The Federal Resources Research Program All Quality Criteria for Sulfur Oxides Set by HEW
I
n fiscal 1968, the Federal Government plans to pour more than $133.9
Federal expenditures for water resources researct (figurcs are in millions o f dollars: yean arc fiscal years) 1967’
1968
(e*ttirnatej
(Pst,mate>
$ 3.4
$ 1.9
$ 2.0
18.2 20.2 4.5 22.2 5.7 2.2 4.8
19.8 33.8 5.4 25.3 7.6 1.9 6.3
22.3 31.1 6.2 45.2 8.8 2.4 6.7
3.4 1.1 0.8 1.1 87.7
3.8 1.4 2.7 1.0 111.1
5.4 1.7 1.2 1.1 133.9
million r. ~. ~.o-. i i.r. c c. rpwarch c_ . ....... .. into ..... water ..-.. . . . .. .
In 1965 the figure was $70.0 million. There is no better index of the Nation’s growing commitment to rescue-in President Johnson’s words-“the clear, fresh waters that were our national .itage.” heritage.” rhese funds come from almost 30 These Narate government bureaus. The task 1 separate mnrrlinnfinn the*offnr+rand snrl directdir of coordinating these efforts ing them toward long-range goals falls on the shoulders of the Committee on Water Resources Research (COWRR). Established in 1963 by the Federal Council for Science and Technology, it is now headed by Robert L. Smith. Mr. Smith is on leave from the University of Kansas, where he is chairman of the civil engineering department. In a recent interview with ES&T, Mr. Smith discussed the federal program, where it is, where it’s going. The blueprint for the program is “A Ten-Year Plan of Federal Water Resources Research,” developed over a .. rwo-year perioa ana reieasea In reoruary 1966. Although the report did not propose intermediate expenditure levels between 1967 and 1971, the planning target for 1968 was $143.8 million. Mr. Smith does not attach too much significance to the indicated shortfall of $10 million for the coming year: “Resolution of budgetary constraints, personnel needs, and other problems always encountered in new or expanding programs undoubtedly created some initial inertia, but it is quite obvious that agency programs are now responding to the basic objectives of the 10-year plan. The projected estimate of a $200 million program by 1971 is both reasonable and possible.” According to Mr. Smith, COWRR sees these developments which might
.
400
1
..-.
Environmental Science and Technology
1966 . . ..
Nature of water Water cycle Water supply augmentation and conservation Water quantity management and control Water quality management and protection Water resources planning Resources data Engineering works Manpower, grants, and facilities. Education (extramural) Education (in-house) Research facilities Miscellaneous TOTAL
Notes: 1. Totals may not add up due to rounding. 2. Certain demonstration and dcvelopment activities not included. 6 In FY 1966, $18.0 millio!i in grants, contracts, and rescarch act allotments distributed in other categories; in 1967, $22.2 millmn; in 1968,,524.8 million. , b Includes OWRR supplemental appropriation of 52.0 million. ,
Its goal is to make water serve the needs of the people. T o meet this goal, the Government will spend $133.9 million for water resources research in fiscal 1968-almost twice the amount spent just three years ago. The current thrust is on pollution control, but the remainder of the water problems are not being neglected
Federal expenditwres for water resources research by agency (hpiire, ‘Ire
ti1
inillion\ ot doll‘ir~ \ c I I r > .lrc l i ~ , i \lC ‘ I I , I
Aqenc?
