461 



The report of the select conuiiittee, and its prompt presidential en- 

 dorsement, revived legislative interest in tlie concept of comprehensive 

 water project planning. Companion bills were introduced in both 

 Plouses''^ to provide for grants to the States, administered by the 

 Department of the Interior, for comprehensive water resources plan- 

 ning. A separate bill by Senators Kerr and Case (S. Dak.), intro- 

 duced May 3, 1961, called for establishment of a "\Vater Eesources 

 Planning Board, representing interested departments of the Federal 

 Government, to distribute grants to the States to support the planning 

 of water development projects. 



Eventuallv, the President sent his own recommendations to the 

 Congress, July 3, 1961. Introduced July 14, as S. 2246, by Senator 

 Anderson with 15 cosponsors, it called for — 



A "Water Eesources Council (consisting of the Secretaries of 

 Agriculture, Army, HEW, and Interior), to formulate national 

 water policy, review river basin plans, and administer grants 

 to the States; 



Establishment of river basin commissions : 



A system of State grants-in-aid for water resources planning. 

 P)etween 1961 and 1965, when a Water Eesources Planning Act was 

 finally signed intolaw,*^^ the subject of water planning remained under 

 active consideration in the Interior and Insular Affairs Committees 

 of l)oth Houses of Congress. The general features of the proposed 

 legislation appeared to be noncontroversial, following the lines rec- 

 ommended by the select committee. There were a number of technical 

 issues, however, such as : 



The preservation of water rights ; 



Division of Federal and State responsibility and authority ; 



Participation in river basin commissions ; 



Specialized requirements of urban areas ; 



Commission decision-making arrangements ; 



Authority for prescribing standards and other aspects of the 

 relationship between the proposed Council and basin commissions; 

 and 



Inclusion of the Federal Power Commission as a member of the 

 proposed Water Policy Council. 

 Further testimony was sought and obtained mainly from interested 

 Federal agencies, and from representatives of the States, on these 

 issues. The^ Federal-State division of responsibility and authority was 

 an especially thorny one. Eventualh', however, the Anderson bill 

 was accepted by the Senate without a record vote, December 4, 1963. 

 Hearin.gs were" then held by the House Committee on Interior and 

 Insular Affairs, during the spring of 1964, and the bill was reported 

 September 2. Xo further action occurred before the session was ad- 

 journed. In the 89th Congress, the water planning measures were re- 

 introduced in slightly different form in the two Houses of Congress 

 (as S. 21 and H!^E. 1111), passed both Houses unanimously (in the 

 Senate on February 25: and in the House, March 31) : the differences 

 were ironed out in conference, and the bill went to the President 

 July 16. 



83 S. 1629. STth Cong., b.v Senator Anderson with 15 other sponsors, and H.R. 6487, 

 bv Rppresentatire Peterson of Utah. Apr. 19, 1961. 

 ■"Public Law 89-80, 79 Stat. 244 (S. 21), approved July 22, 1965. 



