000 acres. In other words, the imports for that year wonl~l h~lve' required 72,000,000 acres of Americas farm lana to produce.
In 1936, 74,000,000 acres.
In
19~7,85:000,000 acres.
In 1938, 47,000,000 acres.
In 1939. 67,000,000 acres.
As I said a minute ago, to the extent that these imports are not goino- to reach our shores we are going to be short just that much, at a °time when ' the demand for domestic consumption will be the
greab~st in the history of our Nation to keep more men at work when they will probably eat more, and at a time when ·we have an Army to feeel. when · we 'have an exp.editional'Y force to feed, and when we
69976-42-69
have two or three allied nations to feed; and inevitably we probably must feed some submarines between here and those foreign shores.
So, the demands will inevitably be greater than they were during the last World War.
POSSIBIJ.lTY OF POST-WAR }-OOD SHonT AGF:
And, these df>mands "'ill not be cut off at the end of the war.
Let us refer a minute to the question of sugar that was mentioned a moment ago. The highest price for sugar during the last war period was )lot until June 1920, when the price of sugar jumped up to 26.7 cents per pound, which was 2 years after the wa.r was over.
~Ir.
JOHNSON. And in some places it retailed at 40 cents.
1\1r. FITZPATHICK. That was the wholesale price ~ , Mr. HAGlE. No; that was the average reta il price for the month of June 1920; 26.7 cents per. pound, in June of 1920, 2 years after the war was over.
Mr. JOHNSON. I am wondering if you couLd not put any further statE'ment you care to llmke in the record, because our time is short.
MI'. HAGlE. I will be alad to no that.
I ' just want to call attention to one other matter that has to do
with two
it~msremainillg in the bill, both for investigational pur- poses: One HI the reclamation fund, of a half a millioil dollars, and
~me
out of the General Treasul'Y, of
$750~OOO,or a total of $1,250,000, If
~eare to have the type of program available, in blueprint form, which we should carryon after the war is over. And as I say, the
d~mand
does not cease when the war is over, and ,ve ought to make- our plans to carryon a program of that -type.
EQU.\L IMPORTANCE 01<' POWI<:R AND JRl:IGATION PROJI'X'TS
Mr. LEAVY. I want to ask you one
01'two questions, if I may.
Mr. HAGIE. Yes.
Mr. LEAVY. You said at the outset of your remarks that the em- phasis in this year's estimate seems to have been placed on power development in connect.ion with the reclamation projects, and I am wondering if you weant to imply that that should not go forward.
Mr. HAGIE. No; indeed not. I think it.is very fortunate that the Federal reclamation program ,vas so far along and with so much potential power available that it could be whipped into shape for this war emergency; I think that is very fortunate. But I do not think we should give our entire
att~ntionto reclamation power, which is now
b~}ngused
t~ p~werour important war industries transforming strategIcal materIals Into tanks and planes and boats, which are most essentIal, and entirely overlook the fact that the canals that lead out from these dams can also produce the foodstuffs that are going to be just as
vita~,.andprobably more so in a year or two than some of our pr~sent CrItIcal materials. .
Mr. LEAVY. Of course, we cannot have anything more essential than the necessary materials and men engaged in the construction of"
planes and tanks and munitions, but it does not seem necessary to make any comparison; both are essential, and we cannot afford t(}
cut down on' eIther. That is what I thought you intended to em-
phasize, that there should be an additional appropriation to hurry along the reclamation program.
MI.'. -FITZPATRICK. 'Ve do not need to deRtroy the-one to build the other up.
Mr. LEAVY. That 'is the point.
Mr. HAGlE. No; we n:re not u~gi~lg that. But we ar~ ~al.li.ng the at.tention of this commIttee, whICh does have the responsIbIlIty for the appropriation, to the fact that we believe that we are facing a shortaO'e of American farn1 acres needed to .produce the food and fiber f~r this war, a. mI that so far as much additional agricultural production capacity may be required in the 17
'Ves~rnStates the responsibility for making it available rests largely WIth the Bureau of R('elamation and with this ' committee.
~lr.
LEAVY. In taking that action you are not advocating we should cu t down on the other.
~h.
HAGlE. No; indeed not.
Mr. LEAVY. Regardless of what other action should be taken.
Mr. HAGlE. No. Both are needed; both should be expedited.
!fr. ' SHEPPA'"RD. We have got to have the food to feed the men who are making the guns as well as t.hose who are doing the shoot- ing, and fabricating the mat('rinls if these men are to continue production.
Mr. HAGlE. I think it is most ilnportant to win the war; we ollght
not to have. a shortage of either. . .
, Mr. SHEPPARD. You have got to have food to keep up the abIlIty to carry out the rest of the program.
Mr. HAGlE. That is right., and I think we will find we are facing a very critical situation. We have been ' so busy building tanks and planes last year we have overlooked what is going to happen when the imports during the next year are cut off; when we do not have the inlports ,this year that we had last.
~fl'.
SHEPPARD. I do not think the Government departments, with all due respect to them, have really grasped the complete signifi- cnnce of the' necessity that is being developed by our Allies and by ourselves in this very food program
1until very recently.
CONTRIBUTION OF RECL.\MATION PHOGRAM TO PRE-SENT WAR IN PA<JIFIC
~Ir.