COMPREHENSIVE WATER POLLUTION
CONTROL PLANNING
Proceedings of the Thirteenth Pacific Northwest
Symposium on Water Pollution Research
APRIL 14, 1965
U.S. DEPARTMENTOF HEALTH,EDUCATION,AND WELFARE
Public Health Service
Bureau of State Services
on of Water Supply and Pollution Control
PACIFIC NORTHWEST WATER LABORATORY
CORVALLIS, OREGON
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OOOR65102
COMPREHENSIVE WATER POLLUTION
CONTROL PLANNING
Proceedings of the Thirteenth Pacific Northwest
Symposium on Water Pollution Research
April 14, 1965
U. S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE
Public Health Service
Bureau of State Services
Division of Water Supply and Pollution Control
Pacific Northwest Water Laboratory
Corvallis, Oregon
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FOREWORD
This symposium on Comprehensive Water Pollution Control Planning
is the thirteenth such meeting arranged as a part of the water pollu-
tion control activities of the Public Health Service, U. S. Department
of Health, Education, and Welfare, in the Pacific Northwest. The
series of meetings was initiated in 1957 through the vision and efforts
of the late Edward F. Eldridge, Public Health Service Technical and
Research Consultant, at Portland.
These symposia will be continued now as a program element of the
Pacific Northwest Water Laboratory. We are confident this approach to
examining water problems, the tools available to solve them, and the
research needs now apparent will continue to be fruitful.
CURTISS M. EVERTS, Director
Pacific Northwest Water Laboratory
iii
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CONTENTS
Welcome — M. Popovich 1
Introduction -- C. M. Everts 3
Comprehensive Water Pollution Control
Planning — K. S. Krause 7
Columbia River Basin Comprehensive
Water Pollution Control Project — W. W. Towne 13
Use and Role of Water Pollution Control Plan
by Other Federal Agencies — R. L. McNeil 21
The State's Role and Use of Pollution
Control Plan -- F. Merryfield 33
Why Should a Municipality be Interested in a
Comprehensive River Basin Plan for Water
Pollution Control — R. W. Morse 41
Industry's Role and Participation in Water
Pollution Control Planning — W. A. Mercer 45
Symposium Summary - Research Needs to Improve
Water Pollution Control Planning — G. W. Gleeson 59
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WELCOME
M. Popovich
Dean of Administration
Oregon State University
Corvallis, Oregon
It is a pleasure and a privilege to welcome conferees of the
Comprehensive Water Pollution Control Planning Symposium to the
campus of Oregon State University.
I believe most of you know that staff members of Oregon State
University pioneered water pollution studies in this part of the
country more than 30 years ago. The early publications of the Engi-
neering Experiment Station were dominated by reports of these studies.
I think it is especially appropriate that two speakers on the program,
Professor Fred Merryfield and Dean George Gleeson, are two of the
pioneers who worked together surveying the Willamette River. Some of
you will recall that these gentlemen documented the deplorable condi-
tion of the Willamette and have been very instrumental in a long and
continuing effort to restore it to some semblance of a purified
stream.
In more recent years, the Public Health Service has been a strong
and welcome force in helping the State solve its worst pollution prob-
lems, but I don't have to tell you that there is still a long way to
go. These symposia, and others like them that have been held here,
have served very well to keep the major problems in focus. One con-
clusion has been most evident during the water pollution control
studies that have been made during these past 30 years, and that is,
additional problems arise about as rapidly as old ones are solved—
maybe even a little more rapidly.
Water resources have been a major concern of this institution of
Oregon State University for a long time, and we were absolutely elated
to have the Public Health Service decide to build the Pacific North-
west Water Laboratory on our campus. We now have confidence that the
concentration of technical talent here in Corvallis will begin to
solve the pollution problems more rapidly than the new ones come along.
We look forward to the material strengthening of our long-standing
cooperative effort under the leadership of Cy Everts and his excellent
staff. I am certain this, the thirteenth symposium, will be informa-
tive and as profitable as the twelve that have preceded it.
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INTRODUCTION
Curtiss M. Everts, Director
Pacific Northwest Water Laboratory
Division of Water Supply and Pollution Control
Public Health Service
U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
Corvallis, Oregon
I would like to extend to each of you a very cordial welcome to
this 13th Symposium on "Comprehensive Water Pollution Control
Planning."
