GILBERT F. WHITE 207 



only a half-dozen at most have genuinely strong organizations capa- 

 ble of planning and carrying out sizable works. ^ Given the widely ac- 

 cepted ideal of integrated development of multiple-purpose projects 

 for entire basins for the public good, the present arrangement seems 

 unduly wasteful and ineffective. Five public commissions in nine years 

 have looked into aspects of the situation and have prescribed reme- 

 dies. 



The suggestions for organization run as follows : ^ 



1. Consolidate and regroup the agencies to reduce duplication and 

 competition and to facilitate co-operation among agencies performing 

 related activities. 



2. Unify the basic policies so that, regardless of organization, there 

 will be harmonious means of judging projects, assessing repayments, 

 and co-operating with local groups. 



3. Reallocate resources functions among Congressional committees 

 with a view to promoting unified definition of policies and of agency 

 procedures. 



4. EstabUsh a national review agency, either as an independent 

 board or as a branch of the Bureau of the Budget, to provide impar- 

 tial review and to define the policy issues involved in new project 

 proposals. 



5. Set up some kind of co-ordinating mechanism — a co-ordinator 

 in the President's office, a co-ordinating committee of agencies, or re- 

 gional co-ordinating committees including state representatives — to 

 reconcile the plans and actions of the different agencies. 



6. Carry out a vigorous program of public information in order to 

 build understanding of the issues involved so that when a crisis or 

 some great enlightenment as to a constructive aim favors action, it 

 will be in the direction of sweeping improvements. 



7. Promote greater participation by state and local agencies and 

 private groups in planning, constructing, and operating the needed 

 works. 



1 Council of State Governments, State Administration of Water Resources 

 (Chicago, 1957). 



2 A number of the policy issues are reviewed by Fesler and, in another frame- 

 work, by Irving K. Fox, "National Water Resources Policy Issues," Law and 

 Contemporary Problems, XXII (1957), 472-509. 



