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'1;:1 002'"'}! ". ., u_ . ~~ . - 7 - . Commission in 1950, Their report included estimates by representatives of federal agencies of the per cent of adequacy of facilities for gather- ing the major types of data. Their estimates were reported on a regional rather than state basis. Some idea of the need for additional facilities can be gained by summarizing their findings. The adequacy of surface water stream gaging facilities was estimated to range from 20 to 40 per cent for most of the area in the James, Niobrara, Lower Platte, Lower Missouri and Osage sub-basins to a high of 60 to 80 per cent in the North and South Platte and a part of the Upper Missouri sub-basin. For precipitation data, adequacy was estimated to range from less than 20 per cent in the western parts of the Upper Missouri and Yellowstone sub- basins to between 60 and 80 per cent in the James-Big Sioux and South Platte, Kansas, Lower Missouri, Osage sub-basins. Adequacy of chemical water quality information was estimated to be less than 20 per cent except in the Kansas, Missouri-Souris and western Yellowstone sub-basins, estimated to be between 20 and 40 per cent. Ground water data was esti- mated to be less than 20 per cent of adequacy for most of the Missouri Basin except for South Dakota, Iowa and central Nebraska where coverage was estimated to be mostly between 20 and 40 per cent. There have been expansions of programs in many of the Missouri Basin areas since 1950, but since most of the increased activity has been related to long-term goals, the estimates are still reasonably valid. State water resource study commissions, when basic data collec- tion facilities came within their area of study, similarly have recom- mended increased contribution to the cooperative program with the Geologi- cal Survey and expanded state programs. For example, Water in Kansas, a report submitted to the 1955 Kansas Legislature, devotes considerable at- tention to the present state program and future needs for basic informa- tion of all kinds. In addition to stressing the need for expanded pro- grams of data collections and research over significant periods of time, the report emphasized the necessity for coordination and analysis of available and future informatiOn. The relationship of research and in- vestigation to comprehensive planning and the development of programs is expressed in the following language; "The collection of essential basic data, scientific analysis of those data, and research to learn the fundamental principles of hydrology and the best methods of development and use of water -- these are the foundations of the entire water resources program in any region. They are essential to effective adminis- tration and regulation of the water resources, as well as to economical development and use of. water.,.." The Water Resources Committee of the Council of State Governments, in April, 1956, in Recommendations Concernin~ Some Water Resource Problems Confronting the States, urged the expansion of present programs and their support on a consistent, continuing basis. It is apparent that the states need to expand their programs and increase their expenditures for the collection of basic data and for water resource research activities. This does not mean that what is called fo>> is necessarily a massive, frontal attack to blanket the states with all the facilities ideally desirable -- cost alone would make this unfeasible. Rather, what is needed is a selective, imaginative approach to the