University of Colorado Law Review Volume 55 Issue 3 Spring 1984

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400 UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO LAW REVIEW [Vol. 55 unsettled about its role and, as a result, Congress enacted the Water Resources and Planning Act in 1965.82 Its statement of policy said that: In order to meet the rapidly expanding demand for water throughout the Nation, it is hereby declared to be the policy of the Congress to encourage the conservation, development, and utilization of water and related land resources of the United States on a comprehensive and coordinated basis by the Federal Government, States, localities and private enter- prise with the cooperation of all affected federal agencies, States, local governments, individuals, corporations, business enterprises and others concerned." Translated, in hindsight, the passage of this Act signaled that the Congress was running out of money and patience for federally funded water resource projects and was beginning to feel pressure from the embryonic environmental movement. Congress needed a pause and the best way for bringing this about was to proceed with studies that involved all the entities involved in the development of water resources. These studies produced a new restraint — delays. The lure of federal dollars prompted Colorado to authorize studies and plans and, as mentioned previously, it did so in 1967 to comply with Title III of the Water Resources and Planning Act.84 The federal government was not content with merely awarding planning dollars to the state, so in 1968 it authorized its own study by establishing the National Water Commission and directing it to make: such projections of water requirements as may be necessary and identifying alternative ways of meeting these require- ments — giving consideration . . . to conservation and more efficient use of existing supplies, increased usability by reduc- tion of pollution, innovations to encourage the highest eco- nomic use of water, inter basin transfers, and technological 62. 79 Stat. 224 (codified as amended at 42 U.S.C. §§ 1962-1962d-18 1976) (1978 & Supp. 1983).This was one of many federal laws calling for and funding studies.The decade of the 1970's must truly be called the decade of studies.As Director of Natural Resources in the early 1980's,it was a slow day if an inch or two of studies on natural resources topics did not arrive on my desk. By late 1982, the flow of studies was ended. A study of the federal lands under the direction of the Public Land Law Review Commission paralleled some of the water studies described in this article.See 54 DEN.L.J.(1977),for a report about the impact of the study. 63. 42 U.S.C. § 1962 (1976). 64. Id. § 1962c-2.