At each of the symposia in this series it has been customary for
someone to set the stage for the presentations and the discussions to
follow. In the past this task was always skillfully performed by the
late Edward F. Eldridge, who was our Technical and Research Consultant
in Portland for many years. It was through his initiative and fore-
sight that men and women of science, industry, and government have
been able to join in an exploration of water pollution control research
problems during these past eight years. We shall always be indebted
to him for his part in this knowledge-sharing experience. During
these intervening years, the water problems examined have covered a
wide range, involving marine and freshwater environments, toxicity
problems, slime growths, heat pollution, radioactive wastes, and
others. Certainly, notable research in these many areas has been
stimulated as a result.
Beginning with the twelfth symposium on Water Temperature -
Influences, Effects, and Control, held November^?, 1963, sponsoring
these symposia has been adopted as a continuing program by the Pacific
Northwest Water Laboratory. We are confident this partnership in
examining water problems, the tools available to solve them, and the
research needs now apparent will continue to be fruitful.
I sincerely hope that we can carry on the work that he so ably
started and do so in a fashion that would have gained his nod of
approval.
Water is such an important part of this nation's life that no
one can afford to ignore the problems associated with its utilization,
conservation, or management. The sportsman, the pleasure boat owner,
the commercial fisherman, the manufacturer, the farmer, the housewife,
and the elected official are keenly aware of the benefits that accrue
from an abundant supply of clean water. They are also well aware of
the fact that water suitable enough for their individual uses is not
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COMPREHENSIVE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL PLANNING
always readily available. This is a situation that can be attributed
to a number of factors, chief among which are the fixed amount of
water available, the increase in water consumption and a deterioration
in water quality brought about by population, industry, and land use
practices.
If we are to successfully solve this problem, we must do a much
better job of planning for water management in the future. Our col-
lective objective must be to deliver an adequate supply of water of
acceptable quality at the place and at the time it is needed.
The preparation of such a plan is not an easy assignment. The
complexities that arise through misunderstanding of needs, conflicts
of interest over the quantity and quality of water for specific pur-
poses, and in many instances the absence of technical knowledge are
constant impediments to progress and accomplishment. These we must
have the knowledge and patience to overcome.
There are several fundamental factors worthy of mention which
affect the planning process for water resources in major river basins.
First, it is unlikely that an acceptable plan will evolve from a num-
ber of unrelated programs that have been developed on a local or sub-
regional basis. Second, in the preparation of a plan the frank and
serious cooperation of each agency in its development is essential if
the recommendations for water resource and water quality management
are to be compatible. Third, there must be a reasonably good under-
standing of the objectives of the plan by all elements of government,
by those whom the plan affects, and by those who will finance its
undertaking. Fourth, the plan is of no value unless its authors and
advocates have a firm desire to place it in operation and carry out
recommendations they have collectively reached.
While comprehensive water pollution control planning is only one
element involved in water resource management, it is an important one.
Without water pollution control, the quality of water, which shares an
equally important place with quantity, will be deficient to supply the
demand, particularly in some regions where water must be used several
times.
Today, this symposium brings together a team of men who have a
broad knowledge in the area of water supply and pollution control
planning. They represent a diversity of viewpoints and are well quali-
fied to develop the subject and to comment on the implication that
such planning may have on their particular area of interest. I sin-
cerely hope that each of you will participate fully in the discussions.
If there are areas that are in need of further research, investigation
or data collection, I hope that they will be brought out in the open
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Introduction
today for all to examine. For it is only by a sincere discussion of
these problems, what is being done about them, and what remains to be
done that our efforts will be productive and our objectives be
achieved.
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COMPREHENSIVE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL PLANNING
Keith S. Krause, Chief
Technical Services Branch
Division of Water Supply and Pollution Control
Public Health Service
U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
Washington, D. C.
The past 50 years have witnessed a very dramatic growth in our
population, in the number of cities, in the number and varieties of
industries, and in water uses and volume. In 1900 the population of
this country was about 75 million. Of this number, 39% lived in
urban areas and used approximately 35 gallons per capita per day.
Today about 70% of our 192 million people are urban dwellers and urban
water use averages 150 gallons per person per day.
In 1900 there were about 950 communities in the United States
with sewer systems. These served approximately 25 million persons.
