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Show development measured in terms of its maximum contribution to the national welfare. 5. Plans should be based upon adequate data. Agencies responsible for the compilation of basic physical and economic data should participate fully from the time the initial surveys commence. Administrative Aspect The Commission is not authorized to deal with questions of Federal organization. There is no doubt, however, that if the principles suggested above are to be translated into action some changes must be made in the present organiza- tion of water resources activities. This was recognized by the Hoover Commis- sion's Task Force on Natural Resources and the minority report of the Commission. Both rec- ommended a general reorganization in which basin development programs would be planned and managed by a decentralized water develop- ment service in a National Resources Depart- ment. If the recommended changes are not car- ried into effect, then, as an absolute minimum, it would seem necessary to utilize the present voluntary Inter-Agency River Basin Committee approach through congressional approval of river basin commissions, set up on an interagency basis. This may prove a satisfactory method pro- vided that (1) each commission is presided over by an independent chairman appointed by and responsible to the President; (2) authorizations and appropriations by Congress for river basin planning and development are revised to fit the new approach; (3) a Board of Review, com- posed of members with a broad understanding of the economic and social as well as the tech- nical aspects of regional development, is set up in the Executive Branch; and (4) the States de- velop their resources agencies to provide a basis for cooperation with this organization. An alternative to both the Hoover Commis- sion Water Development Service and the strengthened Inter-Agency River Basin Com- mittee as means of making unified planning ef- fective, is, of course, to set up regional or valley administrations to manage the water and related land resources of the several basins in coopera- tion with State and local agencies. State and Nation At the Commission's regional conferences, as well as in the written statements offered for its consideration, strong representations were made in favor of greater participation by the States in the planning of comprehensive water resources programs. The Commission favors full partici- pation by the States to the extent that they accept the broad responsibility which goes with such participation. It is in the planning process that particular care must be used in fostering proper Federal-State-local relations. Every State performs governmental functions through agencies created for that purpose. Many such functions are indispensable to full development of water resources and realization of benefits from them. In the main the pro- grams of the agencies administering these func- tions have not been adjusted to the accelerated Federal water resources development program. The answer to this problem will not be found in the assumption of these functions by the Federal Government, or in a duplication of these func- tions, but rather in a mutual process of adjust- ment whereby State functions and the Federal program are properly integrated to perform the task, while at the same time preserving the in- tegrity of each. State agencies find it difficult to adjust their programs in order to discharge their proper re- sponsibilities in cooperating with the Federal Government in planning, because of inadequate funds or the difficulty of obtaining trained personnel. This is particularly true in sparsely populated States which have responsibilities in several im- portant basins, like Wyoming (three basins) 3 Colorado (four), Nevada (three), and New Mexico (three). The solution to this is properly increased State appropriations and a deceleration of Federal ac- tivity for a period where necessary to allow the 49 |