Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
http://about.jstor.org/terms
American Society for Public Administration, Wiley are collaborating with JSTOR to
digitize, preserve and extend access to Public Administration Review
This content downloaded from 202.43.93.14 on Wed, 11 Jul 2018 09:09:28 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
444 PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW
cuse for these deficiencies; we suggest also tention to provide the necessary skills. Hy-
that, in management terms, there is not all drologists, geologists, biologists, hydrologic and
that much difference between East and West, civil engineers, economists, political scientists,
or between managing for water quality and and professional managers are all involved.
managing for other purposes. Awareness that these disciplines see the prob-
The "pieces" prepared by our several lems in different ways is one of the keys to
authors will speak for themselves; we believe understanding the realities of water policy de-
that taken together they provide a useful ifcision making and implementation.
by no means all-encompassing introduction to A second key is recognition that water
some water management problems. We are par- management is not merely, or even most im-
ticularly happy that several of them reflectportantly, a technical problem. Technologies
the views and experience of practitioners, certainly play a central role and for this rea-
faced every working day with the issues they son this field of administration has been per-
discuss. ceived by some as the province of technocrats.
Two final generalizations seem appropriate. But it is clear, and we think this is evident in
First, it is evident that water management is the articles that follow, that the most basic
inherently to an unusual degree multi- issues and problems are questions of value dif-
disciplinary. Just as no one agency manages ferences and politics.
the nation's water, no one discipline is broad Paul L. Beckett
enough in its range of knowledge and at- Berton L. Lamb
WATER,
WATER,POLITICS,
POLITICS,AND
AND
IDEOLOGY:
IDEOLOGY:
AN OVERVIEW OF WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1977
This content downloaded from 202.43.93.14 on Wed, 11 Jul 2018 09:09:28 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT 445
ver across the Continental Divide requires thearate in many cases from those related to
most water), joins with the Green River surfacein water. Public ownership of surface
Utah (which itself arises in Wyoming), moves waters has long been established. In several
south and west through Arizona, and tantalizesstates, groundwater still is treated as private
California on its way to Mexico. The river property, although the trend is toward state
system also encompasses portions of Nevada administration and allocation. While regional
and New Mexico. and interstate water aquifers are now known,
In almost any river system, this pattern ofinstitutional responses historically have been
shared jurisdiction obtains. Organizational re-
expressed at the local level.
sponses include legal doctrines establishing use Water has historically been used as a gar-
priorities, interstate compacts and treaties for
bage pit. Waste materials can be diluted and
apportionment and joint management, inter- purified by aquatic ecosystems. However, there
agency committees for planning and coordina- is a point beyond which the quantity of
tion, and water quality regulations to protectwaste materials introduced exceeds the natural
downstream users. purification processes.
Water flow is not a constant. Terms like The quantity and quality aspects of water
"average flow" and "normal year" have clearly
his- are interrelated. Yet institutional re-
torical meaning but limited usefulness in pre- sponses have evolved separately. Water quality
dicting a particular year's flow. The manage- responses have been the more recent, bringing
ment problem is uncertainty, which can be in both the traditional public health agencies
reduced by reliance on the past. Average flows with peripheral involvement in water resources
are the result of floods, dry years, and daily, and the newer regulatory agencies such as the
seasonal, and annual fluctuations. However, to
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and
be useful, water must be available at the right its state counterparts.
time and place. As a result of uncertainties
caused by cyclical flows, measurement inade- Attributes of the Political System
quacies, and monitoring deficiencies, institu-
tional responses have included legal methods In authoritatively allocating values (water)
to establish priorities of use, creation of agen- in a society, water managers deal with a re-
cies oriented to construction of storage and source valued to some extent, but not equally,
distribution facilities, and, more recently, the by every member of the society. As a result,
establishment of data banks. water management represents a public policy
Another kind of uncertainty is introducedarena with very high public interest. In an era
by the existence of groundwater (the hydrolo-of increasing water scarcity, allocation of
gist distinguishes groundwater, which exists water becomes very challenging indeed.