Today there are roughly 12,000 communities having sewer systems. The
increase in number of industries has been even more phenomenal. This
growth has inevitably placed the outfall of the sewer system closer
and closer to the water intake of the industry or municipality, and
the volume of water used and returned to the stream has been multiplied
many times.
By the year 2000 our population may have reached nearly twice
what it was even at the last census. Faced with this probability, it
behooves us to examine our water policies and programs very carefully.
At this point in time it is very clear that if we do not move
rapidly toward greatly increased attention to water quality control,
the results may be that of curtailing our economic progress. A number
of crises have developed during the past 10 years which warn us that
we are definitely in a critical period and that we no longer can afford
to proceed with pollution abatement without a carefully thought-out
plan and program. We know that such a guide must be comprehensive,
that its objective must be the production of water in quality and
quantity which will not limit economic and social development. In
other words, it must be good enough in quality and quantity to sustain
continued present uses and attract new ones permitting economic expan-
sion and providing for adequate public health protection at one and the
s ame t ime.
We believe that the tools and the capabilities for developing
such a blueprint or guide are now available and that such programs are
possible.
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COMPREHENSIVE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL PLANNING
Effective water quality management can only be a river basin or
watershed activity. We do not believe that a successful plan can
evolve from any group of disconnected individual or subregional pro-
grams be they city, industry, or State. Quantity and quality of water
are inseparable and if properly managed both are controllable factors
which will permit the multiplication of uses indefinitely. We believe
that quality control can be exerted most efficiently by removing as
much of the pollutant as is practical as near the source as possible.
We are also aware of the technical limitations which prevent us
from removing pollution from water. We are aware that treatment and
removal capabilities at the present time are simply not good enough to
provide the kind of water quality needed by the many kinds of users
existing today, much less the potential future needs. We must, there-
fore, seek additional measures to supplement waste treatment or removal
which will give us a degree of added protection when and where it is
needed. Stream regulation is a practical measure which can be applied
as a secondary line of defense against the inroads of pollution from
treated residual wastes and those wastes not susceptible to treatment
or removal.
The achievement of a water quality management program will permit
most,if not all, uses of water to be sustained. Such management must be
and now is part and parcel of the total water resource development pro-
gram. It is compatible with National policy to develop the Nation's
waterways for recreation, navigation, power, flood control, irrigation,
municipal and industrial water supply, and fisheries.
In organizing for the preparation of the Public Health Service's
comprehensive water quality management programs, we have, for the sake
of economy and accountability, in terms of both work ciccomplishment
and fiscal matters, adopted project-type organization. For each basin
we are establishing a special group whose sole mission will be to under-
take the necessary investigations described. We have divided the Nation
into 20 major basins or areas which correspond closely with areas de-
picted on the U. S. Geological Survey water resources development map.
Each area will have a project team consisting of a project direc-
tor together with an administrative staff capable of a high degree of
self-sustenance in budgeting, purchasing, and personnel matters, a
laboratory section, an engineering section, a data-processing storage
and evaluation section, and a planning and reports section. Each pro-
ject is attached to the appropriate one of our regional offices located
in Boston; New York City; Charlottesville, Virginia; Atlanta; Chicago;
Dallas; Denver; San Francisco; and Portland, Oregon. Top-level con-
sultation on technical problems is provided from our Cincinnati Robert
A. Taft Sanitary Engineering Center staff and general supervision,
budget, and policy guidance are provided through the Technical Services
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Comprehensive WPG Planning
Branch of the Public Health Service's Division of Water Supply and
Pollution Control in Washington, D. C. The Technical Services Branch
is also directly responsible for the review and final approval of
reports and plans emanating from the projects.
At the present time, projects are under way in the Arkansas-Red
Basins, the Columbia River Basin, the Great Lakes-Illinois River
Basins, the Delaware River Estuary, the Susquehanna-Chesapeake Bay,
the Ohio River Basin, the Southeastern River Basins, and the Hudson-
Champlain and Metropolitan Coastal area. Approximately 400 people are
engaged in these operations, supported by a $7.0 million appropriation
for FY 1965. Project personnel have diverse professional competencies
and include chemists, biologists, bacteriologists, engineers, data
analysts, computer programmers, planners, economists, demographers,
physicists and others.
The comprehensive plan is the result of a number of fundamental
steps. Our approach may be pictured as the convergence of two vectors.
