INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY AND WATER COMMISSION STATEMENT OF JOSEPH F. FRIEDKIN, COMMISSIONER, U.S. SECTION, INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY AND WATER COMMISSION ACCOMPANIED BY JOHN B. MOORE, COMPTROLLER, U.S. SECTION BUDGET ESTIMATE Senator HOLLINGS. We will now have the International Boundary and Water Commission, Mr. Friedkin. Have you got an environmental impact statement for this? Senator HOLLINGS. We welcome you, and you, Mr. Moore. We appreciate your appearance. You can submit or highlight your statement, as you wish. BUDGET REQUEST Mr. FRIEDKIN. If I may, I would like to highlight it, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, Senator Weicker, I appreciate this opportunity to appear before you to present the President's 1978 request for appropriations for the U.S. Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission, United States and Mexico. The U.S. Section's total appropriation request for fiscal year 1978 amounts to $23,333,000, which is $13,365,000 more than the amount requested for fiscal year 1977, after taking into account the proposed pay supplemental of $249,000. The total request for 1978 consists of two principal features: one, salaries and expenses for which we ask $6,333,000; and, two, construction for which we ask $17 million. SALARIES AND EXPENSES The request for salaries and expenses is to finance the operating costs of the U.S. Section, which include general administration and engineering, and the U.S. part of the operation and maintenance of nine completed international projects along the boundary. The amount requested, $6,333,000, includes an increase of $284,000 over the amount appropriated for fiscal year 1977. This increase consists of $90,000 for mandatory personnel and related benefits costs; $90,000 for uncontrollable price increases for supplies and materials and for operation and maintenance costs; and a net amount of $104,000 for increases needed for additional engineering and maintenance work to assure proper functioning of the U.S. part of the international projects. CONSTRUCTION The request for construction, in the amount of $17 million, is for three projects: $8,149,000 for the U.S. part of the international Tijuana River flood control project; $1,290,000 for works to implement the 1970 Boundary Treaty; and $7,561,000 for the second year of construction of a hydroelectric powerplant at the Amistad Dam. The total amount requested for construction for 1978 is a net increase of $13,081,000 over the amount appropriated for fiscal year 1977. The increase in the U.S. Section's construction request for 1978 over 1977 is principally to enable completion in 1978 of the longdelayed U.S. part of the international Tijuana River flood control project, the Mexican part of which is already essentially completed; and to enable the U.S. Section to proceed as rapidly as it can to construct a hydroelectric powerplant on the U.S. side of the existing international Amistad Dam on the Rio Grande for the clean generation of energy by use of half of the falling water at the dam. This will save half a million barrels of fuel oil a year. Mr. Chairman, this concludes my summary statement for the 1978 request. I would be pleased to answer any questions that you or the committee may have. AMISTAD DAM Senator HOLLINGS. Mr. Friedkin, I am wondering with our current difficulties over dams how the Office of Management and Budget ever approved this Amistad Dam. You are appearing on behalf of the international commission, is that correct? Mr. FRIEDKIN. Yes, sir, in behalf of the U.S. Section of the Commission. The dam is already completed. It was completed in 1969. What we are asking for are the funds to install a hydroelectric powerplant on the U.S. side of the dam. I have a photograph here, if you would like to see it. Senator HOLLINGS. It would break my heart. I am thinking of my own dam in my own State. It appears that there is consideration of hydroelectric power dams internationally, but not interstate. Mr. FRIEDKIN. This dam was completed in 1969. Its primary purpose is conservation of water for irrigation and flood control. Senator HOLLINGS. You sound just like me testifying. I was saying the same thing. Mr. FRIEDKIN. We were unable to build a hydroelectric powerplant at the time the dam was built- Senator HOLLINGS. Neither were we. Mr. FRIEDKIN [continuing]. Because we couldn't sell the power then at a rate that would liquidate the investment in power over a 50year period. Senator HOLLINGS. Now we can, and it would pay over 85 percent of the cost of my dam. Mr. FRIEDKIN. Now we propose to install the hydroelectric plant. Senator HOLLINGS. Now if you could agree on mine and I could agree on yours, we would be all right. Would you let that be known to a fellow named Bert Lance? Maybe he will tell it to the President. Did they have an environmental impact statement for that dam? Mr. FRIEDKIN. No, sir, not at the time. We do have an environmental impact statement for the powerplant. This was approved with no problem. The dam was built before environmental impact statements were required. Senator HOLLINGS. We will see. That is all. SUBMITTED QUESTIONS I have got a few questions, Mr. Friedkin, we can submit for the record. [The following questions were not asked at the hearing, but were submitted to the Department for response subsequent to the hearing:] LEVEE SURFACING There is an item of $94,000 for levee surfacing on the Lower Rio Grande Flood Control Project that I understand is the first increment of a 5-year program. How much will this cost us over the full 5 years? This is the first year of a 5 year program for resurfacing 50 miles of levees in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. The total cost of the project is estimated to be $450,000. CONSTRUCTION-TIJUANA RIVER FLOOD CONTROL PROJECT Has agreement been reached with Mexico on the modification of the Tijuana River Flood Control Project? Mexico has agreed to it and we are now in the process of formalizing the agreement. How does the estimated cost for the modified project, including the cost of the land, compare to the estimate for the original plan? The total cost to the Federal Government is estimated at $14,010,000. The estimate for the original plan, if it were done today, would be in excess of $30 million. Has the City of San Diego started to acquire the land and make the relocations? When do you plan to start construction? The design work and land acquisition are under way and as soon as they are completed we will be in construction. We hope to start this fiscal year if possible. Amistad Dam Hydroelectric POWERPLANT PROJECT What is the present status of the Amistad Dam Hydroelectric Powerplant Project? Is the contract signed? An agreement has been reached with REA Cooperatives for the sale of the hydroelectric power. The price will make the plant at Amistad self-liquidating which was a requirement of the congressional authorization. The contract has been drafted and is now under review by the Federal Power Commission. It will be signed as soon as the approval of the Federal Power Commission is received. Is the project proceeding on schedule? We are a little delayed because of the Federal Power Commission clearance but expect to require the funds we now have and those requested for 1978. The largest item of expense in FY 1978 is powerhouse equipment-Why does this item appear so early in the schedule? The turbines and generators have to be built for the particular layout of the project. This will take approximately two years. When does the plan call for construction on the powerhouse to begin? This should take place in FY 1979. Senator WEICKER. I have no questions. Senator HOLLINGS. That is working well down there, isn't it? Mr. FRIEDKIN. Very well. Senator HOLLINGS. How long have you been on the Commission? Mr. FRIEDKIN. I have been with the Commission since 1934; in this position now 15 years. Senator HOLLINGS. You are doing a good job. We appreciate it. Mr. FRIEDKIN. Thank you. 84-937 77 - pt. 5 - 7 |