1966
I nterior Department Federal Water Pollution Control Administration Otfice of Saline Water Geological Survey O t k e o f Water Resltiurces Research Bureau o f Conimerc,ial Fisheries Bureau o f Reclamation Bureau o f Sport Fi4ieries and Wildlife t3ure:tu o f Mines AgrizultuIe Department Defense Departnwnt Atoniic Energy Commission National Science Foundation Health. Education, a n t i Welfare Department Tennessee Valle) Authority Commerce Department Tranqmrtation Department T( )lA L. : \riti‘.-
~
S5Y 9 Ih 4
21 4 10 0 6 0
‘2 2 2
I967 (t+timate)
s79 2
SlOO 0
22 30 I1 x 2 2
42 26 13 II 2 2 I
4 5
0 5 s 5
I4
1 5
I) 1
1) 3
17 0
IS Y 5 7 2 1
3 9
2 7 1 7 0 7 0 7 0 7 0 3 87.7
1068 (estimnte)
1 8 0 9
I 0 0 8
+-Robert
L. Smith Hamstrung b y lack ofdata on water use
x 2 1
7 2 (1
2 IY 3 1)
h h
2 I 1 I 0
5 P 3 0
0 5
111.1
133.9 iiiilhtlLt
Intensified effort o n scientific and technical information. “Improvements in information retrieval and in overcoming the semantics of multidisciplinary communication are crucial t o the success of water resources research efforts,” Mr. Smith believes. In a related move, the Office of Water Resources Research is setting u p a Water Resources Scientific Information Center (see page 386). Increased research on developing more efficient and accurate ways of determining the magnitude of existing water uses. During the past year, the Water Resources Council started its
-
assessment of future U. S. needs for water. It soon found that it was hamstrung by the lack of data on how water is being used now. Current and projected research was stressing development of techniques for predicting future use. “We need,” says Mr. Smith, “a well organized government-wide procedure for collecting water use data. We also need reliable information on the economic consequences of water shortages of varying kinds and degrees. And we know practically nothing on the social and economic consequences of various methods of allocating water between different geographic areas and for difference purposes. Until we develop adequate methodology and data sources, the council won’t be able to develop a fully comprehensive assessment of national water needs.”
x
4
1)
I. Tot,ils m,i> not ;idd u p due to rotinding. 7. Ci‘rt;iiii d ~ i i i o t i s : r ~ i i ititid ~ i i development activiiii.s of‘ F V ’ P C A ,itid (IS\\ i:iii 3 . 1 1 1 F\VPC’A tigiircs assisned to Inri‘rior Dep,irrimuii Ii i c l d e , \iiiii?iciiii‘ti t;i I ; I pproiiriii t ion of‘ S2.0 in i l l io11 ,
bring significant changes in the federal program : More widespread use of remote sensing equipment, including remote sensing from satellites, in resources surveys, and hydrologic data acquisition. COWRR is studying the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s activities for possible application to water resources management. This development will probably be implemented in the FY 1969 program.
6
FEATURE
Problem assessment
Another development Mr. Smith would like to see is greater use of preliminary problem assessment studies in development of research programs. . These studies are particularly important, he says, in planning research on a specific problem that might have several different solutions, and, in some cases, in determining whether the true need is added research or application of existing technology. The problem of acid-mine drainage is a good example of what Mr. Smith has in mind. He quotes the 10-year report on this problem: “Despite the importance of the acid-mine drainage problem, no survey has been made to determine what fraction of the acid comes from spoil dumps, strip mining, underground mines, and diffuse natural sources. Nor has any estimate been made of the degree of control which is required or possible. Would control of a relatively few major sources effect satisfactory control on the large rivers of Volume 1, Number 5, May 1967 401
Appalachia? Must every point source, large and small, be controlled? Would control of strip mines alone solve the problem? With answers to questions such as these it would be possible to plan a research program which would attack first the areas of largest probable pay-off." (S.602, recently passed by the Senate, appears to direct the Appalachian Commission to undertake such a study, Mr. Smith says.) Utfice uf Saline Water expenditure for Progress in research categories
In assessing progress for the year, Mr. Smith examined several of the maj o r categoriesofwaterresources research: Water resources planning. The 10year plan saw this category as possibly the most promising area for both short- and long-term payout. The extramural grants portion of the program responded well, upping expenditures from $2.7 million in F Y 1966 to $4.6 million in 1968. The in-house program has not significantly increased expenditures. The difficulty seems to be related to the fact that effort is fragmented among many agencies; thus, effective, coordinated paths of investigation are slow to crystallize. Water quality management. The 10year plan saw this category as "the number one technical problem ahead." COWRR figures reflect this, doubling between F Y 1966 and 1968. The 1968 figure of $45.2 million exceeds the target for this category. The Federal Water Pollution Control Administration's research and demonstration expenditures include S18.6 million that could be added to the COWRR figures of $45.2 million F Y 1968, making a total of $63.8 million. However, the Clean Waters Restoration Act of 1966 makes new demands on this research area, so the initial program targets are being revised upward. Relative increases will probably be greatest in certain areas of the category-identification of pollutants, sources and fate of pollution, and effects of pollution. Water cycle. Though knowledge of the water cycle is the foundation on which all water management rests, the research effort in this category is not expanding as rapidly as it should. Research in this area is not as glamorous as some of the other research efforts. Moreover, it often requires relatively long-term field observations. This com402 Environmental Science and Technolog,