underground, from surface water which exists Many state, federal, and local agencies share
in streams and lakes). The enormous quanitiesresponsibility for the distribution and alloca-
of groundwater throughout the country exist tion of water resources to a wide variety of
at various levels and in various substrata. Such users. Typically, they do not coordinate these
water may move rapidly as underground efforts effectively among themselves. Each of
streams or it may be trapped in rock storage the numerous agencies exercises control over
basins which prevent movement. It may be the water resources within its own sphere of
recharged from rainfall and surface runoff or influence and vigorously protects its preroga-
it may be limited to the quantity trapped by tives within that sphere. Even where there
earlier geologic events. Groundwater presents have been attempts to coordinate the activities
the water manager with much greater uncer- of related water management agencies (as, for
tainty than surface water because it must be example, through committees and river basin
measured by costly and inefficient drilling and commissions), the dominant agencies have been
monitoring of a series of wells. Questions of able to insure their relative autonomy.
movement and recharge require still more re- This situation is the product of rational
fined techniques. behavior from the perspective of the individual
A set of institutional responses has arisen agencies, even though the situation itself ap-
from the characteristics of groundwater, sep- pears irrational. Major revision of the system
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1977
This content downloaded from 202.43.93.14 on Wed, 11 Jul 2018 09:09:28 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
446 PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1977
This content downloaded from 202.43.93.14 on Wed, 11 Jul 2018 09:09:28 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT 447
many of the decision processes into an inter- utility districts (e.g., REAs) or private power
agency arena. As a result of intra-agency companies. Public power arguments were asso-
agreement and interagency conflict in this sit- ciated with the Democratic Party as a result
uation, many professionals become frustrated of New Deal programs including the Tennessee
by what they perceive as failure in the inter- Valley Authority and the Bonneville Power
agency decision arena to implement policies Administration, both of which were required
which have wide support within their agency. by law to give preference to public power
Ideological beliefs also are prevalent among distribution systems. The policy issue was not
water resource managers and form another whether massive hydroelectric power develop-
basis for determining "correct policies." People ment should take place, for both sides agreed
come to believe that water ought to be used that it should, but who should market the
in certain ways, depending on their back- power produced.
ground. The dichotomous ideologies which
have most substantially influenced water man- The Environmental Movement
agement include state rights/federal control;
private power/public power; and preservation/ The environmental movement has recently
development. These ideologies have worked to greatly heightened public interest in the preser-
make cooperation, trade-offs, and compromise vation of naturally flowing streams for fish
difficult. and wildlife, recreation, and esthetic purposes.
Some western states (Washington, Oregon,
States' Rights versus Federal Control Montana, and Colorado) have recently passed
The states' rights ideology has increased in legislation legally recognizing for the first time
intensity over the past few years. States' rights that such nonconsumptive, instream uses of
arguments have as one base the massive ac- water are beneficial. Such change is a direct
cumulations of economically viable water rights challenge to the traditional users whose ap-
by individuals under state water appropriation propriations required diversion of water from
doctrines; more recently they have also been the natural stream. This controversy is coming
reactions to threat of federal government usur- in the eastern states with increased pressure
for water use.
pation of state control. The states are more
organized in this ideological struggle than their The ideological bases for it are currently
federal equivalents, through such organizations emerging, and their full impact has yet to be
as the Western States Water Council. felt. Of vital importance for water resources
In policy terms, it is likely that a shift in managers is the fact that this controversy rep-
the water allocation arena from states to the resents a head-on collision between those who
federal government would significantly alter value non-consumptive "uses" of water, and those
who believe that "unused" waters are wasted.
the mix of benefits to water users. A general
atmosphere of distrust, suspicion, and often
antagonism between state and federal water Summary
resource managers decreases the possibilities of
cooperation, and heightens conflict. It shouldThe physical attributes of water create sub-
be noted that state antagonism toward federalstantial uncertainties for the decision maker
agencies is selective, because some traditional
that are only partially reduced by techno-
development alliances transcend levels of logical advances. The highly diverse political
government. and legal system for managing water resources
Private versus Public Power creates uncertainties which defy comprehensive
management. The managers themselves bring to
Historically, private versus public power the decision-making arena preconceived notions
conflict has had great impact on water of public interest based on professional train-
resources management. Beginning in the late ing, agency traditions, and ideological value
19th century and reaching its peak at the frameworks. All these factors work against
national policy level in the 1950s, the focus attempts at meaningful coordination and co-
of this ideological struggle was whether hydro- operative decision making. This is an adminis-
electric power should be marketed by public trative world set apart from most.
