STATEMENT cs GOVERNOR harm or FLORIDA card!!! was commas ON APPROPRIATIONS UNITED STATES couoaass MAY 10-11, 1962 It is my pleasure to again represent the State of Florida in presenting our unified program or water resources development to the Congress. I appear today not only as the Governor, but also as the Chairman of the Florida State Board of Conservation, which organization is charged by Florida law with the responsi- bility for development of water resources. The Board is composed of members of the cabinet, all of whom are elected officials. we appear before you to emphasize the unanimity of our program. May I have the pleasure or .introducing Our Board members: (Here the Governor introduces the Cabinet members in attendance.) We are pleased to note the consideration that the President has given to Our state in recommending to you, through the Bureau of the Budget, the appropriations for many of our projects as requested last January. In all or those recommendations. we concur wholeheartedly. In supplementation to the program recommended by the President, we seek your consideration for support of additional Rivers and Harbors projects, some or which were not ready for presentation to the Bureau of the Budget. These additional recom- mendations do not represent an extensive amount of money, but they do round out the program which we consider essential for the -2- attainment of the national goals in our state, and they are all within the stated capabilities or the Corps of Engineers. FOUR RIVERS FLOOD CONTROL PROJECT FEB-CONSTRUCTION PLANNING The Four Rivers Basin Flood Control Project, which is generallylocated in Central and west Florida, has been developed and recommended by the Corps of Engineers. It is our hope that this project will be authorized by Congress during this session. we ask your support or this project to the extent of $250,000 for pro-construction planning, assuming the proJect does receive Congressional authorisation. we in Florida are blessed with many natural resources, but the safety of our homes and the development of our economy are, in a large measure, dependent on achieving the most effective use and management or these resources. Advanced engineering knowledge, particularly in hydrology, must be utilized to maintain a balance of these resources in the constant battle against alternating floods and droughts, and conservation of fresh water against salt water intrusion. The Corps of Engineers has made use of its engineering knowledge to develop a long-range con- servation plan. This plan will permit the maximum development and use of land areas with conservation of available fresh water while at the same time providing protection for the public and their properties against both floods and droughts. We seek your support of the Four Rivers Basin Flood Control ProJect in order to develop and utilize our natural resources in the most efficient and effec- tive manner. It is for these same reasons that we fully support and request your continued support or the Central and Scuthern Flood Control Program. - 3 - HARBOR PROJECTS NEW CONSTRUCTICN Thrcc Florida harbors recently surveyed by the Corps of Engineers, at Tampa, Pensacola and Palm Beach, are or great importance in the growth and development of our economy. Recom- mendations have been made for their improvement. Only the Palm Beach project is now authorized_ but we are asking that the Tampa and Pensacola harbor improvements be authorized during this session of Congress. we recommend funds be appropriated for these three important projects. HARBOR PROJECTS ma-cms'rmmxon WING There are_two other Plorida harbor improvement projects of national importance which the Corps of Engineers has recommended for improvement and which we hope Congress will authorise, located at Cape Canaveral and Key West. The Corps of Engineers has stated only pre-construction planning capabilities on these two projects and we reconmend your support to allow planning or the improvement as soon as possible. Banks HAW INLET m CONSTRUCTIGW The existing jetties and bulkhead at the only Northern out- let into the Atlantic Ocean from Biscayne Bay. site or the Port of Miami. are in a very poor state or repair and could fail completely. The very heavy traffic using this pass indicates the need for early completion or the pro-construction planning and construction of corrective works. The project was authorized in 1960 and pre- eonstruotion planning can proceed concurrently with construction. The cost of this project is shared equally between the Federal Government and local intereste. Your support of this project is recommended. - a - 1W JACKSQWILLE TO MIAMI CWSTRWTION In addition to the President's recommendations for improving the intracoastal waterway from Jacksonville to Miami. allowing improvement or that portion of tne waterway from West Palm Beach to Delrav Beach. we reduest that construction on this project be undertaken to the extent or the Corps of Engineers' capabilities. The additional funds will permit the award of a contract for improvement of the Atlantic coastal waterway to its authorized specifications from Delray Beach to Port Everglades. thus modern- izing the Atlantic intercoastal waterway as far south as Fort iauderdale. Florida. This improvement is particularly important to the fast-growing. highly developed coastal area between Fort Pierce and Miami where the traffic is already extremely heavy. 