Flood Control Act of 1939 (FCA 1939) (ch. 699, 53 Stat. 1414), enacted on August 11, 1939 by the 76th Congress

76th United States Congress

The Seventy-sixth 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, 1939 to January 3, 1941, during the seventh and...

, is U.S. legislation that authorized construction of flood control projects across the United States. The
passage of FCA 1939, authorized the transfer of ownership of the local and state dams to the United States Army Corps of Engineers

United States Army Corps of Engineers

The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...

.

Other Effects

FCA 1939 ws instrumental in establishing the Federal policy of Cost-benefit analysis

Cost-benefit analysis

Cost–benefit analysis , sometimes called benefit–cost analysis , is a systematic process for calculating and comparing benefits and costs of a project for two purposes: to determine if it is a sound investment , to see how it compares with alternate projects...

, the standard by which the government determines whether or not a project provides sufficient benefits to justify the cost of expending public funds. It specified the standard that "the benefits to whomever they accrue [be] in excess of the estimated costs.

See also

Other flood control provisions enacted in 1939 can be found under

• the Omnibus Flood Control Act, which authorized 35 preliminary flood control surveys; declared the Alamorga Dam and Reservoir on the Pecos River
  Pecos River
  The headwaters of the Pecos River are located north of Pecos, New Mexico, United States, at an elevation of over 12,000 feet on the western slope of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range in Mora County. The river flows for through the eastern portion of that state and neighboring Texas before it...
  
  , New Mexico, authorized for the purpose of controlling floods; and in other ways promoted the project of flood control.
• the State-Justice-Commerce Appropriation Act (approved June 29), which authorized projects on the Rio Grande River.
• the Military Appropriation Act (approved April 26), which granted $305,188,584 for the civil functions of the War Department. The largest items here were $133,000,000 for general flood control work; $96,000,000 for the preservation and maintenance of existing river and harbor works; $39,000,000 for flood control along the Mississippi River
  Mississippi River
  The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
  
   and its tributaries and $24,774,924 for the Panama Canal
  Panama Canal
  The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
  
   and the Canal Zone
  Panama Canal Zone
  The Panama Canal Zone was a unorganized U.S. territory located within the Republic of Panama, consisting of the Panama Canal and an area generally extending 5 miles on each side of the centerline, but excluding Panama City and Colón, which otherwise would have been partly within the limits of...
  
  .

External links

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