SPEAKERS CONTENTS INSERTS
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2001
2001
BUENA VISTA WATERSHED PROPOSAL
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON CONSERVATION, CREDIT,
RURAL DEVELOPMENT, AND RESEARCH
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
NOVEMBER 14, 2001
Serial No. 107–13
Printed for the use of the Committee on Agriculture
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agriculture.house.gov
COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
LARRY COMBEST, Texas, Chairman
JOHN A. BOEHNER, Ohio
Vice Chairman
BOB GOODLATTE, Virginia
RICHARD W. POMBO, California
NICK SMITH, Michigan
TERRY EVERETT, Alabama
FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma
SAXBY CHAMBLISS, Georgia
JERRY MORAN, Kansas
BOB SCHAFFER, Colorado
JOHN R. THUNE, South Dakota
WILLIAM L. JENKINS, Tennessee
JOHN COOKSEY, Louisiana
GIL GUTKNECHT, Minnesota
BOB RILEY, Alabama
MICHAEL K. SIMPSON, Idaho
DOUG OSE, California
ROBIN HAYES, North Carolina
ERNIE FLETCHER, Kentucky
CHARLES W. ''CHIP'' PICKERING, Mississippi
TIMOTHY V. JOHNSON, Illinois
TOM OSBORNE, Nebraska
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MIKE PENCE, Indiana
DENNIS R. REHBERG, Montana
SAM GRAVES, Missouri
ADAM H. PUTNAM, Florida
MARK R. KENNEDY, Minnesota
CHARLES W. STENHOLM, Texas,
Ranking Minority Member
GARY A. CONDIT, California
COLLIN C. PETERSON, Minnesota
CALVIN M. DOOLEY, California
EVA M. CLAYTON, North Carolina
EARL F. HILLIARD, Alabama
TIM HOLDEN, Pennsylvania
SANFORD D. BISHOP, Jr., Georgia
BENNIE G. THOMPSON, Mississippi
JOHN ELIAS BALDACCI, Maine
MARION BERRY, Arkansas
MIKE McINTYRE, North Carolina
BOB ETHERIDGE, North Carolina
LEONARD L. BOSWELL, Iowa
DAVID D. PHELPS, Illinois
KEN LUCAS, Kentucky
MIKE THOMPSON, California
BARON P. HILL, Indiana
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JOE BACA, California
RICK LARSEN, Washington
MIKE ROSS, Arkansas
ANÍBAL ACEVEDO-VILÁ, Puerto Rico
RON KIND, Wisconsin
RONNIE SHOWS, Mississippi
Professional Staff
WILLIAM E. O'CONNER, JR., Staff Director
LANCE KOTSCHWAR, Chief Counsel
STEPHEN HATERIUS, Minority Staff Director
KEITH WILLIAMS, Communications Director
Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Rural Development, and Research
FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma, Chairman
JERRY MORAN, Kansas
Vice Chairman
JOHN R. THUNE, South Dakota
DOUG OSE, California
TOM OSBORNE, Nebraska
SAM GRAVES, Missouri
ADAM K. PUTNAM, Florida
MARK R. KENNEDY, Minnesota
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TIM HOLDEN, Pennsylvania
Ranking Minority Member
JOHN ELIAS BALDACCI, Maine
DAVID D. PHELPS, Illinois
MIKE THOMPSON, California
JOE BACA, California
COLLIN C. PETERSON, Minnesota
EVA M. CLAYTON, North Carolina
RYAN E. WESTON, Subcommittee Staff Director
(ii)
C O N T E N T S
Holden, Hon. Tim, a Representative in Congress from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, opening statement
Goodlatte, Hon. Bob, a Representative in Congress from the Commonwealth of Virginia, opening statement
Lucas, Hon. Frank, a Representative in Congress from the State of Oklahoma, opening statement
Witnesses
Bensey, Roger L., Director, Watersheds and Wetlands Division, Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture
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Prepared statement
Douty, Steve, council member, Buena Vista, VA
Prepared statement
Submitted Material
Buena Vista Watershed Project information
BUENA VISTA WATERSHED PROPOSAL
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2001
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit,
Rural Development, and Research,
Committee on Agriculture,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10 a.m., in room 1300, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Frank D. Lucas (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.
