Dear Governor Harrison:

I am pleased to hand you the Report of your Special Committee on Water Resources. I take the liberty of offering, for your convenience, the following summary of findings and recommendations:

Findings

1. Existing State legislation and governmental organization is inadequate to permit the State to act effectively and efficiently on rapidly growing problems of water resources, including both water quantity and quality. This means that the State cannot:

a. Develop its own water resource plans and programs.

b. Attend to its own interests in relation to Federal Government water resource plans and programs.

c. Provide reliable, comprehensive leadership and coordination for the benefit of its subdivisions and private interests, particularly in the iriuch needed area of comprehensive river basin planning.

These deficiencies, unless corrected, are bound to produce at least two serious results.

a. The State will have increasingly serious water problems which will have increasingly crippling effects on the Commonwealth.

b. The agencies of the Federal Government will tend to take over the responsibility not assumed by the State.

2. There is a need for action now. There is no need for further study on the obvious and essential first step. Studies in our own State and experience in other states show plainly that the State must begin by assembling its scattered water resource planning functions into a single unit, properly staffed and financed.

Questions of financing and operating major river basin developments cannot be discussed intelligently or productively until the State has:

a. Created th1:i appropriate governmental unit to develop fundamental policy and plans and to lead and coordinate.

b. Undertaken its own analysis of water supplies and demands.

Recommendations

1. The Department of Conservation and Economic Development should be given the clear legislative directive and responsibility to:

a. Formulate continually an overall State water resources policy.

b. Make plans to encourage water and related land projects and uses for the optimum use of the State's water resources, including comprehensive river basin plans.

c. Provide expert advice on water resources to the other agencies and political subdivisions of the State and others.

d. Resolve any conflicts as to water resource policies among the various State agencies.

e. Represent the State in its relations with other States and the Federal Government in matters directly related to the conservation or use of the State's water resources.

f.  Make annual reports to the Governor and General Assembly on the status of the State's water resources, together with recommendations for any legislation that it may deem necessary or desirable.

2. To accomplish these objectives the following steps should be taken:

a. The enlargement of the Board from nine to twelve members.

The three new positions would be occupied by persons particularly competent in areas of water resource planning.

b. The substantial strengthening and enlargement of the staff of the Division of Water Resources. (The Report includes a memorandum on staff and costs.)

c. Abolition of the existing Committee on Water Resources within the Department.

Appendix G of the Report is a bill to accomplish these recommendations. Appendix H is a memorandum on staff and costs. This will require an additional appropriation of approximately $500,000 a year to the Division of Water Resources. Costs of individual river basin studies must be added to this base cost.

Throughout our study we have advised the heads of State water-related agencies of our work and have sought their advice. We also had the benefit of the advice of the Committee on Water Resources under the chairmanship of Mr. Martin Johnson.

We trust this Report will be useful.

Sincerely yours,

FitzGerald Bemiss, Chairman
Matthew G. Anderson
George M. Cochran
John H. Daniel
Walther B. Fidler