Book reviews 'THE STRUCTURE AND MANAGEMENT OF THE BRITISH WATER INDUSTRY' Water Practice Manuals, The Institution of Water Engineers and Scientists, London, 1979; price £13 UK and overseas, including surface postage; £16 overseas including air mail postage. The Water Act of 1973 dealt comprehensively with water management in England and Wales and this book describes the new organizational arrangements and their operations. It is the first of a series by the newly formed Institution of Water Engineers and Scientists, which like the Act of 1973, amalgamated previous organizations that dealt separately with water quantity and water quality. The results of the reorganization that followed the 1973 Act are viewed with pride and offered for possible consideration abroad. There is of course, much of value to be learned here as experience enfolds. The environmental movement, in seeking managerial or non-structural alternatives to engineering works, has kindled great interest in organizational arrangement, water laws and regulations. Physical structures of the past are to be replaced to the greatest extent possible by managerial structures. The management of demand is to supplement the management of supply. Minimizing the hazards of drought, the maintenance of water quality and solving the problems of waste treatment and waste disposal were perceived to exceed the capacity of the old institutional arrangements. Before the Act, the number of water supply units (public and private) in England and Wales had decreased gradually from about 2 000 in 1915 to 187 in 1973. On the sewerage side, there were still 1 400 organizational units in 1973, all publicly owned. In relation to the size of England and Wales, these were still considerable numbers and some means of management seemed necessary to achieve economies of scale and of combination. The Water Act of 1973 confronted these problems by giving virtually plenary powers over water management (quantity and quality) in England and Wales to 10 regional water authorities, the boundaries of which in general coincide with hydrographic divides. Each authority combines in its membership national and local representation, with the latter members being in the majority. National (England and Wales, not the United Kingdom) responsibilities are shouldered by the National Water Council composed of the chairmen of the 10 water authorities and 10 others who are appointed by the relevant ministries of the national government, mainly the Department of the Environment. The Act disbanded the former Water Resources Board, (itself barely ten years old) which operated at the national level with respect to planning, water data and water research, and which served to represent England and Wales and often the UK as a focal point for international cooperation. Its major functions devolved upon the regional water authorities. Overview planning as advisory to the Government and the National Water Council was retained in a small planning unit;* likewise a small unit was retained for national data services,...