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<br />PITFALLS AND PROBLEMS FOR WATER RESOURCES PROJECTS
<br />
<br />By CARL H. BRONN, Executive Director
<br />National Water Resources Association, Washington, O. C.
<br />
<br />The title uses the polite form "pitfalls." That is Dave Pellegrin's word; he talked me out of
<br />"pratfalls, "
<br />
<br />But pratfall is really our thing-we just landed, agl'in! Here's the story:
<br />
<br />Wednesday, a week ago, the United States Senate did this in one bill:
<br />(1 ) Voted for a Reclamation construction program about $11 million ~ than last year
<br />-down again! But give the Senate credit-the amount is nearly $30 million more than the
<br />Administration proposed,
<br />(2) Voted for a Waste Treatment program higher than last year-$786 million dollars higher!
<br />You already have these facts; have you ,the causes? Probably not, and I don't either,
<br />Why the 460% jump in money to treat wa~te water, and only 20% to provide multi'purpose
<br />water management? And this done when consumptive water uses are forecast to rise, and
<br />against the hard facts of erratic rainfall, drohth, and flood.
<br />
<br />Let's see if we can develop some causes-using a question-answer session. Our purpose is, of
<br />course, to identify the problems before leaping at corrective actions-if such are needed,
<br />
<br />Before we get into the questions, let me repeat:to you our advocacy of three principles-princi-
<br />ples we seek from Uncle Sam. please keep these, principles before you as we later take on the
<br />questions.
<br />
<br />1. The principle of interdependency.
<br />This says:
<br />(a) That the interdependency of governmental programs has not been sufficiently analyzed,
<br />(b) Until interdependency is better established, neither the Bureau of the Budget nor the
<br />Congress really can tell which progra,ms to ride, to harness and hitch to pull other
<br />programs, or to turn out to pasture,
<br />(c) And there is ample evidence-as the 'publications of the Appropriations Committees
<br />show-that the wheel horse of water: development is now undernourished and over-
<br />whipped, If that wheel horse falls out, the swing and the lead horses may go down
<br />also-and the whole show stops,
<br />
<br />2, ~he principle of National obje<;tiv<;s. ,
<br />(a) Federal programs which ride the gro\.ind,swell of higJ1er appropriations generally are
<br />based on National objectives-like Cl~an Water, Urban Renewal, Interstate Highways,
<br />Employment for Everybody,' Better f1ousing. Individual projects of those programs
<br />are generally not debated in the chambers of the Capitol: no debate-no dissension!
<br />(b) But the Nation does not have a waf"l progra1m stated in terms of National ob}ectives,
<br />Rathe:, water projects ar~ debated_everyw lere-in terms of water uses, 0 which
<br />some are either competitive or conflicting,
<br />(c) The ~ of watef do benefit National objectives-like more jobs, new houses, higher
<br />tax base, better use of land, economic and social stability. But these benefits are not
<br />stated as project purposes, they do riot help the Benefit to Cost ratio....that golden,
<br />calf worshipped by those whoprocl4im economic efficiency to be the prime goal of
<br />water development.
<br />
<br />3. The principle of equity,
<br />
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