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<br />G~1l381 <br /> <br />Reprinted from RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT: FRONTlER~ FOR <br />RESEA RCH-Papers of the JVestem Resouru,} Conference 195,() <br /> <br />Essentials for Optimum Use <br />of Ground- Wate}' Resources <br /> <br />HAROLD E. THOMAS <br /> <br />Optimum: not the maximum, nor the most con~ervative or most liberal. <br />nor the most economical, but only the best and most favorable use of water, <br />And if you ask "Best [or whom?" or "Best for what?" the logical answer is <br />"The greatest good for the greatest numher," The subject o[ my paper thus <br />offers an opportunity for me to tell you how things are in Utopia. where a <br />balanced water economy serves an economy that is balanced in all other <br />re.'ipects, and no olle bothers with the pursuit of happiness because everyone <br />is already happy. Or I could lower my sights a bit. and give examples of <br />places right here in the United States where the water situation is very <br />satisfactory. and close to ideal in some respects. In comparison with other <br />places that are plagued by water shortages or other water problems, it <br />generally turns out that these favored localities have the advantage of an <br />adequate supply at each point of demand, <br />As.a member of the U, S, Geological Survey I have spent a good many <br />years in the collection and analysis and interpretation of basic data con- <br />cerning ground water, Ground,water hydrologists of this agency have made <br />scientific studies in every state and many foreign countries, generally in <br />times of crisis and uncertainty as to water supplies, and in places where the <br />development and use of water have been by individual initiative and in a <br />haphazard and unplanned pattern, In practically every area, if we had had <br />the necessary basic data in the early stages of development. the physical <br />facilities for water supply could have come closer to "optimum"; and other <br />basic data could similarly have led toward optimum uses of the water and <br />of the land in so far as they depend upon water, Admittedly this statement <br />is based in part on hindsight. but I could cite several authorities who have <br />stressed the nation's need for more basic data as a prime essential in the <br />optimum development and use of ~ater resources. <br />Basic d<lta do not constitute a panacea, of courst:. SGme of our most mas- <br /> <br />HAROLD E. THOMAS is a geologist who, apart from war service, has been with <br />the U. S. Geological Survey almost continuously since 1931, servil1~ as Area Chief <br />of the Ground \\Tater Branch, Pacific Coast Area, from 1956 to 1958. He is the <br />author of val-ious publications on ground waler, geology. anti water law for the <br />GeoJogical Survey; of ConservalioH of Groulld Water for the Conserv<llion Founda- <br />[ion; and of Water itl Kansas for the Kansas State Finance Committee. He 'was born <br />in Chicago in 1906 and rook his hachelor's and rloctor's deg-rfes in g'coloK}' at the <br />llni\'er'iit)' of Chic3/:{O. <br /> <br />lSI <br />