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<br /> <br />Assistance to local interests <br />Administration of programs <br />Setting standards <br />Cooperation. with Federal agencies <br /> <br />The seven Federal Departments involved in water and related land resource <br />development are: <br /> <br />Department of the Army <br />Department of Agriculture <br />Department of Commerce <br />Department of Health, Education and Welfare <br />Department of the Interior <br />Department of Labor <br />Federal Power Commission <br /> <br />All of these agencies have a role in broad planning of resource develop- <br />ment. All cooperate with and assist counterpart State agencies and <br />local people and three Departments, namely, Interior, Army, and Agriculture <br />have large development programs. The Federal role can be briefly stated as: <br /> <br />Stewardship of water resources <br />Provide for health, safety, welfare and defense <br />Promote national objectives <br />Consider all viewpoints <br />Plan comprehensively <br />Cooperate with State and local interests <br /> <br />GENERAL BACKGROUND <br /> <br />To understand better the reasons for undertaking the study and its <br />general nature it may be well to consider the general setting for the <br />action of the Inter-Agency Committee in June 1964. The Senate Select <br />Committee on National Water Resources was established in April 1959, to <br />study the relation of water resource activities in the United States to <br />the National interest. The Committee reached the general conclusion that <br />the nature, immediacy, and gravity of the water resources problems faced <br />by the United States vary greatly from region to region, ~ut that all <br />parts of the Nation either have or will have problems. This Committee <br />further concluded that the task confronting the Nation in the water field <br />is one of meeting growing demands on water resources in the most effi- <br />cient manner consistent with public aims. The Committee recommended that <br />comprehensive studies of water and related land resources be undertaken <br />for all river basins in the Nation. It pointed out that several, of <br />which the Missouri Basin ~as one, had shortages of water which will affect <br />the economy and future growth. It also brought out the problem of the <br />deteriorating quality of 'the water resources of the Nation. <br /> <br />4 <br />