The opinions, findings, conclusions and data expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Public Land Law Review Commission. This publication constitutes only one of a number of sources of information utilized by the Commission in the conduct of its public land study program. FOREWORD i vii viii ix This manuscript is one of a series prepared for As pointed out elsewhere, these reports represent In establishing the Public Land Law Review Commission in September 1964, Congress declared the following policy: That the public lands of the United States shall be (a) retained and managed or (b) disposed of, all in a manner to provide the maximum benefit for the general public. It also directed that a comprehensive review be made of the public land laws and the related administrative rules and regulations to determine whether and to what extent revisions are necessary to accomplish the stated policy objective. Considerable evidence pointed to the need for such a review. Dating back in some cases to the birth of the nation, our public land laws have developed over a long period of years through a series of Acts of Congress which are not fully correlated with each other. Administration of the public lands and the related laws has been divided among several agencies of the Federal Government. Quite possibly, these laws and the manner in which they are administered may be inconsistent with one another and inadequate to meet the current and future needs of the American people. The Commission was instructed to: 1. Study existing statutes and regulations governing -i 2. Review the policies and practices of the Federal To fulfill these requirements, the staff was charged In fulfillment of a policy of maintaining the smallest Thus, while it is still our purpose to review the complete view of any one aspect of public land law and administration. Each manuscript has been transmitted from the These manuscripts have already served an extremely - Thanquet sferrall Wayne N. Aspinall -ii -iii Transmitted herewith is a Study of the Development, The contractors report was originally submitted to you with our letter of March 22, 1969. After you made copies available to the members of the Commission and the Advisory Council and Governors Representatives, the manuscript was reviewed and comments were received from the Advisory Council and Governors Representatives. In addition, our staff has reviewed the manuscript. The authors were then furnished with all the comments so that inaccuracies could be corrected.1/ However, since this is their report and not that of our commentators, we have not requested the contractors to make any changes based on interpretations or opinions unless they agreed with those interpretations or opinions. Upon receipt of corrections from the contractors, the 1/ The comments referred to are part of the official files of the Commission. When the Commission ceases to exist, these files will be deposited with the National Archives, Washington, D. C. The study was designed to provide the Commission with a review, description, and analysis of the laws, policies, practices, and agency programs related to the development, use, and management of water originating on or flowing across public lands for both Federal and non-Federal uses on the public lands; a collection and analysis of data relating to water yields on the public lands and the present and future use of such water for Federal and non-Federal purposes; and the collection and analysis of data concerning the relationship of major watershed protection and management programs on the public lands to water yields and water quality. The report treats extensively the constitutional powers which may be exercised by Congress to enact laws governing the subject matter of the study. It also describes generally existing state water law systems as background to a discussion and analysis of water law applicable to uses on Federal public lands. This background includes consideration of the adequacy of state laws for such purposes and the legal and policy aspects of the reservation doctrine of Federal water rights which have been implied from various kinds of Federal reservations and withdrawals of public domain land. Against that background, the report examines particular Federal agency programs involving use of water on the public lands and presents a general assessment of the relationship of present and potential water use on the public lands to other uses in light of the available water supply. In accordance with the Commissi on's authority, the study was restricted to inquiries into water policy questions directly related to or generated by public land policies. The report does not treat matters that involve broad national water policy, e.g., the scope and impact of the so-called navigation servitude. Such matters are in the province of the National Water Commission, as indicated in the exchange of correspondence between you and the Chairman of the Senate Interior and Insular Affairs Committee set forth in the appendix to the report. Similarly, the study report's treatment of the programs of the Federal Power Commission, the Bureau of Reclamation and the Corps of Engineers is limited to a general examination -iv -V of the impact of water resource development projects of those agencies on other public land resources and values. Five significant basic policy considerations have emerged in our review of this area of public land law and its administration: Are Federally-authorized water development pro- Of course, there are a considerable number of specific The project officer for the study was Joe W. Ingram, and his associates were Arthur D. Smith and Eugene E. Hughes, all of the Commission staff. Enclosures Sincerely, Juiche Chee Milton A. Pearl Mrs. John Glessner Lee, Farmington, Conn., from its inception until August 1965. Senator Thomas H. Kuchel, California December 1968 - January 1969. Representative Compton I. White, Jr., Idaho, from its inception Representative Rogers C. B. Morton, Maryland February 1965 |