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t)'J: ;'l.;) _I, _ ~ _: J. _ Goals should be established to provide direction for effective planning. Plans then should lead to implementation action. In this country, goals leading to action have guided our way in the past. "Independence," "Open the West," and "Put a Man on the Moon," are goals Americans have set and achieved. National goals and policies for water and related land resources management have been established through legisla- tion, administrative action, and the efforts of various commissions. and water resource conferences. Regional goals for the man- agement of water and related land resources in this Basin are in the process of being developed and will be more sharply iden- tified through the continuous planning process undertaken by the Missouri River Basin Commission in concert with its member States, Federal agencies, and others affected. National Water Resources Management Goals and Policies The development of a national policy which would coordi- nate the various water policies and programs of the Federal agencies and the State governments in a more comprehensive way had its beginning in the administration of Theodore Roosevelt. A February 1908 report of the Inland Waterways Commission recommended that Federal, State and local inter- ests cooperate in achieving solutions to water problems. A report by the Presidential Advisory Committee on Water Resources Policy, issued in December 1955, contained the fol- lowing statement: The greatest single weakness in the Federal Govern- ment's activities in the field of water resources develop- ment is the lack of cooperation and coordination of the Federal agencies with each other and with the States and local interests. A Senate Select Committee on National Water Re- sources in preparing its report in 1959-1961 found essentially the same weakness and further recommended that the "Fed- eral Government should stimulate more active participation by the States in planning and undertaking water development and management activities." COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING POLICY The Water Resources Planning Act of 1965 (Public Law 89-80) was first proposed in 1961 to provide for "the optimum development of the Nation's natural resources through the coor- CHAPTER 4 DIRECTIONS FOR THE FUTURE dinated planning of water and related land resources, through the establishment of a water resources council and river basin com- missions, and by providing financial assistance to the States in order to increase State participation in such planning." With final passage of the 1965 Act, it became national policy "to encourage the conservation, development, and utiliza- tion of water and related land resources of the United States on a comprehensive and coordinated basis by the Federal Govem- ment, States, localities, and private enterprise wijh the coopera- tion of all affected Federal agencies, States, local governments, individuals, corporations, business enterprises, and others con- cerned." While the Water Resources Planning Act of 1965 did not change or supersede then existing authority or responsibility for water resources planning, development, or control by Federal agencies and officials or as provided for by interstate compacts or other similar arrangements, it did establish for the first time a national policy which mandated a comprehensive, coordinated, joint State-Federal planning approach which would greatly en- hance the opportunity for the optimized utilization of the Nation's water and related land resources. Implementation ofthis national policy for the Federal Gov- ernment is being achieved through the activities and programs of the U.S. Water Resources Council, as authorized under Hie I of the Act. The Council has been instrumental in assisting the States to develop capability and to participate in water planning through its grant program. Each State has developed its own institutional framework for resource planning, and has prepared or is in the process of preparing a State water plan. Six river basin commis- sions involving 32 States have been established to foster com- prehenSIve, coordinated, regional planning. To encourage con- sistency among Federal water programs and projects, principles and standards have been promulgated, and policy recom- mendations have been sent to the President regarding cost shar- ing and flood plain management. A water assessment and ap- praisal program has been established to bring together results of the Council's National Water Assessment, the river basin com- missions' coordinated plans, and data on Federal programs and projects into a comprehensive program not previously available for simultaneously evaluating the Nation's water resource needs and the adequacy of Federal programs and policies. OTHER DIRECTIVES In addition to the steps taken through the U.S. Water Resources Council to respond to the national goals, actions by others have also focused on these goals. The National Water Commission report, "Water Policies for the Future," expounded 33