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for condemnation of such lands as are necessary to the construction and maintenance thereof (Iowa Const. Art. ], sec. ]8). Article VII of the Iowa Constitution limits the ability of the State to contract indebtedness. Credit of the State may not be loaned to or in aid of any individual or cor- poration nor may the State become responsible for the debts or liabilities thereof unless incurred in time of war. The State may contract debts to supply casual deficits or failures in revenues or to meet expenses not otherwise provided for only to an aggregate maximum of $250,000. All losses to the permanent, School or University fund of the state occasioned by the defalcation, mismanagement or fraud of the agents or officers in control of the fund, shall be a permanent debt against the State as shall debts contracted to repel invasion, suppress insurrection, or defend the State in war. No other debts may be contracted by or on behalf of State unless authorized by some law for some single work or object, which law has been submitted to and approved by the voters at a general election. The law must provide for a direct annual tax sufficient to pay interest as it falls due and to discharge the principal of such debt within twenty years. The State Constitution was amended in 1968 to allow home rule for municipalities (Art. III, sec. 40). Statutes 1. General Significant Iowa statutes relating to water and related land resources including the following: The long standing laws providing for protec- tion of public water supplies and review of water supply plans by the Departmen t of Health; The 1965 law creating the Iowa Water Pol- lution Control Commission; Fish and game laws, state parks and preserve laws, water navigation regulations and recrea- tional planning programs administered by the State Conservation Commission; Laws providing for basic data collection, in- terpretation and reporting by the Iowa Geolog- ical Survey; The miiidam iaw; Laws creating the State Soil Conservation Committee and providing for Soil Conservation Districts; The 1949 law creating the Iowa Natural Re- sources Council, ] 957 amendments incorpor- ating the Iowa Water Rights Law, and ] 965 amendments dealing with comprehensive plan- ning and flood plain regulation; The public utility regulation laws, insofar as 14 they affect water service; The eminent domain laws insofar as they af- fect condemnation for water supplies, sewer systems, water power generation, flood control works and related water resources interests; The authorization for cities and towns to provide water and sewerage services and to fi- nance these improvements by various means; The authorization for cities and towns to construct, maintain and operate flood control systems and to finance same and to establish water recreational areas; Laws authorizing formation of benefited water districts and sanitary districts within counties; and The levee and drainage district enabling law and other drainage laws. This maze of overlapping and sometimes con- flicting areas of authority between competing in- terests and purposes presents a real challenge to coordination and cooperation. An indication of the water policy of the State may be derived from. the policy statements and assignment of powers and duties contained in the statu tes. For example, the following declaration of poli- cy is contained in Chapter 455A, Iowa Code 1966 (enacted ] 949 and amended] 957), which assigns to the INRC general responsibility for the control, utilization and protection of the water resources of the sta te: "455A.2 Declar~tion of policy. It is hereby recognized that the protection of life and pro- perty from floods, the prevention of damage to lands therefrom and the orderly development, wise use, protection and conservation of the water resources of the state by the considered and proper use thereof, is of paramount impor- tance to the welfare and prosperity of the peo- ple of the state, and, to realize these objectives it is hereby declared to be the policy of the state to correlate and vest the powers of the state in a single agency, the Iowa natural re- sources council, with the duty and authority to establish and enforce an appropritlte com- prehensive state-wide program for the control, utilization and protection of the surface and ground-water resources of the state. It is hereby declared that the general welfare of the people of the state of Iowa requires that the water re- sources of the state be put to beneficial use to the fullest extent of which they are capable, and that the waste or unreasonable use, or un- reasonable methods of use, of water be prevent-