Present: Representatives Osborne, Graves, Putnam, Kennedy, Holden, and Peterson.
Also present: Representative Goodlatte.
Staff present: Ryan Weston, subcommittee staff director; Dave Ebersole, senior professional staff; Callista Gingrich, clerk; Brent Gattis, Anne Hazlett, Stephanie Myers, Susanna Love, and Anne Simmons.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. FRANK D. LUCAS, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA
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Mr. LUCAS. This is a hearing of the Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Rural Development and Research to review the Buena Vista Watershed Project. The hearing will come to order.
Small watershed programs authorized under Public Law 83–566 require that proposed watershed projects with an estimated Federal contribution to construction costs in excess of over $5 million and no single structure exceeding 4,000 feet of total capacity be reviewed and approved by this committee.
The Buena—Buena——
Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Chairman, in Virginia we call it ''Buena Vista''.
Mr. LUCAS. I am sorry. Being a western Oakie, sometimes we are just a little step ahead of you all in the pronunciation business.
Mr. GOODLATTE. Your Spanish may be better than ours, but in Virginia it is ''Buena Vista''.
Mr. LUCAS. Anyway, the Buena Vista Watershed Project is located in Rockbridge County, Virginia. The city of Buena Vista and the Natural Bridge Soil and Water Conservation District have been working with the USDA over the past several years to make sure that the project is sound and feasible.
Today, we look forward to hearing from USDA representatives and representatives from Buena Vista. We hope this testimony will concretely show that while my are pronunciations are a little bit different than the rest of the world's that the need for this project and the common good will result upon the project's completion. And I look forward to hearing from today's witnesses, and I turn to the ranking member, Mr. Holden, for any comments he may have.
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OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. TIM HOLDEN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
Mr. HOLDEN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for having this hearing today. I guess this is my first one as the ranking member of the subcommittee, so I am pleased to be here with Mr. Goodlatte who helped him address this problem and his district. I know how hard he worked for his constituents in Virginia and I just want to help him move this process along because I have a similar problem in Pennsylvania with the Tulpehocken Watershed; and it is very important that we take care of these projects across rural America, and we address the backlog in these projects also, Mr. Chairman. I know that is a significant problem that we are facing. So I thank you for holding the hearing, and I look forward to hearing from the panel.
Mr. LUCAS. Thank you.
Mr. Goodlatte.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. BOB GOODLATTE, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much for holding this hearing; and I would also like to thank the ranking member for his comments. I would like to welcome Mr. Douty and Mr. Dadson, both from Buena Vista in the Sixth Congressional District of Virginia, to Washington today; and on behalf of the citizens of Buena Vista, I am pleased to request approval for the authorization of the Buena Vista Watershed Project.
First, let me provide the committee an overview of the small watershed program and then discuss the Buena Vista Watershed Project briefly. The small watershed programs authorized by Public Law 78–534 and Public Law 83–566 have served America well for over 50 years. These programs have reduced threats from floods, improved the environment, increased economic development, and helped develop the infrastructure on which many rural communities depend.
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The law states that proposed watershed projects with an estimated Federal contribution to construction costs in excess of $5 million and no single structure exceeding 2,500 acre-feet of total capacity require approval of this committee and the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Forestry, and Nutrition. Therefore I urge my colleagues to approve this project.
The watershed project is located in the city of Buena Vista in Rockbridge County, VA, and covers 11,850 acres. The population within the project area is approximately 6,400 people. The area of concern in Rockbridge County, VA, has been subjected to repetitive flooding from mountain streams, causing overland flow and ponding problems. Economic losses include flood damage to streets, bridges, waterlines, gas lines, homes, businesses, and industries.
