The Pick-Sloan Flood Control Act of 1944 (P.L. 78–534), enacted in the 2nd session of the

78th Congress The 78th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1943, ...

, is U.S. legislation that authorized the construction of numerous dams and modifications to previously existing dams, as well as levees across the United States. Among its various provisions, it established the

Southeastern Power Administration The Southeastern Power Administration is a United States Power Marketing Administration with responsibility for marketing hydroelectric power from 23 water projects operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the states of West Virginia, Virg ...

and the

Southwestern Power Administration The Southwestern Power Administration (Southwestern) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Energy. Southwestern's mission was established by Section 5 of the Flood Control Act of 1944. The agency is a power marketing administration responsible f ...

, and led to the establishment of the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program. The Pick-Sloan legislation managed the Missouri River with six intents:

hydropower Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kinetic energy of a w ...

, recreation,

water supply Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Thes ...

, navigation, flood control and fish and wildlife. Over 50 dams and lakes have been built due to this legislation, not just on the mainly affected river but also on

tributaries A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainag ...

and other connected rivers.

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

, as an example, has seen more than eight new lakes created due to the damming of the Missouri and tributaries. The Act also recognized the legitimate rights of states, through the Governor, to impact flood control projects. See 33 US section 701-1 which declared it to be the policy of the Congress

to recognize the interests and rights of the States in determining the development of the watersheds within their borders and likewise their interests and rights in water utilization and control.

The Act was signed by President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

on December 22, 1944. It was named for General Lewis A. Pick, head of the Army Corps of Engineers, and W. Glenn Sloan of the Interior Department's

Bureau of Reclamation The Bureau of Reclamation, and formerly the United States Reclamation Service, is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management, specifically as it applies to the oversight and opera ...

Effects

The

Lakota Lakota may refer to: * Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes *Lakota language, the language of the Lakota peoples Place names In the United States: * Lakota, Iowa * Lakota, North Dakota, seat of Nelson County * La ...

Dakota Dakota may refer to: * Dakota people, a sub-tribe of the Sioux ** Dakota language, their language Dakota may also refer to: Places United States * Dakota, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Dakota, Illinois, a town * Dakota, Minnesota, ...

and Nakota tribes lost . The

Three Affiliated Tribes The Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation (MHA Nation), also known as the Three Affiliated Tribes ( Mandan: ''Miiti Naamni''; Hidatsa: ''Awadi Aguraawi''; Arikara: ''ačitaanu' táWIt''), is a Native American Nation resulting from the alliance of ...

, specifically, lost in their

Fort Berthold Reservation The Fort Berthold Indian Reservation is a U.S. Indian reservation in western North Dakota that is home for the federally recognized Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation, also known as the Three Affiliated Tribes. The reservation includes lands on ...

due to the building of the

Garrison Dam Garrison Dam is an earth-fill embankment dam on the Missouri River in central North Dakota, U.S. Constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from 1947 to 1953, at over in length, the dam is the fifth-largest earthen dam in the world. The re ...

. The project caused more than 1,500 Native Americans to relocate from the river bottoms of the Missouri river due to the flooding. The project has successfully controlled flooding throughout the Missouri River basin, provided water for irrigation and municipalities, generated baseload power throughout the central US. However, the Missouri River dumped millions of cubic feet of soil into the Mississippi River every year, which, deposited the silt into the gulf and formed a string of barrier islands. When the silt was eliminated, the island-building stopped. Biologists sounded the alarm in the 1970s. By the 1990s, the barrier islands were almost gone, and Louisiana was left unprotected from storm surges and oil spills.

External links

*U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Printable copies of legislation
including this Act.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flood Control Act Of 1944 United States federal transportation legislation 1944 in the environment 1944 in law 78th United States Congress United States federal legislation articles without infoboxes 1944

Effects

See also

External links

References