FOREWORD 



This book is the first of its kind to be published in the 



United States, for it not only surveys the natural conditions 



determining the occurrence of ground water but also de- 

 cs o 



scribes the history and effects of ground-water use through- 

 out the country. The Conservation Foundation has sponsored 

 this survey to help define the present situation and to suggest 

 courses of action. 



Our nation is almost 200 years of age, yet it is only recently, 

 due to recurrent warnings, that we are beginning to pay real 

 attention to this essential resource, water. We are now forced 

 to recognize how much we depend upon this daily necessity — 

 vital as the air itself. With the shock that comes from any 

 new experience, about 40 million Americans, living in vari- 

 ous regions and communities, are now realizing that they 

 are face to face with problems of water supply. These prob- 

 lems are ones either of inadequate quantity, or unsatisfactory 

 quality, or both. 



The skeptic can observe with much justification that we 

 human beings learn only from experience. The fact is that 

 the people of our country, except those living in arid regions, 

 have never had to think much about water supply. The 

 combination of a fairly high average rainfall throughout most 

 of our continent, together with superb natural arteries of 

 large inland rivers and lakes, have deluded us into believing 

 that water is one resource about which we need have no 

 concern. Consequently a water problem is a brand new ex- 

 perience to many Americans. 



Difficulties with water supply are bound to develop as time 

 goes on. During our years of unawareness we have formed 

 water-use habits which have become ingrained. Some of our 

 present difficulties, for example, arise from lavish use or care- 



