446 



ate Kesolution 148 proposed a liberalization of standards, accelerated 

 approval of projects, and increased participation by the Congress in 

 the decisionmaking process regarding individual projects, rather than 

 to have such projects arbitrarily screened out in the budgetary process 

 before they came to the Congress. 



Resolution 148 focused attention on the wide gap in thinking be- 

 tween the Congress and the President, and appears to have set the 

 stage for a much more extensive examination of the issues of water 

 resource development that began 2 years later. This investigation, 

 which will be discussed in the next section of the chapter, provided 

 the i^rincipal source of information on which water ):)olicy and legis- 

 lation were based during the Kennedy-Johnson presidential years. By 

 1958, however, with executive branch and legislative branch controlled 

 by opposing political j)arties, and with a host of unresolved issues, 

 problems of formulating and executing a coherent national policy in 

 water resource management had become almost hopelessly compli- 

 cated. There was a limited consensus as to principles — 



That planning and development of water resources should deal 

 with drainage basins as a whole; 



That all resource benefits should be recaptured ; 



That benefit/cost ratio was relevant to decisionmaking ; 



That some degree of uniformity of method was needed in the 

 evaluative process; 



That some degree of flexibility should be maintained in basin 

 development plans, to accommodate them to changing needs, 

 national conditions, and technology. 



On the other hand, many major issues rem.ained unresolved — 



As to the respective decisionmaking roles of Congress and the 

 Chief Executive; 



As to the division of responsibility and the exercise of leader- 

 ship as between the Federal Government and the States ; 



As to whether a single coordinating organization should be 

 established by the Federal Government for all national water 

 policy ; 



As' to the respective interests and claims of competing agencies 

 with water resources responsibilities (especially the Corps of 

 Engineers and the Department of the Interior) ; 



As to the extent to which intangible benefits and costs should be 

 considered along with tangible benefits and costs (in other words, 

 as to whether scope or precision of benefit/cost considerations was 

 of greater importance) ; 



As to whether (and in what form) administrative organizations 

 should be established for each river basin ; 



As to the source of standards and criteria of evaluation. 

 It was becoming increasingly evident, at this same time, that the 

 growing population of the United States was placing heavier burdens 

 on available water supplies and also on recreational areas. There was 

 concern with the growing hazards of water pollution. There was 

 increasing recognition of the serious research gaps that existed in the 

 field of water science and technology. In the fields of political decision- 

 making and administration, social invention had not kept pace with 

 need. Tlie enormous complexity of interests in conflict required clear- 

 o\\t poVicy guidance, rigorous fact^\il evidence, and sensitive capability 

 to weigh alternative policies and programs as to both tangible and 



