[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 49 (Wednesday, April 17, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E561-E562]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SALUTE TO THE U.S. BUREAU OF RECLAMATION AND THE SALT RIVER PROJECT

                                 ______


                             HON. BOB STUMP

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 17, 1996

  Mr. STUMP. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to salute the U.S. Bureau of 
Reclamation and the Salt River Project [SRP] for their historic 
commitment to secure water resources for the economic vitality of 
central Arizona.
  These two organizations worked together at the turn of this century 
to build the Theodore Roosevelt Dam, located about 80 miles northeast 
of what is today downtown Phoenix. On April 12, SRP and the Bureau, 
along with the Flood Control District of Maricopa County, a coalition 
of six Phoenix-area cities and the Tonto National Forest, will 
rededicate Roosevelt Dam. Over the last 5 years, these parties have 
worked together to add 77 vertical feet to Roosevelt Dam, providing for 
flood control and safety of dam storage as well as additional water 
conservation storage.
  This $430 million reclamation safety of dams project, the largest in 
the Nation, will provide the metropolitan Phoenix area with additional 
water-storage capacity and a greater margin of safety from natural 
disasters like earthquakes and flooding.
  On this historic occasion, I would like to review the background for 
this important Federal legislation. On the morning of June 5, 1976, 
Teton Dam, built in a steep-walled canyon 40 miles northwest of Idaho 
Falls, ID, failed. Thousands of farms and homes were washed away. 
Eleven people died. More than $400 million of property damage was done.
  Though nothing could compensate for the destruction and pain caused 
by the Teton Dam failure, this disaster did result in a thorough review 
of all Bureau of Reclamation dams. That review led to the 1978 Federal 
Reclamation Safety of Dam Act. In its original form, the legislation 
appropriated $100 million to modify dams needing repair. By 1983, the 
estimated cost to repair a select group of dams had risen to $650 
million.
  Throughout the early 1980's, many in Congress argued persuasively for 
that $650 million appropriation for the dams needed repair in their 
States. Through their hard work, they succeeded in convincing skeptical 
colleagues that the repairs were indeed needed and that local entities 
would pay their fair share. The principle of cost-sharing with local 
entities was introduced and codified in reclamation law.
  In Arizona, most of the dam modifications called for in the Safety of 
Dams Act have been completed, and without question, they have 
demonstrably improved the quality of life in central Arizona, which was 
subject to raging floods in 1978, 1980, and 1993. These modifications 
do not mean that Arizona will never

[[Page E562]]

again face flooding or other natural disasters. But the modifications 
have added an extra measure of safety to life in the Valley of the Sun.
  At a time when Government-built dams are the target of criticism by 
some, I am encouraged that my colleagues in the House, and in the State 
and local government, have not lost sight of the many benefits that 
flow from multipurpose projects like the Theodore Roosevelt Dam.

                          ____________________