388 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1962 



determine the best ways of furthering development of the water 

 supply as well as of minimizing the problems. Development in the 

 second stage usually consists of stopgap measures to alleviate the 

 major problems — stopgap primarily because of economic and 

 sociological limitations. 



The third stage, water management, consists of comprehensive plan- 

 ning and development of an area's water resources with the goal of 

 providing tlie greatest benefit from the water and the minimization of 

 water problems. The knowledge of how to manage water depends 

 on the results of research in the fundamentals of the hydrologic cycle. 

 For example, we must know the amount of water interchanged be- 

 tween the land surface and the ground-water reservoirs through the 

 zone of aeration. Research is put into practice in the description and 

 appraisal of hydrologic systems in specific areas, such as Long Island, 

 where surface water, ground water, and the ocean all must be consid- 

 ered in evaluating the availability and usability of water. Principles 

 of water management are based upon the existing physical and chemi- 

 cal regimen of water and are modified as needed by economic, legal, 

 and sociological factors. 



The development of water can then be adjusted to an optimum 

 level at which maximum usability of water is assured with a minimum 

 of bad effects on the resource and the users. Facts and sound prin- 

 ciples of water management are not enough, however, to make these 

 adjustments effective. Experience in the utilization and management 

 of water is an additional vital factor in the conservation of water 

 which allows us to profit from our mistakes. 



Water management, the ultimate step in the development of water 

 resources, has not yet been reached for any area. As we develop the 

 water resources of the country and pass through the various stages 

 of development, we must recognize that management of water will 

 become a greater and greater tool in the full development of the 

 Nation. A "laissez faire" attitude of water use must be a thing of 

 the past, and we must recognize our responsibility to manage our 

 resources wisely. 



If we could visualize an imaginary electronic computer programed 

 with sound principles of water management, into wliich we could 

 feed all the facts on the water resources of an area, data on the present 

 and expected use of water, and the sociological and economic facts 

 allied with the development of water, perhaps we could push a button 

 and get the solutions to the water problems. Unfortunately, we do 

 not have such a computer and maybe we never will have. But it is 

 certain that the continuation of scientific and engineering studies of 

 the basic principles of the hydrologic cycle together with complete 

 appraisals of the available and usable water resources of the Nation 