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1977
This content downloaded from 202.43.93.14 on Wed, 11 Jul 2018 09:09:28 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
448 PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW
Notes
1. Daniel A. Mazmanian, "Participatory Democracy in 2. Helen Ingram, "The Politics of Information: The
a Federal Agency," in John C. Pierce and Harvey Social Well-Being Objective," in Wade H. Andrews,
Doerksen (eds.), Water Politics and Public Involve- et al., The Social Well-Being and Quality of Life
ment (Ann Arbor, Mich.: Ann Arbor Science Pub- Dimension in Water Resources Planning and Develop-
lishers, 1976), pp. 219-222. ment (Logan: Utah State University, 1973), p. 55.
FEDERAL
FEDERAL WATER
WATERRESOURCES
RESOURCES
MANAGEMENT:
MANAGEMENT:
THE ADMINISTRATIVE SETTING
The
Theadministrative
administrativesetting
setting
of federal
of federal
water water as correct, the characteristics of
accepted
resources
resources management
management reflects
reflects
the pattern
the ofpattern
waterofas an issue become all important be-
politics
politics inin
thethe
larger
larger
arenaarena
of water
of policy.
water policy.
cause they set limits upon administrative
Traditionally,
Traditionally, the the
fragmented
fragmented
structure
structure
of ad- of ad- and behavior. How public and politi-
structure
ministrative
ministrative agencies
agencies
pursuing
pursuing
separate,
separate, cal actors perceive the stakes they have in
individ- individ-
ualized
ualizedgoals
goals
has has
beenbeen
appropriate
appropriate
to the dis-
to the dis-
governmental allocation of water resources
tributive
tributive policy
policy
arena
arena
existing
existing
in water.
inOur
water. Our various uses predetermines the sort of
among
first aim in this article is to describe the political arena which exists.
long-standing administrative structure and
policy arena of water resources. Second, we Water as an Unlimited Birthright
examine the forces for change in adminis- Water has historically been perceived as dif-
trative arrangements, particularly the mandate ferent from other resources like oil or timber
of the Environmental Protection Agency. or copper which are recognized as finite and
Finally, we assess the current administrative the costs of which are accepted as a function
setting and long-range opportunities for further of supply and demand.2 Water is so important
modification of the policy arena in the future. to so many activities that people are reluctant
to conceive of a world in which it might not
The Traditional Arena
be cheap and plentiful. Further, water has
long been associated in the American mind
The key to unlocking the long-standing with economic development. Governmental in-
policy-making process in water resources, in- vestment in water has historically been an ac-
cluding the structure and relationships of ad- cepted strategy to generate growth. A water
ministrative agencies, is the way in which project can turn a flood plain into a shopping
water is perceived. Examining the anticipated center, a desert into an oasis, and a roaring
benefits and costs of policy first, as inde- torrent into electric power.
pendent variables which determine the pattern The anticipated benefits from governmental
of political action, is the important theoretical
Helen Ingram is a staff member of Resources for the
contribution of Theodore Lowi.1 Lowi suggests
Future, on leave from the directorship of the Insti-
that we turn upside down the usual models tute of Government Research, University of Arizona.
for studying policy making which treat the She has published extensively, with particular empha-
character of policy last, as the resulting out- sis on public policy, natural resources, and the en-
vironment.
put of a process. Policy should be considered
first, as an independent variable which determ- J.R. McCain is a research associate with the Institute
ines the patterns of political action. If Lowi is of Government Research, University of Arizona, and
doctoral candidate in political science. His main areas
The authors are grateful to Dean Mann and Scott Ullery of interest include public policy, natural resources,
for their helpful comments. and American Indians.
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1977
This content downloaded from 202.43.93.14 on Wed, 11 Jul 2018 09:09:28 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms