OCEANOGRAPHY IN THE UNITED STATES 37 



Mr. Eaton. Yes, sir. 



Mr. Oliver. So that if the Flood Control Act were amended to 

 include damage from tidal floods, then the community would not be 

 charged for 50 percent of the costs of that study? 



Mr. Eaton. I am not able to answer that, sir, not being a lawyer. 



Mr. Oliver. This was the point I was trying to get clarified if I 

 could in my own mind. I was not sure where we stood on the 

 situation. 



Mr. E.\TON. I would assume that such a law to efl'ect the purpose 

 that you mention would also have to amend or modify the 1930 

 Beach Erosion Act, Public Law 520. 



Mr. Oliver. Go ahead. Do not let me interrupt. 



Mr. Eaton. I have a few slides just to give you an illustration 

 of some of the work that lias been accomplished. 



The first group present a history going back actually to about 1917, 

 at Alamitos Bay, Calif. T think the chairman is probably familiar 

 with this locale. This picture was taken in 1931. It illustrates the 

 undeveloped character of the bay and the highly unstable condition© 

 of the shore in the vicinity of this inlet. The inlet in this case alss 

 served as the outlet of the San Gabriel River, which, during floods, was 

 likelj" to flood the whole low plain that you see here. 



At this time very little work had been done to improve the region 

 and you see it pretty much in its natural state. 



The next picture is 1938, 7 years later. This, incidentally, was 

 taken during the 1938 flood in southern California and you can see 

 the flooded area which lies around the river. 



Between 1931 and tliis date, levees had been built and an effort 

 had been made to control the river in its lower reaches but they were 

 not yet adequate. 



You will notice the character of the shore which is still quite un- 

 stable. 



The next picture is in 1941, showing a further step in the progress. 

 You will note that there is on the right bank as you face the picture a 

 large building. This is a powerplant which takes cooling water from 

 the river. For a great many years the presence of the powerplant 

 prevented any further improvement of the river because it was not 

 possible to isolate the river from the bay. Otherwise, the water in 

 the river channel itself would get too warm to meet requirements of 

 the powerplant. 



The next picture is in 1946, by which time the powerplant had 

 extended its cooling water intake lines over to the bay, setting thb 

 stage for separating the river from the biiy in order to provide a stable 

 inlet and in order to improve the flood control capacity of the river tb 

 keep that low region down there from being flooded. ' ' 



You will see in this picture that the shore is beginning to experience 

 trouble. 



The next picture is also in 1946, giving a closer view of that shore 

 problem in that area. 



A year later, in 1947, diversion of the river from the bay had been 

 completed. You will see that tlic bay is still blocked by a bridge but 

 there is no w^ay for the floodwaters of the river to reach the bay now 

 without overtopping the levees. 



In 1954, the shore was still not in' very good condition although' the 

 bay had been further improved, as you may see, and the shore from 



