439 



(2) Quality of a water may be improved tliroiigh treating 

 water just before use, or by removing or reducing sources of con- 

 tamination. (Desalting of sea water, for example.) 



(3) Industrial users of water may cut consumption or modify 

 requirements. (Such as by resort to corrosion-resistant equip- 

 ment to tolerate water containing corrosive impurities.) 



(4) In many areas available water can be better apportioned 

 among different types of users. (For example, less water might 

 go to irrigation and more to industry.) 



The report proposed five principles, in addition to its general en- 

 dorsement of the findings of the President's Water Policy Commis- 

 sion: 



(1) Planning and developing water resources must compre- 

 hend all aspects of collection, conservation, and use. 



(2) The varied and complex problems of water can be attacked 

 best by integrated action in each major drainage basin, under 

 general national policy for use of water resources. 



(3) Highest economic use must be made of scarce supplies. 



(4) Benefits must exceed costs. 



(5) Known beneficiaries should help pay for improvements. 

 Federal action, the report recommended, should be enlarged in the 



areas of (a) basic studies and technological research, (b) the integra- 

 tion of programs, and (c) the abatement of pollution. 



On the subject of pollution control, the Commission conceded that 

 complete abatement was "not an attainable goal" but that even to 

 achieve moderate improvement would entail investment of $9 to $12 

 billion, and : "Clearly it will pay the Nation to do more than it is now 

 doing." Industrial pollution control measures required cooperation of 

 Government and industry, but "to the greatest practicable extent pri- 

 vate sources of pollution should be eliminated at private expense." Al- 

 though taking note of the enactment of the Water Pollution Control 

 Act of 1948,^^ the Commission questioned its adequacy and suggested 

 such stronger measures as (a) a tax on pollution-causing industries, 

 and ( h ) augmented budget for construction grants and loans to both 

 municipalities and private industries."* 



Allocation of costs and benefits: the role of economic analysis in 

 'planning 

 As long as water projects were devoted to a single purpose, decisions 

 as to whether or not any particular project should be built, the fixing 

 of priorities among projects and arrangements for relating payments 

 among beneficiaries, though difficult, were manageable. But when proj- 

 ects began to be undertaken to serve multiple (and sometimes con- 

 flicting) purposes, decisions became vastly more difficult. Direct costs 

 and benefits were still relatively specific as criteria — as for example in 

 the planning of Hoover Dam. However, the problem became enor- 

 mously complicated when entire river basins were included in the scope 

 of single projects, and when an array of secondary and intangible 

 benefits were taken into account. 



^ Seech. 13. 



^ Resources for Freedom — Vol. I : Foundations for Growth and Security, op. clt.. pp. 

 50-56. 