Mr. Chairman, I can say that after the last major such incident in the mid–1990's, I had the opportunity to visit Buena Vista and see the damage. What water coming down of out of the mountains at a high volume and rate can do in terms of pushing massive amounts of rock and causing incredible destruction is truly remarkable. Lost business income and disruption of transportation emergency services also occurs.
Analyses indicate that a 100-year storm floods 245 residences, 70 commercial properties, many roads, bridges and utilities and results in over $11.84 million in damages. Average annual damage from flood events totals $1.45 million.
The sponsors requested assistance from the NRCS in 1993 to determine the extent of the flooding problem in Buena Vista and the potential for reducing this problem. It has been determined that Buena Vista is in need of flood protection from the interior stream drainage.
In combination with the other flood control efforts within the city, this watershed plan provides an overall approach to address the longstanding flooding problems in Buena Vista. A description of the project calls for funds to be used for the following measures: install seven debris basins, replace and enlarge or remove seven culverts and/or bridges, construct 500 feet of concrete floodwall, upgrade 220 feet of earthen berm, improve 5,538 feet of intermittent stream channel, realign and improve 120 feet of stream channel, replace two railroad bridges on Indian Gap Run with five box culverts, replace one railroad bridge on Pedlar Gap Run with two box culverts.
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The overall effect of the planned actions will be to increase the water-carrying capacity of the streams by increasing total channel sizes, removing rocks and woody material by installing debris basins, enlarging culvert and bridge openings, and increasing channel grade. These procedures will decrease flooding from overland flow and decrease the depth of ponded floodwaters.
Flooding, overland flow, ponding, and bank scour have not only hurt the community of Buena Vista economically, but have presented an overall threat to life and property. If approved and implemented, this project will significantly decrease future flooding and damages.
The proposal being reviewed here today will take a step in the right direction by helping Buena Vista reclaim the economic and positive livelihoods associated with a prosperous and viable community.
The proposal has been crafted with the needs of the local community in mind and local sponsors should be commended on their efforts to sustain the needs and vision of rural communities.
In closing, I would like to again thank the chairman for holding this hearing and urge my colleagues to support this effort.
Mr. LUCAS. Thank you, Bob.
Seeing no other opening statements, I think we will proceed to our first and only panel of witnesses today: Mr. Roger L. ''Lee'' Bensey, Director of Watersheds and Wetland Division, Natural Resources Conservation Service; Mr. Steve Douty, councilman, Buena Vista, VA, accompanied by Mr. Scott Dadson, city manager of Buena Vista.
Mr. Bensey, you may begin when you are ready.
STATEMENT OF ROGER L. ''LEE'' BENSEY, DIRECTOR, WATERSHEDS AND WETLAND DIVISION, NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
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Mr. BENSEY. Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before the subcommittee today to discuss the Buena Vista Watershed Project that was developed by USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and is being considered for authorization. I am Lee Bensey, Director, at the NRCS Watersheds and Wetland Division.
Proposed watershed projects with an estimated Federal contribution to construction costs in excess of $5 million and no single structure exceeding 4,000 acre-feet of total capacity require approval of this subcommittee and the Committee on Agriculture, Forestry, and Nutrition of the Senate. I am pleased to appear before you today to request approval of the Buena Vista Watershed in Virginia.
The Buena Vista Watershed Project is located in Rockbridge County, VA, and has a drainage area of 11,850 acres and includes the city of Buena Vista. The population within the project area is approximately 6,400 people. The city of Buena Vista and the Natural Bridge Soil and Water Conservation District are sponsors of the project.
The major problem in the watershed is repetitive flooding from four mountain streams causing overland flow and ponding problems throughout Buena Vista. Previous efforts to maintain stream capacity have been rendered ineffective due to the reoccurring deposition of gravel, cobbles and debris during flood events. Analyses indicate that a 100-year frequency storm floods 245 residences, 70 commercial properties, numerous roads, bridges and utilities and results in over $11.8 million in damages. The average annual damage is $1,450,000.