Vector "a" includes the investigations leading to a summary of informa-
tion concerning the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics
of the streams, lakes, and subsurface aquifers which have an effective
role in a natural watershed.
We term this summarization a resume of waterways dynamics. It is
a compilation of the waterway idiosyncracies which give that body per-
sonality, including a description of its behavior; for example, its
volume in terms of frequency distribution, its response to pollution
stimuli, its velocity of flow, its natural chemistry, its biology, and
microbiology. It includes the amounts of water withdrawn, and the
characteristics and amounts of used water returned. It includes all
portions of the basin system receiving pollutants or likely to receive
pollutants. This information can be expressed by a series of numer-
ical values, ranges, statistical frequencies, probabilities, and loca-
tions. These values are representative of observations made in great
varieties of frequency and location, gathered over a long enough period
to make them statistically valid and broad enough in coverage to assure
that no major environmental influences are left out. This is one of
the fundamental aspects of the planning phase.
The second major vector is the summarization of the source eco-
nomic and physical elements which can be recognized as having an influ-
ence on the future development of the area served by the waterway.
This summary includes the economic resources, financial and other
growth characteristics and opportunities. This summary is again repre-
sented by a series of values, rates, frequencies, probabilities, and
locations which give dimension to this vector which we call the fore-
cast dimension. It must include many assumptions such as the expected
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COMPREHENSIVE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL PLANNING
and planned rates of expansion by area utilities such as gas, electric,
water, and telephone; and forecasts by the financial interests, the
banks, the Federal Reserve System, business and industry, forecasting
interests, industrial management and urban planning experts.
These two elements form the basis» then, for preparing for the
comprehensive water quality management plan. Another most important
element must be brought into the picture at this point. What are the
water quality goals to be achieved? An answer must be provided in
terms of specific values and qualified as to time, place, and purpose.
The Public Health Service, realizing that such goals are not uniform
and may vary widely from river to river, is attempting to rationalize
these goals by seeking user group opinions on the kind of water which
should be supplied at given places in the stream system.
User groups are brought together first as separate committees. We
assist these groups first by defining their job and in providing them
information as to the effects of various kinds of pollutants on present
and prospective water use. It appears to be working satisfactorily.
Out of the thousands of possible use-quality parameters the groups may
select certain indicators around which the plan can be developed. Once
the water quality goals have been established, it is the planner's
responsibility to use the water dynamics and the forecast information
in setting up and simulating a system which would provide the water
quality desired, using source control and such additional control as
may be available in streamflow. He must then decide which of several
possible alternatives would give the greatest efficiency and economy.
This you will recognize as amenable to systems analysis techniques.
These techniques will be employed extensively in our projects. We
intend to carry the planning far enough to illustrate the quality of
water which can be discharged, where sewer outfalls should be located
to minimize pollution effects on downstream water uses, and what stream-
flow regulations will be required.
The project reports will contain: (1) estimates of quantity,
location, and time that water uses will incur; (2) estimates of quan-
tity, quality, location, and time of waste water returns to the streams}
(3) summary of waste removal and treatment required in a time sequence
to meet the water quality needs for water uses; (4) a summary of water
quality goals for the enumerated water uses in terms of values and
ranges for specific locations; (5) flow regulation required to supple-
ment waste treatment and removal facilities, estimated by volume and
location and in terms of chronological developmentj (6) a mathematical
simulation of factors relating to water use, waste water hydrology,
chemical and biological responses in the stream; (7) maps, charts,
tables, and graphs depicting the orderly development of countermeasures
needed to establish a predetermined quality of water at a given location
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Comprehenslye WPG Planning
on or after a certain date insofar as that date is associated with a
given population, industrial expansion, and other social and economic
factors. The reports will go to Congress for such further considera-
tion as may be called for. A major consideration in the development
of a water quality management program must be the ways in which it can
be implemented and operated. The sophistication of such a program
requires definite and strong commitments from the participating parties
to make it "work." It is patently clear that there can be no program
for comprehensive water pollution control unless responsible parties
are given the job of following through and making it work. A manage-
ment group need not be a new creation, but it must be representative
of the Federal, State, and local interests concerned with water pollu-
tion in a specific basin. The make-up of such groups will probably
vary from one river basin to another. A management federation might
derive its power to act from a highly formal arrangement between State
and Federal governments as exemplified by the Delaware Basin Commis-
sion. On the other hand, it might act on the basis of the legal
authorities residing in local, State, and Federal agencies bound to-
gether by agreements and commitments. In developing comprehensive
water pollution control programs, one of the major efforts is to work
out the arrangements and determine how the program will be implemented
and operated.
