CHEMICAL & ENGINEERING
NEWS VOLUME
4i, NUMBER 9 The Chemical World This Week
MARCH 4,
1963
Increase in Water Research Urged Presidential panel calls for better coordination of a stepped-up federal research effort to avert coming water crisis By the year 2000 many areas of the nation will face serious water shortages. Even now, in some parts of the arid Southwest, water stored underground is being drawn at an alarmingly high rate, and in some other areas the amount of water required to dilute sewage approaches, even exceeds, the amount of water in the rivers at times of low flow.
To avert the coming crisis in water supply, a big increase in spending for water research is needed. Shortages of qualified personnel in many areas of water research must be overcome. And to make the most effective use of public and private resources, efforts must be made to achieve better coordination of the research activities of the federal agencies involved.
These are some of the findings of a special panel of the Federal Council for Science and Technology in a report to the President on water-resources research. More Research. The Federal Government is spending $66 million on water research in the current fiscal year. For fiscal 1964 the Administration has asked Congress to appropriate
Unless Water Use Becomes More Efficient, Some Regions Will Have to Import Water by the Year 2000
Key: In these areas, consumption of controllable water alone will probably exceed supplies by the year 2000. In these areas, consumption of controllable water alone may exceed supplies by the year 2000.
Jn these areas, water needs for waste dilution, plus thosefor consumption, may exceed supplies by the year 2000.
Source: Federal Council for Science and Technology MARCH
4, 1963
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Government Expands Support for Water Research Summary of the Federal Government's Fiscal 1963 and Fiscal 1964 Budgets for Research on Water Resources Thousands of Dollars 1963 1964
Type of Research
Nature of Water
$ 2,065 $ 3,628
W a t e r C y c l e includes studies on precipitation, evaporation, and transpiration
12,471
14,752
Water and Land Management includes studies on water 8,439
9,246
movement in soils, erosion and sedimentation, upstream flood abatement D e v e l o p m e n t a n d C o n t r o l includes studies on downstream flood control, hydropower, industrial use problems, and recreation
4,617
5,573
Q u a l i t a t i v e A s p e c t s includes studies on characteristics and effect of wastes
9,990
13,354
R e u s e a h d S e p a r a t i o n includes studies on saline water conversion and waste treatment
7,671
10,189
Economic and Institutional Aspects includes area ap- 2,064
2,747
praisals and the role of water in growth
Engineering of Systems includes studies on design and 3,842
5,358
materials
Education, Training, and Research Facilities Undistributed Grant Program
13,261 9,572 1,907 2,000 Totals $66,327 $76,419
Source: Federal Council for Science and Technology
$76 million, an increase of 15%. But the panel says much more should be spent on water research. The panel makes no recommendation on how big the increase should be. However, it points out that all segments of the economy, federal and nonfederal, spend about $10 billion a year on water facilities. On this basis, spending for water research is less than 0.5% of spending for water facilities. The panel calls the proposed increase for the coming fiscal year "a step in the direction of expanding the waterresources research program to a degree commensurate with the importance of water resources." Even without an extensive evaluation, it is obvious that some areas of water research are in urgent need of more support, the panel says. More work needs to be done on ground water, including infiltration processes, and on soil-plant-water relationships. And the opportunities for research on water quality are so great and the demand for results so pressing that a much higher level of sustained effort should be undertaken, the panel says. Another big problem is the shortage of qualified personnel in some areas of water-resources research. One way to improve the supply, the panel says, is to increase federal grants and contracts to universities so that they can 20
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4,
1963
strengthen their graduate research and training programs, the panel says. Coordination. Eight government agencies have responsibility for research on water resources. Seven of these agencies have specific water research programs-Agriculture; Health, Education, and Welfare; Commerce; Interior; Defense; Atomic Energy Commission; and Tennessee Valley Authority. The National Science Foundation makes many grants for water research. All told, some 36 government bureaus or equivalent units are engaged in water-resources research. As a result, the panel says, there are overlapping responsibilities and missions among the bureaus. This situation calls for concerted efforts t a achieve effective coordination of the activities of the federal agencies and to clarify agency responsibilities to make the most effective use of available funds, the panel says. The panel recommends that agency responsibilities for water-resources research be assigned on the basis of a division of technical effort. Such assignment should keep in mind the principal operating and research responsibilities of individual agencies. The Federal Council for Science and Technology should decide which areas should be assigned to individual agencies. Once
an agency had been assigned a certain area, it would be responsible for seeing that research in that category is adequate for its needs. The panel also recommends that the Office of Science and Technology and the Federal Council for Science and Technology should be responsible for encouraging interagency planning and coordination of research, This coordination would be accomplished by an interagency committee on- water-resources research. Congress Moves. Meanwhile, the Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs has concluded the first round of hearings on a bill to stimulate water research at colleges and universities. S. 2, sponsored by Sen. Clinton P. Anderson (D.-N.M.) and 19 other Senators, would do these things: authorize grants to land-grant colleges for water research centers; establish a system of grants or contracts with educational institutions, private foundations, private firms or individuals, or local, state, or federal agencies to do research on water problems; make the Interior Department responsible for operating the program. Total cost of the programs authorized by S. 2 is estimated at $50 million over a fiveyear period. At the hearings, Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall strongly backed the bill. In his opinion, it will enlist the scientific and engineering competence of university research on water problems and will augment "the critically inadequate numbers of scientists and engineers trained in the sciences related to water resources." In addition, he says, water research centers at state universities will provide informed professional assistance to state and local officials and others concerned with water problems. The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare also backs the purposes of the bill. However, H E W believes there is no need to make special grants to land-grant colleges if the other provisions of the bill are enacted. And H E W has some doubts about putting Interior in charge of the program. It suggests that the Secretary of the Interior be required to consult with other agencies before setting up rules to operate the program. H E W also sees no need for the Interior Department to act as an intermediary in maintaining cooperation of water research between state research agencies and federal agencies. This function is now handled by bureaus within HEW.
