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ABSTRAa: Dramatic changes in Utah's economy caused by urbanization, large scale energy developments, and other influences will significantly reorient water use patterns. Thus, state water management policies and programs which have evolved over many years should be reevaluated. Several factors have influenced Utah water project financing policy. Among these have been: 1) the prominence of agriculture in the settlement of Utah and the century following, 2) dry cyclesand periodic severe droughts, 3) recurring periods of economic depression, and 4) allocation of Colorado River water among the basin states and Mexico. Three revolving funds have been established. The Revolving Construction Fund, created in 1947, provides money for irrigation projects; the Cities Water Loan Fund, created in 1975, provides money to communities for developing culinary systems and improving quality to meet the demands of exploding population growth; and the Water Resources Conservation and Development Fund, created in 1978, provides money for large scale multipurpose water projects costing $1 million or more. The justification for these financing programs seems to be a mixture of rectifying market imperfections and income redistribution. However, trends in the agricultural sector and the multipurpose nature of large scale projects now being funded suggest that earlier justifications may no longer be valid. Rigorous project evaluation procedures, lacking in the past, should be adopted.

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The decade following World War II featured an alarming build-up of complex water problems. Research was viewed as a key weapon in attacking and preventing such problems. It was logical that the legislative and administrative branches of federal government examine the water research base and analyze its potential to resolve, ameliorate, or defuse these impending problems.The Water Resources Research Act of 1964 (PL 88-379) was the culmination of many years of thought and study. Contributing to it were top water experts in federal government and scientists, leg islators, practitioners, and the water-using public in general. The Act was rooted in a growing appreciation of water's critical role in meeting the economic and social goals of Americans: How water was managed (or mismanaged) could set limits to options and po tentials in a broad environmental and social context.Contributing to the water resources research program of PL 88-379 were the intensive analyses of water problems by the 1958 Sen ate Select Com.; studies and hearings by other congressional com mittees; and the evaluations made by the Federal Council of Science and Technology.In all of the deliberations and discussions preceeding enactment, the focus was on overcoming or avoiding potential water prob lems. Research's role was considered in the context of identifying possible legislative changes to establish the coordinated frame work, focus, and level of investment necessary to make and keep research programs responsive and cost-effective. In-house and extramural federal water-research programs were reviewed. Coordination and balance between research programs of different federal agencies as well as between federal and nonfederal research programs were studied. Links between research and manpower training; between water and other natural resources: and between the institutional hierarchies of local, regional, and national water's planning, development, and management entities and their associ ated operating policies were considered. These were done in the context of relating, coordinating, and marshalling the needed re search capability to increase support for the public programs and goals.PL 88-379 evolved from a national interest and was largely the brainchild of water experts in both the legislative and administra tive branches of federal government. Its legislative history attests to this. Significant Features and OutgrowthsThe university's atmosphere of free inquiry provides an impor tant measure of objectivity in water-resources research. This "honest-broker" role is probably one of the most valuable pro ducts of the PL 88-379 program.The OWRT program constitutes only about 7 per cent of the to tal federal water research budget, but it has had major effect on policies, perspectives, and programs of federal and state agencies. The fundamental reasons for making the university a modest but pivotal component of the national water-research complex are as pertinent today as more than a decade ago.The national net work of state centers has spawned a ...