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The preceding discussion has centered on the cooper- ative relationships between the Federal Government and the States and their political subdivisions. These rela- tionships evolved during periods of less complex water problems by progressive refinements of the roles of the Federal Government and the States and their political subdivisions in development and management of water resources. As water problems become more complex, the indifferences of water to political boundaries will compel formation of regional institutions to promote more comprehensive development and use of water resources. Currently, the regional institutions which function in the Missouri River Basin are the Missouri Basin Inter-Agency Commitee and the Missouri River States Committee. The membership of the former consists of representatives of the eight Federal Depart- ments - Agriculture, Army, Commerce, Health, Educa- tion and Welfare, Interior, Labor, Transportation, and the Federal Power Commission - and the Governors of the 10 basin States. The membership of the latter consists of one or more representatives of each of the lO b;sin States. These regional committees function primarily as coordinating institutions by providing a forum for discussing policies and programs from a regional view- point. They have neither a staff for technical planning at the regional level nor legal powers to authorize or finance construction and operation of water resources developments. They rely on State agencies and the agencies of the Federal Department members of the Committees for technical assistance. CURRENT STATUS OF DEVELOPIVlENT Water resource developmental and management pro- grams in the Missouri River Basin began over 100 years ago. Significant periods of development were prior to 1910 and since 1949, the latter being the period during which the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program was being implemented. The nature of the institutional framework has been modified significantly through evolution of the legal and institutional systems discussed above. The earlier aspects of water resources development were oriented to single-purpose improvements to meet specific requirements without substantial regard for other potential functions. However, an expanding economy, technological improvements, and human aspir- ations beyond the limits of basic subsistence have imposed greater demands on water and land resources, and have created a shift of emphasis from single-purpose to multiple-purpose programs. Although the earlier developments were constructed and financed primarily by private groups and political subdivisions, the increasing complexity and higher costs of water resources development soon began to exceed the legal powers and financial resources of these 42 interests. This led to progressive enactment of a body of Federal legislation which has permitted greater utiliza- tion of the technical and financial resources of the Federal Government to plan, construct, and where appropriate, to operate water resources developments in cooperation with the States and their political sub- divisions. Nevertheless, a major portion of the existing water resources development represents the efforts and resources of State, local, and private interests. The identification of the scope of the existing status of water resources development in the basin, which is summarized in the following paragraphs, is limited to the major features of the program, and is discussed in terms of the entire basin. A summary of the existing status of water and land resources development in each subbasin and the relationships to available resources and existing problems and needs in the subbasin is included in chapter 7. For the purposes of this study, the existing status of development is defined as consisting of those projects which were either completed or under construc- tion in 1965. The summary of existing water and land resources development in the basin includes storage reservoirs for various purposes; and watershed protection measures, irrigation works, flood and erosion control measures, water supply systems, electric power facilities, waste treatment facilities, outdoor recreation and fish and wildlife enhancement programs, and navigation improve- ments. Reservoirs In 1965 the Missouri Basin contained 107 major reservoirs and 1,387 reservoirs with individual storage capacities of less than 25,000 acre-feet which were either completed _or under construction. In aggregate, these reservoirs provide a total of over 112 million acre-feet of storage capacity. The investment cost for this storage capacity was over $3 billion. Almost 99 percent of the total storage capacity serves multiple-purpose functions. Table II summarizes the basin's reservoir systems. Land Conservation and Management With the exception of most of the irrigation develop- ments and the larger-scale !lood-control improvements, which are discussed later, the basin's water and related land resource improvements for agriculture have been primarily installed through the small watershed protec- tion and !lood prevention projects and rural conser- vation and development projects. The need to preserve the agricultural productivity of the basin became strikingly evident during the extensive drought of the 1930's and was reinforced by continuing evidence of losses of topsoil and severe erosion of productive lands by floods and vegetative denudement. These measures