WSP10442

• File Number: 8021
• Description: Section D General Correspondence-Western States Water Council
• Date: 12/1/1966
• Title: ASCE News-Principles of a Sound National Water Policy
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Publication

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Municipal and indu.trlal water

Thi.. calcgory of wain ll.~C covers a
wide range frnm individual aC1ion..; in
ohlaining Wllll'r from \\'1..'11, PI ,mfacc
o;lIpplic... In compll'x ~ysIL'Jll'" fill" "'l1pply
of ci,ic, <lnll lilrg~ rl'gum.... Hl'rc. pllli-
des ,houlJ he "uL'h a... It} l!l"'III\.~ Oppllr-
lunity lor rl"rtln!'lihk il(,:lillll ;1'.. c1n...c
u..; po...,ihlc 10 cadl indi\ idual or group
concerned and. ,111h...' ...alllc lime, in:"ul"c
that the C'xcn:i'ic of "luch oppnl'1Unilics
by individual... or grOllp\ dnc..; not in.
fringe on the coJlcl.:liw plIhlil' jntcf\~~t.
A major prohlem in !he 1l1,ln;.Jgcrllcnl
of waler for llluniclpal and indll...tlial
purpo...c'o is 1he Inrl11ukllion :lnd appli-
calion of efTcl.:li\'c cosl-...hnring policies
that conform to ..,oulld h~lsic principle...,
The problem i..; ditlicull hecau:-.c I he
value of wilter (or mllniciplll allll in-
duo;trial purpo'\c... varil.:'" v.idcly .md is
not readily nlca:-.urnhlc in commonly
acceptable lerm:-.. It i..; ill....o cCHnplk'atcd
hy the pre\'all~nCl' of walcr. bCllh flhy:-.;-
l:ally amI in 'lodal concepl, as a "free
good."

Water quality control

Primary responsihility for maintain.
ing the quality of v. ater :-.hlHlld rest wilh
lho.,e who 11\(' rhe \v<.ller for Ihejr own
purpo...es. The re..pon...lhl1ily for im-
proving thc natm;)1 qualilY of waler 10
make il ...uilahk for ..;peeitk I....C~ :-.hould
rest wilh tho...c who wi...h 10 make that
...pecifle 'lI..;C of it.
Waler quality q:mdards arc needed
to guide and controllhe individual and
collceli\e ael ion... of \\ <llt:r 11..;('T.... The.,c
slandnrds should he estahli...hed (In the
hasi'\ of the oplimum net hencfit to
society. The em" of maintaining the
~landarJs. dihllion. or olhcr method...
of control ...houhJ he home cqllitably
by all henericiaric., hearing in mind Ihe
righh of society In n\'aili.lhility of water
in its natural ...t~lc and lhe rc..;pon...i-
hilitie~ of indiVidual..; or group" to hc~r
the co~ts of improving Ihe utility of
water for their own p\lrro"'c~.

Recreation and e.thetiu

In both its niltm:il ~late and through
adaptation. waler ha... IIl1lity for recrea-
tional purpo...C"i. for ~nlwncing the
quality of Ihe en\'ironmclll tlnd for ~lIp-
porting fish and \'.ildllle. The valllc that
people place on wntcr for these pur.
po...es is mca...urahle (mly parlly in eco-
nomic terms. Con....idcratirlll ...hould he
given in wOjter manngclllcnt decision..;
to the total vi.lluc that ~ociely pl~ees on
these uses for water. Procedures should
be established tCl in...ure I hal hoth the
economic nnd nlher lhan economic
values of water for lhc\(.' pllrptl....c~ can
he adequately taken intt) aCL'l)l11l1.

flood control
Under n:l1urftl condilions, the land
adjaccnllu ri\'L'rs. Ia"c.... amI the occans

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will he inunJatcd due 10 exce:-....i\'c pre-
cipitation illll! rLlIlolL the ih.:tiull of
wind and lit.les. l)r other cau...l.''';. The
Wi:-'l' ll~C of land ...lIhjecI hi ...lIl:h inunda4
litlll r\'ljllir\'... l'tlll\idl.'i"OItiIJIl Ill" lhe po-
ll.'nliill hl.'nl'fil In ...ocit'l\" Ill' the '....l' of
lhe land ilnd Ihl' CO"'I~ of ...l1dl ll.,l.',
\\"hl'lher ...L1ch L'l.l"''' ;.He in Ihe form of
hendil:-' foregone. damagc:-. ...lIlfel'l'd or
lllea....urc... nel:c:-....ary 10 prcvcnt d:Ull;lgC.
Flood control poli....ic... ...ho\lld be ...ueh
a., 10 encourage Ihc II"'C of flood-prone
land::. in ...uch way... thaI. with ...uch pro-
leclivc or rrc\"L'nti...l.' 1llca"'lIre., a... may
be ju...1 incl!. thl' net hCllellh 10 ...ociety
arc maximized. In .Ipplying Ihl.' hll..;ic
principle Ihat Cll'oh ...hould he horne by
henetlciaric.... Ihe n~l.Iional interc...l In
prevenllon of di...:I...ll'r... i... penincnt.

Navigatian

Water in Ih~ OCCtlIlS. lakc..;, and rivers
is 11...cful a... :l mean... of lrtln...portation.
It shuuld he ll...l.'d for thai pllrpo..e 10
the cXlcnl that il oHer... Ihe mn...t ceo~
nOllli(al and ...oci;JlIy de...irahle form or
tran"'porr a... compared Wilh available
allernatlve... and. al Ihe ...amc time, to
the exlent Ihal il..; ,..:dlle 10 ...ol.'icIY is
con'\iscnt wilh Ihc value of other II~CS
of Ihe waler which mighl bc precluded
or adver...c1y i1lkl.:led by II:-.e for I rim'i.
portl.llion purplhC";.
Waterway.... nalmal or improvcd.
should hc ;l\'aililblc to mer..; at Ihe Co..l
of making and 1l1itinlaining Ihem av.til-
able for II...C. Navi!!alion polkie... ...hould
he comi:-.tenl wilh national tran~porta-
tion policies.

Reclamation
Water ....hollld he added to limd 10 in.
crea,,,c ill; prodllcli\ il)' '-or <Igril'llllUraJ
or other plll'po",c", 10 Ihe cXlcnl Ihal Ihc
requirement-.. for ...lll.:h purpo...e'i call he
mel mo...' economically hy thill 1l11'lhod
and 10 Ih~ eXlenl thaI :-.lIl:h II...C of \\ aler
i'i con~i~lcnl in economic allll ....ocial
....alue \\o'ilh mher waler nee(!o;, DrainClgc
of v.ct lamI-. 10 ill1provl.' Iheir IItilily
....hould he accompli...hcd in ac(,:ordallcc
wilh the ...a:l:1C principle. Irrigalion :lIld
drainage policie... havc important inler-
relations wilh agricultur<.ll and mhan
development policie., Ih011 require cor-
relation of objective... and procedure"i
10 assure l:onformancc 10 ...ound ba.,ic
principles and elliciency in me of
water.

Hydroelectric power
Water ~hollld he med for generation
of power to the cxtent thaI Ihis method
is more economical in l:on...er\'alion
and me of rc.,ources lhnn alrernalive
methods of meeting. power require-
ment~ tlnd to Ihe extent Ihat the Wie
of the water for hydro-power purposes
is comislenl wilh the econOllllC <lnd
social values of u...e of the waler for
olhcr pmposcs.

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n"(,f'",f,,'r 1966

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CIVil. ENI;INF.F.R1NG-ASCf'