Executive Order 7183-A—Authorizing Construction of Bluestone Reservoir Project on New River

WEST VIRGINIA

Whereas pursuant to House Document No. 308, 69th Congress, 1st Session, enacted into law with modifications in section 1 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of January 21, 1927 (44 Stat. 1010), and under the provisions of section 10 of the act of May 15, 1928, 45 Stat. 534, 538, known as the Flood Control Act, the Secretary of War caused surveys to be made of projects for flood control on the tributary streams of the Mississippi River subject to destructive floods, including projects on the Ohio River and its tributary, the Kanawha River, which in its upper reaches in North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia is known as the New River; and

Whereas after said surveys had been made the Chief of Engineers, United States Army, prepared a report in which he recommended that a project to be known as the Bluestone Reservoir Project, and to be located at Bluestone on New River just above Hinton, West Virginia, be constructed for the purposes of power development, flood control, and creation of navigation in accordance with the general plans prepared and set forth in the said report, at an estimated cost of $13,000,000; and

Whereas the said report was approved by the Mississippi River Commission July 31, 1934, and by the Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors January 11, 1935, which recommended the construction of the said project at a total estimated cost of $12,942,000; and

Whereas the Secretary of War, on January 29, 1935, approved the said report of the Chief of Engineers and transmitted it, together with the reports of the Mississippi River Commission and the Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors, to the Congress; and

Whereas I find that the construction of the said Bluestone Reservoir Project, in accordance with the plans prepared under the direction of the Chief of Engineers and approved by him and set forth in his said report, will aid in flood control and in the prevention of soil erosion and stream pollution, and will promote navigation, agriculture, sanitation, and power production; and

Whereas I further find that the sale, in the manner provided by law, of the power produced at the said project will tend to make the project self-liquidating; and

Whereas the said Bluestone Reservoir Project has been included in the comprehensive program of public works prepared by the Federal Emergency Administrator of Public Works under the direction of the President in accordance with the provisions of section 202 of the National Industrial Recovery Act, approved June 16, 1933 (48 Stat. 201):

Now, Therefore, by virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me by the said National Industrial Recovery Act and by the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935, approved April 8, 1935 (Public Resolution No. 11, 74th Congress), I hereby order and direct the Secretary of War, through the Chief of Engineers, United States Army, to proceed with the construction of said Bluestone Reservoir Project in accordance with the report of the Chief of Engineers to the Congress and the plans and specifications submitted therewith, subject to such changes in said plans and specifications as shall be approved by the Chief of Engineers; and I hereby allocate from the funds appropriated or made available by the said Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935, the sum of $1,000,000.00 for the construction of the said Bluestone Reservoir Project in accordance with the provisions of this order. Of the amount above allocated the sum of $800,000.00 shall be available for the acquisition by purchase, condemnation, or otherwise, of lands necessary for the said project, and the Secretary of War is hereby directed to proceed to acquire and clear, or cause to be acquired and cleared, such lands in anticipation of their use for such project.

FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT

The White House,
September 12, 1935.