The Columbia Valley Administration Bill

• Published date: 01 December 1950
• Date: 01 December 1950
• DOI: 10.1177/106591295000300409
• Author: Gerald H. Robinson
• Subject Matter: Articles

THE COLUMBIA VALLEY ADMINISTRATION BILL
GERALD H. ROBINSON
Portland, Oregon
I
HE
CURRENT Columbia Valley Administration (CVA) proposal,
Senate Bill 1645, is not a mere inspiration removed from the realities
of federal administration in the Pacific Northwest, but has evolved
from the working experiences of those who for many years have sought
to draw the varied federal functions in the region into a balanced and
coherent plan for the conservation and development of the abundant
natural resources found in this region. Insights into the art of resources
management have accumulated from the days of the National Resources
Planning Board and its Northwest Regional Planning Commission to the
current structure of inter-agency and intra-departmental committees. They
have found their way into the CVA bill now before the Congress, and
many students of resources management who are reluctant to approve
the concept of the valley authority have been able to endorse the bill
as the most reasonable authority scheme yet devised for the Northwest.
It is clear, however, that the striking success of the Tennessee Valley
Authority has served both as an example and as a stimulus to advocates
of administrative reform. The triumph of organization by area, rather
than by function, along the Tennessee pattern has been dramatized for
the Northwest by several significant regional facts. Public awareness of
the need for conservation has grown under the impact of rapidly diminish-
ing forest resources and an increasingly serious loss of soil, fertility, and
grazing opportunities. As the extractive industries have become pressed,
the people of the region have looked toward industrialization based on
hydroelectric power as a means of absorbing an unprecedented influx
of citizens. The extensive power developments at Bonneville and Grand
Coulee signaled the entrance of the federal government into the electric
energy production and transmission business, but despite these and other
structures, the rapid growth of the Northwest during and after World
War II resulted in a power shortage which continues even now, much to
the economic discomfort of the four states comprising this region. More-
over, the federal government’s resources programs have not always been
in complete harmony, and occasionally strife, competition, and inadequate
planning have come to public attention. Finally, the flood disaster in the
spring of 1948, and serious high waters recently have focused public gaze
on the need for coordinated harnessing of the Columbia River system for
flood control as well as power, navigation and irrigation. It was against
this background of sentiment and experience that the current CVA
proposal emerged.
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II
Soon after his inauguration to his first full term, President Harry S
Truman directed top officials in his administration to begin drafting a
valley authority bill for the Columbia Basin. Although the primary
responsibility for the legislation lay with the Department of the Interior,
Presidential Assistant Charles Murphy coordinated broad inter-agency dis-
cussions during the preparation of the drafts. Only with respect to the
independence of CVA
from the Civil Service Commission, to be discussed
at a later point, does S. 1645 differ from the President’s program as
formulated by the Department of the Interior, the Department of Agri-
culture, the Bureau of the Budget, and other agencies.
By April 13, 1949, the CVA bill had been written, and Mr. Truman
submitted a special message to Congress urging its adoption. The objectives
of the statute, the chief executive said, are the achievement of
unified treatment of the related resources within each natural
...
area of the country
... and within the framework of sound nation-wide policies. Furthermore, there should
be the greatest possible decentralization of Federal powers, and the greatest possible local
participation in their exercise, without lessening the necessary accountability of Federal
officials to the President and to the Congress.
The ends, the President continued, had not been accomplished
through the use of inter-agency committees because none of the field
representatives are responsible for comprehensive planning within the
region, and the various committees lack power to enforce decisions that are
finally made.
The proposed valley authority would not only coordinate all phases
...