The plan consists of multiple works of improvement which address stream channel capacity enhancement and debris removal. The measures include seven debris basins, modifying or removing 10 bridges or culverts, construction of 500 feet of concrete floodwall, and upgrading 220 feet of earthen berm and improving 6,170 feet of stream channel. The estimated total cost of the project is $7.19 million of which the Federal share is $6.55 million. The benefit/cost ratio is 1.5 to 1.
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If the Buena Vista Watershed Plan is implemented, it will reduce the annual flood damage by 61 percent and approximately 130 buildings will be flood-free during the 100-year flood event.
I thank the subcommittee for the opportunity to present this project and ask for its approval. It is quite clear that the vision and needs of the local community have been well crafted and articulated in this proposal. The local sponsors have worked hard to define their goals and hope for the future of their community.
This concludes my statement, Mr. Chairman, and thank you again for the opportunity to appear. I would be happy to answer any questions the subcommittee might have.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Bensey appears at the conclusion of the hearing.]
Mr. LUCAS. Mr. Douty.
STATEMENT OF STEVE DOUTY, COUNCIL MEMBER, ACCOMPANIED BY SCOTT DADSON, CITY MANAGER, BUENA VISTA, VA
Mr. DOUTY. I echo thanks to the committee and the chair for hearing what we have to say. What I think is Buena Vista is a southern mush-mouth way of saying Buena Vista, so we get there with that.
I am Steve Douty and I am a member of the city council of Buena Vista. As you have heard, Buena Vista is a small southern town, about 6,400 people, located in the Shenandoah Valley. In 1936 and again in 1969 and again in 1985 and again in 1995, the city of Buena Vista was flooded. It was flooded by the Maury River, which is a tributary of the James, which lies to the west of Buena Vista, and it was flooded by these four interior streams we have talked about coming off the Blue Ridge Mountains. In response to that flooding, the city of Buena Vista through the actions of this body and through State and local funding built a floodwall to mitigate the effects of the flooding from the Maury River.
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The second phase of that project is to mitigate the effects of this inland stream flooding and complete this flood mitigation project. We are here to ask you to consider that. We feel it is very critical that we complete this project. It is critical first for the safety of our citizens; second to protect the investment that the Federal Government, State, and local governments have already made; and third to enhance our economic life so that our citizens can pay more taxes to our government and to the Federal Government.
We ask that you consider the dollar investment, getting a dollar-and-a-half return, and that you approve this project and encourage the found he funding of this project and the completion.
I thank you for your time.
Mr. LUCAS. Thank you.
Mr. Bensey, the cost estimate, of course, is slightly over $7 million on this project for a life expectancy of 50 years. This subcommittee has worked on a number of conservation issues and looked at a lot of these structures and the engineering that goes in it.
Is it possible by the nature of the way this project appears to be that a number of these components would outlive their 50-year life expectancy?
Mr. BENSEY. Yes, sir, it is. Many of the components of this project will require routine maintenance, but with routine maintenance there is no reason some of these components of the project should not exceed 50 years.
Mr. LUCAS. So with the completion of this project and the use of the basic maintenance, then we potentially have a far greater—potentially greater than 50-year life expectancy?
Mr. BENSEY. Yes.
Mr. LUCAS. A wide use of resources, I guess is what I am getting at.
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Mr. BENSEY. Yes, it is.
Mr. LUCAS. Along that question, turning to Mr. Douty and Mr. Dadson certainly, tell me about—in the proposal it calls for you to spend approximately $30,000 a year in maintenance costs on these kinds of things. Tell me about how the community will cover that part of the expenditure, which will be recurring, hopefully, for the life of the community which will be very, very long.
Mr. DOUTY. The community at present is spending more than that to mitigate flood issues. We already have it budgeted. We have considered it in our long-term plans and feel like we have it very comfortably covered and in fact it will be some economic relief to mitigate this flooding.
Mr. LUCAS. Fair enough.
I turn to the gentleman from Pennsylvania for any questions he may have. Mr. Holden.
