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<br />function was to coordinate the plans of all members into an overall basin <br /> <br />development plan, monitor its implementation and keep it up to date. <br />Inter-agency committees typically had no staff or budget of their own, and <br />relied primarily on the staff of member agencies for technical support. <br /> <br />Ability to Resolve River Basin Issues <br /> <br />Some observers of inter-agency committees believe that they functioned <br /> <br /> <br />well as forums for information exchange but rather poorly as river basin <br /> <br /> <br />planning and management organizations (National Water Commission, 1973). <br /> <br /> <br />Their chief weakness seemed to be their failure to reconcile separate agency <br /> <br /> <br />plans and policies. This failure is probably attributable to the same conditions <br /> <br /> <br />that plague other informal or ad hoc multi-state river basin organizations -- the <br /> <br /> <br />lack of for mal recognition or commitment by participating governments and <br /> <br /> <br />agencies and an inability to make binding decisions. In inter-agency committees, <br /> <br /> <br />these problems were compounded by lack of permanent staff and funding. <br /> <br />In support of inter-agency committees, it should be noted that the <br /> <br /> <br />Missouri Basin Inter-Agency Committee functioned for 27 years, held 169 <br /> <br /> <br />meetings during its lifetime, witnessed the completion of many elements of the <br /> <br /> <br />Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program, and produced a massive, seven-volume <br /> <br /> <br />Missouri Basin framework Study. The latter is perhaps the most complete <br /> <br /> <br />compilation of technical information on basin resources and problems ever <br /> <br /> <br />assembled, which even today remains a valuable reference for basin resource <br /> <br /> <br />p,lanners. However, the Missouri Basin Inter-Agency Committee was also <br /> <br /> <br />criticized for its inability to resolve conflicts among basin agencies (Hart, 1957). <br /> <br /> <br />-16- <br />