1W CALOOSAHATCHEE RIVER To ANCLOTE RIVER CONSTRUCTION The Corps of Engineers has selected the route of the inland waterway along the lower West Coast of Florida. This alignment was selected after considerable re-study and was approved by the Congress. In this situation the West Coast Inland Navigation District has the primary responsibility for acquisition of rights or way and the implementation or local interest participation. The problem of bridge relocations and highway realignment in the vicinity of venice has been studied and assurances furnished the Congress that these works would be completed at the proper time. All of the rights of way for the 151mile stretch of this canal have been acouired with the exception of 126 acres in the vicinity of Venice, and the chairman of the West Coast Inland Navigation District has advised me that legal proceedings to acquire this property have already been instituted and that property will be acquired in due course in ample time. I believe that, in view of the action by local interests and the stated assurances which have been furnished in regard to the road and bridge :elocations. the Congress is fully Justified in appropriating funds to complete the remaining portion of the Canal along the West Coast of Florida. IUU CARHABELLE TO ST. MARKS RIVER PLANNING SURVEY The inland waterway along the Gulf Coast is authorized from Brownsville, Texas, to the St. Marks River, but there is one short stretch on the Eastern and between Carrabelle and the 8t.Marks River, the exact route for which has not been selected. The Corps of Engineers has stated a capability of performing the survey to select the route during 1963., we request that you appropriate funds which will allow this survey to be prepared. noon cos'raoz. swarms There are four flood control projects in South-central Florida of great importance For protection or the people and the property in that area. They are within the Central and Southern Florida Flood Control District. we request your support to allow survey studies to be initiated on the Harman River, Econlocka- hatchee River. the Middle River and the Haccasassa River. NAVIGATION STUDY CRYSTAL RIVER CHANNEL IMPROVEMENT STUDY There is one new navigation study that we consider or importance to the developing industries in West Florida: the Crystal River Channel Improvement. We recommend that you appropriate funds to allow a study to be made of this six-mile channel improvement project during the next Fiscal Year. - 6 - csoss smarts BARGE CANAL CONSTRUCTION We now come to the last and most important of our projects-- important to the growth and industrial development and support of not only Florida and the entire Southeast, but a project with will mutually support and be in the best interest of industrial developments in the Atlantic seaboard, Gulf coastal, mid-continent areas and the entire countrp. The proposed Cross Florida Barge Canal will provide the vital.navigational link to connect the inland waterways of the Atlantic coastal areas, the Gulf coastal area and the inter-connected waterways of the mid-continental United States. The Corps of Engineers has restudied this project and has estimated a reduction of $33,500,000 in the total cost of the project, reducing its estimated,cost from $168,000,000 to $13k, 500.000. They have also reported that with the contemplated usage of the canal a very satisfactory benefit ratio is established. A transportation study made for the Corps of Engineers by a reputable firm of consultants has predicted extensive use of the waterways when this vital link is constructed, and indicates that the benefit cost ratio utilizing the new construction cost figures developed by the Corps will be in excess of four to one. These benefits approach those which have actually been realized on the inland waterways on the Texas and Louisiana coastal areas as would be expected. Technical experts in this field identify the Cross Florida Barge Canal as an asset essential to the full inter-related economic development or this country, as well as being of insati- mable value to our national defense in the event of an emergency. - 7 - Let me re-emplasize that the Cross Florida Barge Canal was authorized as a defense measure, regardless of economic benefits, prior to the location or conception of Cape Canaveral, and the defense necessity is obviously increased by that development. The waterway is of great importance to NASA and to our national missile program. Shipment or the massive missiles and heavy components to thelannching sites on barges over the inland waterways has proven to be the only practical method or transportation for these monsters The Corps of Engineers has stated a construction capability on this project of 3795.000 for Fiscal Fear 1963. We beg your consideration to provide funds to allow construction of this worth- while proaect. CONCLUSION I have tried to summarize my presentation by mentioning only those Rivers and Harbors projects for which we seek yonr consideration that supplement the President's recommendations. However, I have prepared a statement for the record which contains my recommendations and the full details on all the Florida projects for which we hope to obtain appropriations in Fiscal Year 1963; I will leave this statement with your Committee. If there is any further information that you may desire concerning any of these projects, or if there are any individuals or witnesses whose testimony you may desire, I will be pleased to attempt appropriate arrangements to meet your convenience. Thank you for your courtesy in listening to our Florida presentation.