Metropolitan Water- Dihtrict o f Southern California's nuckar-energy desalination plant Bure'iu ut' Kecl;imution weather mudificntion p i ogrilni
cob H K
t o t 'I I
I O 1 AL
8 0
3 0 x7 7 fi 110.7
3 8 111 1 134.9
5 0 133 9 165.5
Extramural expenditures by agency ctiyiirc> ,ire i n i n i l l i o i i \ o f doI1;irh; )e,irs ;ire fircd years)
1967 (estimate)
1968 (estimate)
$53 6 3 3 I O
1 7
$44 6 2.8 1 4 1 8
2
0 4
39.6
51 .O
1966
Intcrior De part m e nt Agriculture Depart men t Defense Department N;rtional Science Foundation Health. Education. and LVelfirre Department
T.( )TA L
bination appears to have a retarding effect, within the context of overall budgetary constraints, on both agency and public recognition of the relative importance of work in this category. The activities of the International Hydrological Decade will contribute materially to the long-range goals in this research category, as well as plug some gaps in the present research program. Close to $1.4 million of the proposed budget for I H D activities in F Y 1968
$34 5 2 7 0 7 0
I H 0
s
61.2
are included in COWRR figures for this research category. Water supply augmentation and conservation. More than three quarters of expenditures in this research category are for saline water conversion efforts. Funds for FY 1968 dropped because the Office of Saline Water is shifting more to project development activities, which COWRR does not include in its figures. For example, $8 million requested for engineering development
of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California's proposed dual purpose nuclear energy-desalination plant is not included. Neither is the Bureau of Reclamation's precipitation enhancement program. Although this program is aimed a t water supply augmentation, most of the research so far has been of a meteorological nature. Two phases in the water conservation category are receiving practically no attention at all-conservation in domestic use and conservation in industry. One reason is that no agency has been given primary responsibility in these areas. COWRR looks for some progress in the industrial use category as a by-product of FWPCA's newly launched program in industrial pollution control. The Department of Housing and Urban Development's evolving research program is expected to consider the question of domestic use. Research in conservation in agricultural use is also expanding, a n important consideration since agriculture uses such a large percentage of water. Water quantity management and control. Research efforts continue to lag in groundwater management, owing primarily to lack of the detailed field data necessary for the complex systems encountered. During the coming year, the Geological Survey will start a program o n urban hydrology. The first year's effort, principally o n program design, will not be large, but this is a perplexing and urgent problem o n which extensive research will be needed in the future. Engineering works. Engineering research aimed at improving water resources development technology and a t reducing development costs makes up the bulk of effort in this category. Since the research frequently is applicable t o other fields, reporting of research expenditures is arbitrary. For example, the AEC Plowshare Program on peaceful application of nuclear explosives could have a potential in excavation of canals and harbors and creation of underground water reservoirs. COWRR does not include any Plowshare costs in its figures. On the other hand, Corps of Engineers studies specifically directed at evaluating the hydraulic and engineering characteristics of exploded craters are included. Expenditures o n this program totaled $1.2 million in F Y 1966, $2.2 million in 1967, and $2.5 million in 1968.
Atomic Energq Commission Department of Agriculture Department of Commerce Bureau of Public Roads Business and Defense Services Administration Environmental Science Service5 Administration Maritime Administration Department of Defense Air Force Army Army Corps Engineers Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (Public Health Senice? Bureau of State Ser\,ices. and Food and Drug Administration) Department of Housing and Urban Deidopment Department of Interior Bonneville Power Administration Bureau of Commercial Fisheries Bureau of Indian Alfairs Bureau of Land Management Bureau of Mines Bureau of Reclamation Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife Federal Water Pollution Control Administration Geological Sufvey National Park Service OtTice of Coal Research OtEce of Saline Water Office of Water Resources Research National Aeronautics and Space Administration National Science Foundation Tennessee Va I le), A u t horit >
Number o f Project\ 51 598
71 I 11)
3 Ih
'3 123
3 IC)
1
13
s
Volume 1, Number 5, May 1967
403
