1544

FLOOD CONTROL ACT OF 1960

[Extracts from] An act authorizing the construction, repair, and preservation of certain public works on rivers and harbors for navigation, flood control, and for other pur poses. (Act of July 14, 1960, Public Law 86-645, 74 Stat. 480)

The project for improvement of the Rio Grande Basin is hereby authorized substantially as recommended by the Chief of Engineers in Senate Document Numbered 94, Eighty-sixth Congress, at an estimated cost of $58,300,000.

The approval granted above shall be subject to the following conditions and limitations:

Cochiti Reservoir, Galisteo Reservoir, and all other reservoirs constructed by the Corps of Engineers as a part of the Middle Rio Grande project will be operated solely for flood control and sediment control, as described below:

(a) the outflow from Cochiti Reservoir during each spring flood and thereafter will be at the maximum rate of flow that can be carried at the time in the channel of Rio Grande through the middle valley without causing flooding of areas protected by levees or unreasonable damage to channel protective works: Provided, That whenever during the months of July, August, September, and October, there is more than two hundred twelve thousand acre-feet of storage available for regulation of summer floods and the inflow to Cochiti Reservoir (exclusive of that portion of the inflow derived from upstream flood-control storage) is less than one thousand five hundred cubic feet per second, no water will be withdrawn from storage in Cochiti Reservoir and the inflow derived from upstream flood-control storage will be retained in Cochiti Reservoir.

(b) Releases of water from Galisteo Reservoir and Jemez Canyon Reservoir during the months of July, August, September, and October, will be limited to the amounts necessary to provide adequate capacity for control of subsequent summer floods; and such releases when made in these months or thereafter will be at the maximum rate practicable under the conditions at the time.

(c) Subject to the foregoing, the storage of water in and the release of water from all reservoirs constructed by the Corps of Engineers as part of the Middle Rio Grande project will be done as the interests of flood and sediment control may dictate: Provided, That the Corps of Engineers will endeavor to avoid encroachment on the upper two hundred and twelve thousand acre-feet of capacity in Cochiti Reservoir, and all reservoirs will be evacuated completely on or before March 31 of each year: And provided further, That when estimates

FLOOD CONTROL ACT OF 1960

1545 of anticipated streamflow made by appropriate agencies of the Federal Government indicate that the operation of reservoirs constructed as a part of the Middle Rio Grande project may affect the benefits accruing to New Mexico or Colorado, under the provisions of the eighth unnumbered paragraph of article. VI of the Rio Grande compact, releases from such reservoirs shall be regulated to produce a flow of ten thousand cubic feet per second at Albuquerque, or such greater or lesser rate as may be determined by the Chief of Engineers at the time to be the maximum safe flow, whenever such operation shall be requested by the Rio Grande compact commissioner for New Mexico or the commissioner for Colorado, or both, in writing prior to commencement of such operation.

(d) All reservoirs of the Middle Rio Grande project will be operated at all times in the manner described above in conformity with the Rio Grande compact, and no departure from the foregoing operation schedule will be made except with the advice and consent of the Rio Grande compact, and no departure from the foregoing operation schedule will be made except with the advice and consent of the Rio Grande Compact Commission: Provided, That whenever the Corps of Engineers determines that an emergency exists affecting the safety of major structures or endangering life and shall so advise the Rio Grande Compact Commission in writing these rules of operation may be suspended during the period of and to the extent required by such emergency.

(e) The foregoing regulations shall not apply to storage capacity which may be allocated to permanent pools for recreation and fish and wildlife propagation: Provided, That the water required to fill and maintain such pools is obtained from sources entirely outside the drainage basin of the Rio Grande. (74 Stat. 492)

The report of the Chief of Engineers on Wilson Dam and Reservoir, Saline River, Kansas, submitted in compliance with Public Law 505, Eighty-fourth Congress, published as Senate Document Numbered 96, Eighty-sixth Congress, is hereby approved, and construction of the project as a unit of the comprehensive plan of improvement for the Missouri River Basin authorized by the Flood Control Act approved December 22, 1944, is hereby authorized at an estimated cost of $18,081,000. (74 Stat. 494)

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Reference in Text. Public Law 505 of the The Act appears herein in chronological 84th Congress is the Act of May 2, 1956.

