Download

Download Full Text (7.0 MB)

Description

This statement, delivered February 15, 1954, by attorney Walter O. Burk before the Subcommittee on Civil Functions and Military Construction of the United States (US) House Appropriations Committee during hearings on the pool level of the Garrison Dam in North Dakota, expresses Burk's opposition to an immediate pool level of 1850 feet for the Garrison Dam Reservoir.

Burk explains that he is the president of the Upper Missouri Development Association, an organization opposed to a pool level of 1,850. He describes the three principal arguments put forward by advocates of an 1,850-foot pool level, which focus on power generation, irrigation, and flood control and navigation.

He then explains that the small sacrifice in power generation posed by a 1840-foot pool level put forward by the city of Williston as a compromise, combined with low demand for additional power and plentiful coal to be used for cheap steam generation, render the power-generation argument irrelevant.

Similarly, he provides background on previous irrigation projects and proposals that demonstrate that there is little desire among farmers in western North Dakota to convert from dry-land farming to irrigated farming.

Burk mentions in closing that the compromise level of 1840 feet was rejected by the Army Engineers.

Date of Work

2-18-1954

Keywords

Lewis and Clark Irrigation Project, Buford-Trenton Irrigation Project, Heart-Butte Project, Fort Peck Dam, City of Williston, Oahe and Fort Randall Dam, US Army Appropriation Bill, flooding, flood protections, Garrison Dam, Garrison Reservoir, Garrison Diversion, US Subcommittee on Civil Functions and Military Construction, US House Appropriations Committee, Upper Missouri Development Association, Garrison Diversion Irrigation Project, US Bureau of Reclamation, Montana Dakota Utilities Company, US Bureau of the Census, Great Northern Railroad, United States Army Corps of Engineers, US Army Engineers, US Senate Report Civil Functions Department

Organizations Referenced

US Subcommittee on Civil Functions and Military Construction, US House Appropriations Committee, Upper Missouri Development Association, Garrison Diversion Irrigation Project, US Bureau of Reclamation, Montana Dakota Utilities Company, US Bureau of the Census, Great Northern Railroad, US Army Corps of Engineers, US Army Engineers, US Senate Report Civil Functions Department

People Referenced

Walter O. Burk, General Potter, Mr. Davidson, L. N. McClellan, H. L. Hiller, Mr Ditsworth, Mr Wegley

Statement by Walter Burk on Garrison Dam Pool Level, February 18, 1954

Share

COinS