Mr. HOLDEN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The gentleman from Virginia and the panel presented a very worthy project and it deserves to be authorized. I have just one question for Mr. Bensey, and that is concerning the backlog.
Mr. Bensey, the information that I have on these projects across the country is, we have 1,653 projects that have been authorized, requiring $1.6 billion in funding; and I guess last year the appropriations bill only appropriated $106 million. Is that correct?
Mr. BENSEY. Yes, sir.
Mr. HOLDEN. So that is very troubling, not even 10 percent of appropriated dollars are going towards these projects. I guess that makes it very difficult to try to keep these projects on a timetable.
Mr. BENSEY. The backlog is huge. When you talk about a backlog of 1.6 million in all of the watershed projects that are in that backlog, it is very large; and of course, as you mentioned, it is very difficult to reduce the backlog with the current funding level.
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Mr. HOLDEN. I guess the question is how do we proceed? Do we fund all of these projects to a lesser degree or try to prioritize?
I know, mentioning my Tulpehocken Watershed Project in Pennsylvania, a few years ago we received significant funding, and last year it was cut down dramatically and all kinds of pressure arose in my district in Pennsylvania because of that.
What is the plan for your agency when you have so many projects authorized and so few dollars to work with?
Mr. BENSEY. Currently, what we do is, we work with the local State conservationist. That State conservationist looks at all the priorities in the State, and they sit down with the local people and with their staff internally and try to prioritize what is our number one project this year, what is the project that we need funding for this year; and each year that number one priority may change.
So this is a situation that we deal with simply because we don't have enough funding to adequately fund the program as it exists now, the demand that exists now. But it is a process where the local people and the State conservationists try to come up with what is the number one priority in that State for funding in that particular year, what is the No. 2 priority, this type of thing. But it is a situation that is surely being aggravated by the current funding available to deal with the backlog.
Mr. HOLDEN. Thank you.
Mr. LUCAS. Mr. Graves, any questions?
Bob?
Mr. GOODLATTE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Chairman, this is a community that has suffered from various types of flooding for many, many decades, and we are finally getting a handle on this; and it is a community that, as Mr. Douty indicated in his comments, sits astride the Maury River which has historically flooded the downtown area and many industrial establishments in the community over a long period of time.
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We have been successful in designing a flood control project which was completed about 5 years ago that pretty well takes care of that problem under almost any circumstance we can imagine. However, the community sits between that river and some very steep mountains on the edge of the Blue Ridge Parkway, and the water coming down out of those mountains comes down at such an incredible force and rate of speed that unless it is properly handled and channeled into the river below the town, it has potential of doing enormous damage; and this is what this second phase of a long-term project is all about.
It has been talked about for at least 15 years; even before the river flood control project was underway, concern existed about water coming down out of the mountains and backing up against that floodwall and flooding the downtown way that way. They figured out how to take care of that problem when they built the floodwall to channel the water away, but they haven't solved the problem of the damage that flooding out of the mountains does.
This is something that has been proposed for 7 or 8 years, and we now have a very specific proposal on how to handle it and need the assistance of the committee to get it under way because of the size of the project being a little bit above the limit that authorizes the NRCS to proceed without congressional approval.
So I thank you again for holding the hearing. I don't have any questions of the gentlemen, but I thank all of them for their participation; and I thank especially Mr. Douty and our city manager Mr. Dadson for coming up to Washington to share with us the plight that the city of Buena Vista faces with this. When we get this problem solved, it is a dynamic city with some new industries in the area and even more will come in when this problem is completely solved, and I think it will be the key to a healthy economic future for the city.
Mr. LUCAS. Thank you, Mr. Goodlatte.
Seeing no other questions, I think it is worth noting that today's process before subcommittee's hearing and that tomorrow before the full Agriculture Committee will consider for a vote the project, having read all the background material and listened to the comments today and having had numerous discussions with Bob in recent months about this, I would have to believe, Councilman, that you will do just fine before the full committee.