*

order.

1546

FLOOD CONTROL ACT OF 1960

Sec. 204. [Federal monetary contribution authorized for the Merced River development-Conditions.]—In recognition of the flood-control accomplishments of the multiple-purpose Merced River development including the Bagby, New Exchequer, and Snelling Dams and Reservoirs, proposed to be constructed on the Merced River by the Merced Irrigation District of California, there is hereby authorized to be appropriated a monetary contribution toward the construction cost of such development and the amount of such contribution shall be determined by the Secretary of the Army in cooperation with the Merced Irrigation District, subject to a finding by the Secretary of the Army, approved by the President, of economic justification for allocation of the amount of flood control, such funds to be administered by the Secretary of the Army: Provided, That prior to making the monetary contribution or any part thereof, the Department of the Army and the Merced Irrigation District shall have entered into an agreement providing for operation of the dams and reservoirs in such manner as will produce the flood-control benefits upon which the monetary contribution is predicated, and such operation of the dams and reservoirs for flood control shall be in accordance with rules prescribed by the Secretary of the Army pursuant to the provisions of section 7 of the Flood Control Act of 1944 (58 Stat. 890): Provided further, That the funds appropriated under this authorization shall be administered by the Secretary of the Army in a manner which shall assure that the annual Federal contribution during the project construction period does not exceed the percentage of the annual expenditure for the dams and reservoirs which the total flood control contribution bears to the total cost of the dams and reservoirs: And provided further, That, unless construction of the development is undertaken within four years from the date of enactment of this Act, the authority for the monetary contribution contained herein shall expire. (74 Stat. 499)

Sec. 205. [Federal monetary contribution authorized for the Mokelumne River development-Conditions.]-In recognition of the flood control accomplishments of the multiple purpose dam and reservoir (or dams and reservoirs) proposed to be constructed on the Mokelumne River by the East Bay Municipal Utility District of Oakland, California, there is hereby authorized to be appropriated a monetary contribution toward the construction cost of such dam and reservoir (or dams and reservoirs) and the amount of such contribution shall be determined by the Secretary of the Army in cooperation with the East Bay Municipal Utility District, and the Secretary of the Interior, subject to a finding by the Secretary of the Army, approved by the President, of economic justification for allocation of the amount of flood control, such funds to be administered by the Secretary of the Army: Provided, That the plan of improvement proposed by the East Bay Municipal Utility District will afford a degree of flood control which in the opinion of the Secretary of the Army is adequate for the Mokelumne River as a part of the overall flood control program for the central valley: Provided further, That, prior to making the monetary contribution or any part thereof, the Department of the Army and the East Bay Municipal Utility District shall have entered into an agreement providing for operation

FLOOD CONTROL ACT OF 1960

1547 of the dam or dams in such manner as will produce the flood control benefits upon which the monetary contribution is predicated, and such operation of the dam or dams for flood control shall be in accordance with rules prescribed by the Secretary of the Army pursuant to the provisions of section 7 of the Flood Control Act of 1944 (54 Stat. 890): Provided further, That prior to making the monetary contribution or any part thereof, the Department of the Army and the East Bay Municipal Utility District shall have entered into an agreement to provide adequately for mitigation of damages to fish and wildlife consistent with the other purposes of the project: And provided further, That the funds appropriated under this authorization shall be administered by the Secretary of the Army in a manner which shall assure that the annual Federal contribution during the project construction period does not exceed the percentage of the annual expenditure for the dam and reservoir (or dams and reservoirs) which the total flood control contribution bears to the total cost of the dam and reservoir (or dams and reservoirs). (74 Stat. 499)

