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UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA. HERARIES
L1AIIUSCRIPT THESIS
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THE MISSOURI BASIN:
A STUM IN MULTIPUB-PURPOSE WATER DEVELOPMENT
by
Thomas H. Langevin
A THESIS
Presented bo the Faculty of
The Graduate College In the University of Nebraska
In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements
For the Degree of 'Doetor of. Philosophy
Department of History
Under the Supervision of Dr. Janies L. Sellers
Lincoln, Nebraska
June, 1951
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UMI Number: DP13827
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table op earnsms
:IM &
.................. . . i
Chapter
.
i m m w fm m of multiple-purpose planning
m THE MISSOURI BASIN , ................. 1
II WAR TIME planning wm POST-WAR improvement . . 30
III CONGRESS SIDETRACKS THE M.V.A.............. TO
IV THE M.V.A, CONTROVERSY . ................. $8
V THE INTERIOR DEPARTMENT IN THE MISSOURI BASIN
RECLAMATION BUREAU CONSTRUCTION........... 120
VI THE INTERIOR DEPARTMENT IN TIE MISSOURI BASIN
NON-CONSTRUCTION AGENCIES ................. 168
VII THE CONSTRUCTION PROGRAM Of THE ARMY CORPS Of
ENGINEERS IN THE MISSOURI BASIN . . . . . . . 195
T ltl - T H DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE IN THE MISSOURI
BASIN 225
IX THE ROLE OF THE STATES IN THE MISSOURI BASIN
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM . . . . . . . . ....... 247
■ X WM M B FOR POWER............... 273
XI TIE 'MISSOURI BASIN INTER -AGENCY COMMITTEE . . 312
mm
XII RIDDLE OF ADMINISTRATION .......... '343
BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................... 365
kwmmcm •.......... 389
APPENDIX A - PICK-SLOAN PLAN FOR MISSOURI RIVER
BASIN (MAP)
APPENDIX 3 - MISSOURI RIVER BASIN, CORPS OF
ENGINEERS PROJECTS (MAP)
APPENDIX C * MISSOURI RIVER BASIN WATER RESOURCES
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM (FUNDS REQUIRE
MENTS AND APPROPRIATIONS)
APPENDIX D * DISTRIBUTION OP AVERAGE ANNUAL FLOW
MISSOURI RIVER AT SIOUX CITY
APPENDIX 1 - STORAGE ZONES IN RESERVOIRS
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INTRODUCTION
the w a m of the Missouri River 1® at the confluence
of the Jefferson, Madison, and iallaiia llvere near Three
■Perks# Montana. The liver flows nearly 2,500 mile# in a'
general southeasterly direction to its mouth near St* Louis,
Missouri, The valley drained by the Missouri liver oonslsts
of an area of approximately 528,000 square miles, and is
one-sixth the total area of the Ml ted States. This huge
river valley eomsints .of most of Montana, more than half of
the Dakota®, northeastern Colorado, eastern Wyoming, northern
Kansas,' all of Nebraska, western Missouri, and small parts
of Iowa -and Minnesota. The area, contains approximately
eleven per cent of' the population of the United 'States.
. In terms of government planning for river and valley
development the area offers difficult problems, for in it
there is a wide range of elevation, climate, and rainfall.
In the :drler portion of the .Missouri Valley, that is in the
general area above and west, of Sioux City, Iowa, there is
an annual rainfall of as little as ten inches. The area
which is drained by the river below Sioux City has an average
annual rainfall of approximately twenty-five inches, while
the area .near the mouth of Me river receives nearly forty
inches of rainfall annually*.
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The '.aeml-arM regleit In the upper Missouri Valley hae
been an area of periodic droughts, and as such necessitates
irrigation development. The lower* Missouri Valley, on the
other hand, £a a region where periodic flooding occurs. The
Missouri River usually rise* dangerously twice each year*
■The first rise.is usually 'in March, as a result of the melting
snow* of the tributary regioa.in Montana, Colorado, Wyoming,
and. the BeRotse- and the 'melting ice on the Missouri River
and its tributaries * In addition there is generally a June
rise- caused by the molting 'mam of the upper region# in
addition to heavy rains in the middle and lower Valley. Flood
control,' then, in addition be irrigation is essential to the
welfare Of the people of the Missouri Valley,
The Missouri Valley is an area of declining population,
this trend having been noticeable for nearly'twenty-years,
Moulting .In part from extreme drought conditions and the
lack of inem -producing industrialisation... The Missouri
Basin is largely underdeveloped, in terms of further in
dustrialisation, there is a dire need for an increase in
power development.
The recent concept of multiple-purpose river development
has tended to present problems in respect to the use of the
waters of the Missouri River, It must be borne in mind that
the Missouri River Basin possess*® a limt'ted amount of water
resources, and the flow of' the' Missouri River itself is
restrictive. The' maximum record discharge of water at the
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mouth of tii# rittf is approximately 900,000 cubic feet per
second, while the retort, minimum discharge it approximately
4,000 cubit feet' per second. ■ ■
'Such limitations have presented problems in terms of
the priority of various phases of multiple-purpose develop
ment, such as flood control, irrigation, navigation, power,
and municipal water supply, a study of the recent develop
ment plane, proposals-and projects must be considered in the
light of the character ot the Missouri liver Valley and the
dissimilar problems' of -the various sections within this vast
' jev&anje
in
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