Chapter VII 



BETTER GROUND-WATER 

 MANAGEMENT 



The environments we have encountered in developing 

 ground water in this country are of great variety, and in the 

 course of his survey Dr. Thomas emphasizes that the special 

 characteristics of each one must be appreciated. To over- 

 simplify ground-water problems, as is sometimes done when 

 public support is sought for conservation measures, in the 

 long run will not promote the development and conservation 

 of this resource to maximum advantage. Varying factors of 

 climate, topography, bedrock and surface geology, hydrology, 

 and vegetation will all figure in programs for the control of 

 ground water. 



Unfortunately, it is true that much fundamental research 

 into these factors, in which the hydrologist, the agronomist 

 and the forester, and other specialists must collaborate, still 

 remains to be done. Such collaboration is called for not only 

 on specific research projects where the relation of land use to 

 ground water is direct. The implication of our experience is 

 broader. It is that, in general, land management and water- 

 resource planning are closely interrelated, because the re- 

 sources concerned are themselves related to one another in a 

 dependent fashion. 



At the same time it may be said that a popular assumption 

 — that all that is required in land and water management is 

 indiscriminate covering of land surfaces by forest and crops — 

 will not necessarily result in greatest conservation values. In 

 certain relatively arid areas, for example, nonbeneficial vege- 

 tation extracts large quantities of water which would other- 



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