The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1934-06-27
ILLOGICAL DISCUSSION OF IVA
PLANS FOR THIS SECTION

Widespread public interest is being
shown in this town and section in the ar
ticle contributed by Arson c.. Belts OF
Weaverville to the French Broad dam dis
cussion. This article appeared originally
in the Ashevile Citizen-TimeS and was re-
printed in yesterdays Times-News. Mr..
Belts. a retired engineer. makes one of the
most interesting and logical contributors
to the discussion of this subject that has
appeared in the newspapers.
Mr.. Belts bases his argument on the as
sertion that the construction of darn
above Asheville will be local disaster Of
the first order, and is unnecessary and en-
travagant" His plan is the construction
of two dams below Asheville, one above
Hot Springs and the other above Marshall.
He asserts that this plan would accomplish
all that IVA needs to do for water storage
and power development; that it can be
done without destroying many square
miles of valuable land, hundreds of miles
of highways and other utilities and prop
erty, and doing great damage to the cities
of Hendersonyille and Asheville; and that
it can be done at a cost, for construction
of dams and relocation of the Southern
Railway from Tennessee to Asheville, be-
low the engineering estimate of the cost
of the Bent Greek dam.
The Times-News has presented Mr..
Belts long article to readers for their IN
formation 1t has aroused great interest
in this section The people Of Henderson
county who have given thought to the mat
ter, would have no objection to the builC-
ing of dams below Asheville, but are vi
tally interested in dam construction in the
upper French Broad valley. They see the
advantages for this section in building
dams which can be used for storage and
power development and for flood control
in the counties of Pennsylvania, Hender-
son and BuncOmbe. This plan would pro-
vide for future development of the fertile
valley lands Of these counties, would not
injure the cities and towns Of the section,
and would not interfere with or destroy
the sections tourist business.
One OF the most important points made
in the article by Mr.. Belts is his discussion
of the legal status of the IVA develop
ment as whole. This applies with equal
force to North Carolina or any other State
in which the Authority seeks to carry on
operations
The position taken by Mr.. Belts is that
jurisdiction of the waters of North Caro-
lima is in the State; the State has the con-
stitutiopal right to the control and regula-
ton of these waters and to make provision
for their development and use. The United
States Congress exceeded its constitutional
authority in enacting the water power act
and undertaking to deprive the State %
its constitutional jurisdiction by vesting
this authority in IVA.
Mr.. Belts contends that if the matter is
tested in the courts it will be found that
Congress did not have the authority to dc
prive the States of jurisdiction over then
own waters and vest that jurisdiction in
IVA. He says that the State of Maine
does not permit the transmission of power
generated in that State to points beyond
the State line. He also points out that North
Carolina is now exercising jurisdiction in