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But as my ranking member so accurately points out, there is always a challenge about having enough resources to meet all the needs around the country, and while we have made some spectacular process in this year's farm bill consideration in bringing substantial new resources to the conservation realm, even those resources won't meet all the needs that are out there and that we as a subcommittee have to press our colleagues on the full committee and across this body about the importance of preserving our soil and water and these basic infrastructure needs.
So with that, without objection, the record of today's hearing will remain open for 10 days to receive additional material and supplemental written responses from witnesses to any question posed by any member of the panel.
This hearing of the Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Rural Development, and Research is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 10:21 a.m., the subcommittee was adjourned, subject to the call of the Chair.]
[Material submitted for inclusion in the record follows:]
Statement of Roger L. Bensey
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, Thank you for the opportunity to appear before the subcommittee today to discuss the Buena Vista watershed project that was developed by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and is being considered for authorization. I am Lee Bensey, Director, at the NRCS Watersheds and Wetlands Division.
Proposed watershed projects with an estimated Federal contribution to construction costs in excess of $5 million and no single structure exceeding 4,000 acre feet of total capacity require approval of this committee and the committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Nutrition of the Senate. I am pleased to appear before you today to request approval of the Buena Vista Watershed in Virginia.
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BUENA VISTA WATERSHED
The Buena Vista Watershed project is located in Rockbridge County, VA and has a drainage area of 11,850 acres and includes the city of Buena Vista. The population within the project area is approximately 6,400. The City of Buena Vista and the Natural Bridge Soil and Water Conservation District are sponsors of the project.
The major problem in the watershed is repetitive flooding from four mountain streams causing overland flow and ponding problems throughout Buena Vista. Previous efforts to maintain stream capacity have been rendered ineffective due to the recurring deposition of gravel, cobbles and debris during flood events. Analyses indicate that a 100-year frequency storm floods 245 residences, 70 commercial properties, numerous roads, bridges and utilities and result in over $11.8 million in damages. The average annual damage is $1,450,000.
The plan consists of multiple works of improvements, which address stream channel capacity enhancement and debris removal. The measures include 7 debris basins, modifying or removing 10 bridges/culverts, construction 500 feet of concrete floodwall and upgrading 220 feet of earthen berm, and improving 6,170 feet of stream channel. The estimated total cost of the project is $6.68 million, of which the Federal share is $6.55 million. The benefit/cost ratio is 1.5:1.
If the Buena Vista Watershed Plan is implemented, it will reduce the average annual flood damages by 61 percent and approximately 130 buildings will be flood free during the 100-year flood event.
I thank the subcommittee for the opportunity to present this project and ask for its approval. It is quite clear that the vision and needs of the local communities have been well crafted and articulated in this proposal. The local sponsors have worked hard to define their goals and hope for the future their community.
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This concludes my statement, Mr. Chairman, and thank you again for the opportunity to appear. I would be happy to answer any questions the subcommittee might have.
Statement of Steve Douty
On behalf of the mayor and city council and all of the citizens of the city of Buena Vista, thank you for allowing me to appear hear today to present the Buena Vista Watershed Project. As you will be made aware during this presentation, Buena Vista is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia and is the industrial center of our area in the Shenandoah Valley.
The city has been devastated by flooding in 1936, 1969, 1985 and 1995, which resulted in a lot of water runoff of the blue ridge to the east and the Maury river to the west. A floodwall constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has provided protection to the city from the river but interior flooding from the Blue Ridge Mountains by means of four interior streams, which run through the city must now be addressed and provide safety and stabilization for the citizens, business and industry to continue moving progressively forward increasing the tax base for the city, the Commonwealth of Virginia and the United States of America.
The costs benefit ratio for the project, which is being requested, is $1.52 benefit per $1 cost. On behalf of the city, the citizens and the Natural Bridge soil and water conservation district, we ask for approval and funding in moving this much needed and greatly beneficial project forward.
Your assistance on this matter would be greatly appreciated.
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