428 



As to the proper size and scope of services that should be ren- 

 dered b}' any individual project; 



As to the relative merits of economic products and qualita- 

 tive values ; 



As to the organizational structure for water planning and 

 management ; 



As to the charges to be levied on beneficiaries of such projects; 

 As to the effect of the passage of time on all of these varibles. 

 Strong reliance on economic criteria has been a characteristic of 

 20th century government, whether applied by "liberal" or "conserva- 

 tive" leadership. Measurable contribution to industrial prosperity, the 

 health and profitability of industry and commerce, rates of expansion 

 of enterprise, wage and employment levels, tax revenues, and stand- 

 ards of living have been primary factors by which regional develop- 

 ment programs have been judged. The constitutional goal of "welfare" 

 has been interpreted largely in economic terms. Accordingly, a princi- 

 pal basis for evaluating water projects has been their economic benefits 

 and costs. It was hoped that by a careful, and increasingly precise, 

 totaling up of all the beneficial and adverse impacts of a particular 

 project or assemblage of projects it Avould be feasible to ascertain 

 whether or not to sponsor them. 



The crediting of economic costs and benefits in the management of 

 water is made complex, however, by the particular characteristics of 

 water and water projects, such as— 



The nature of water itself, as a material occurring in nature 

 in enormous abundance, having no monetary value of its own, 

 and valued more or less inversely according to the extent and un- 

 desirability of the impurities in it: also, as a material that is 

 constantly replenished by the hydrologic cycle, generally in mo- 

 tion, and not consumed in the process of being used ; 



The nature of attitudes toward water, differing according to 

 local social values, customs, and laws:^ 



The fact that some costs and benefits of water projects can be 

 assigned quantitative values and some cannot ; 



The fact that some values of water projects have both quantita- 

 tive and qualitive elements ; 



The fact that different benefits from Avater accrue to different 

 parts of the total population ; 



The fact that some costs and some benefits of water cannot be 

 monetized relative to those persons most directly affected; 



The fact that some benefits result only from an increase in 

 some costs, both quantitative and qualitative, and that benefits and 

 costs are distributed differently ; 



The fact that an increase in some one benefit from a water 

 project is often at the expense of a reduction in some other benefit. 

 The importance of water as a natural resource makes enlarge- 

 ment of its social utility an important function of Government. With 

 advancing technology, the variety of the uses of water tends to in- 

 crease. With increasing population, the inicnsity of tlie use of water 



^ For exajnples, reprocessed sewage is nowhere recycled Into reuse, even though it? 

 quality can be raised to acceptable levels: water from the Hudson River is unacceptable 

 for use in New Yorl< City, although water from the Delaware River is acceptable to Phila- 

 delphia, under parallel circumstances ; water law is conditioned regionially by its importance 

 in use on the land : and although quality is the primary consideration in the utility of 

 water, it is not assigned any differential monetary valuation to users on this basis. 