Sec. 206. [Chief of Engineers authorized to compile and disseminate information on floods and flood damages-Surveys and guides for State and local interests may be made only at the request of a State or responsible local governmental agency-Expenditures not to exceed $7 million in any one fiscal year.]— (a) In recognition of the increasing use and development of the flood plains of the rivers of the United States and of the need for information on flood hazards to serve as a guide to such development, and as a basis for avoiding future flood hazards by regulation of use by States and political subdivisions thereof, and to assure that Federal departments and agencies may take proper cognizance of flood hazards, the Secretary of the Army, through the Chief of Engineers, is hereby authorized to compile and disseminate information on floods and flood damages, including identification of areas subject to inundation by floods of various magnitudes and frequencies, and general criteria for guidance of Federal and non-Federal interests and agencies in the use of flood plain areas; and to provide advice to other Federal agencies and local interests for their use in planning to ameliorate the flood hazard. Surveys and guides will be made for States and political subdivisions thereof only upon the request of a State or a political subdivision thereof, and upon approval by the Chief of Engineers, and such information and advice provided them only upon such request and approval.

(b) The Secretary of the Army is authorized to expend not to exceed $7,000,000 per fiscal year for the compilation and dissemination of information under this section. (74 Stat. 500; Act of November 7, 1966, 80 Stat. 1422; 33 U.S.C.709a)

EXPLANATORY NOTE

1966 Amendment. Section 206 of the Act of November 7, 1966, 80 Stat. 1422, amended section 206 to read as it appears above. Besides increasing the annual appropriation authorization from $1 to $7 million, the amendment authorized the Chief of Engineers to provide guidance and plan

ning advice to Federal agencies, as well as to State and local interests, in the use of flood plain areas and to ameliorate flood hazards. While extracts from the 1966 Act appear herein in chronological order, the amending section is not included.

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FLOOD CONTROL ACT OF 1960

Sec. 207. [Reconstruction or replacement of roads.]-Amended.

Sec. 209. [Chief of Engineers in cooperation with appropriate agencies of the State of Texas is authorized to study means of recharging and replenishing Edwards Underground Reservoir-State of Texas to share cost-Findings to be presented in a joint State of Texas-Chief of Engineers report.]—The Chief of Engineers, under the direction of the Secretary of the Army, is authorized and directed to cause an investigation and study to be made, in cooperation with appropriate agencies of the State of Texas, with a view to devising effective means of accomplishing the recharge and replenishment of the Edwards Underground Reservoir as a part of plans for flood control and water conservation in the Nueces, San Antonio and Guadalupe River Basins of Texas: Provided, That the State of Texas or its agencies contribute toward the cost of such study such funds or services as the Secretary of the Army may deem appropriate: Provided further, That the findings of such study shall be presented in a joint report signed by the appropriate representatives of the Governor of Texas and of the Chief of Engineers. (74 Stat. 501)

Sec. 210. [Additional appropriations authorization.]—In addition to previous authorizations, there is hereby authorized to be appropriated the sum of $60,000,000 for the prosecution of the comprehensive plan adopted by section 9(a) of the Act approved December 22, 1944 (Public Law Numbered 534, Seventy-eighth Congress), as amended and supplemented by subsequent Acts of Congress, for continuing the works in the Missouri River Basin to be undertaken under said plans by the Secretary of the Interior. (74 Stat. 502)

Sec. 212. [Short title.]-Title II of this Act may be cited as the "Flood Control Act of 1960". (74 Stat. 502)

Not Codified. Extracts of this Act shown here, with the exception of section 206, are not codified in the U.S. Code.

References in the Text. The Act of December 22, 1944 (Public Law No. 534, 78th Congress, 2nd Session), referred to in sections 201 and 210 of the text, and the Flood Control Act of 1944 (58 Stat. 890), referred to in sections 204 and 205 of the text, are references to the same Act. Extracts from the 1944 Act, including the sec

tions referred to in the text, appear herein in chronological order.

Editor's Note, Annotations. Annotations of opinions are not included because this statute does not deal primarily with the activities of the Bureau of Reclamation.

Legislative History. H.R. 7634, Public Law 86-645 in the 86th Congress. Reported in House from Public Works June 12, 1959; H.R. Rept. No. 541. Passed House July 16, 1959. Reported in Senate from Public Works