Given time, patience and understanding, I believe we can move for-
ward with water quality management in a planned manner so that crises
which appear imminent will not occur.
Planning for the preservation and protection of the Nation's
water resources is a must if we are to develop them in an economical,
efficient fashion and avoid costly crash programs, conflicts between
water use interests, and above all, provide enough good quality water
to ensure continued good health and economic opportunities.
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COLUMBIA RIVER BASIN
COMPREHENSIVE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL PROJECT
W. W. Towne, Director
Columbia River Basin Comprehensive Project
for Water Supply and Pollution Control
Public Health Service
U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
Portland, Oregon
I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you to discuss some
problems which I feel are so vital to the economy of this region and
the welfare of its people. I would like to thank Mr. Everts and his
staff for developing a symposium devoted to comprehensive planning for
water pollution control.
Mr. Krause has discussed the development of comprehensive water
pollution control programs at the national level and has indicated
that one of the several studies now under way is here in the Pacific
Northwest. He has described the basic elements of these programs and
the importance of water quality control in the development of the
water and related land resources of the Nation.
In the next few minutes I will attempt to describe briefly some
of the more important water quality problems, present and future, here
in the Pacific Northwest, together with some of the factors to be con-
sidered in developing the water resources to achieve the greatest good
for the greatest number for the longest time, a conservation goal
expounded by President Theodore Roosevelt more than sixty years ago.
Water, as found in nature, always contains impurities. Unfortu-
nately, both the type and concentration of these impurities increase
as man puts water to his beneficial uses. Any such impurity is a
pollutant when it becomes objectionable or interferes with other
essential uses of water. These pollutants may be physical, biolog-
ical, or chemical; and they may come from man-made or natural sources.
In this context, therefore, water pollution control and water quality
control are synonymous terms.
Fortunately, in contrast with many other parts of the Nation, the
waters of the Pacific Northwest have not yet been seriously degraded
except in a relatively few instances. Because of this fact, the
people of this region still have it within their power to chart a
course in resource development that will minimize the conflicts in
achieving this goal. Once pollution has occurred, it is difficult--
and frequently economically impossible—to restore water quality to
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COMPREHENSIVE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL PLANNING
that level that could have been maintained by the application of appro-
priate and feasible preventive measures.
One of our primary tasks, therefore, is to devise a plan of pre-
ventive action to protect the present high water quality which is so
vital to the economic development of the region. This has resulted in
a planning approach which sets water quality objectives as high as
possible. To do less would only be an invitation to downgrade exist-
ing water quality. This does not imply a policy of clean water and no
jobs but, rather, a policy of more jobs with clean water.
Section 2 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act directs the
Secretary of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare to
develop comprehensive programs for eliminating or reducing pollution
of interstate waters and tributaries thereof; for improving and con-
serving such waters for public water supply, propagation of fish and
aquatic life; and for industrial and other legitimate uses. These
programs are to be developed in cooperation with other Federal agen-
cies, state water pollution control agencies, interstate agencies, and
municipalities and industries involved.
The question is often asked, "What is a comprehensive pollution
control plan?" Briefly, this may be defined as follows:
A comprehensive water pollution control program is a systematic
plan and implementation of means and measures of controlling water
pollution and preventing pollutants from interfering with the legiti-
mate water uses throughout a river basin. Comprehensive water pollu-
tion control programs must include, for each river basin: (1) popula-
tion and industrial expansion forecasts, (2) hydrologic data and inter-
pretive material, (3) accurate determination of stream and lake phys-
ical and biological characteristics, (4) trends in volumes of water
used and returned to waterways as waste over the period of planning
(50 years), (5) projection of treatment and waste removal needs for
the planning period, (6) computation of streamflow requirements to
reduce concentrations of pollutants which cannot be removed or treated
adequately at the source, and (7) estimates of timing and costs of
implementing the control and prevention planned. A fully developed
program will provide guidelines for Federal, state and local regula-
tory and construction agencies to follow for meeting preset goals of
water quality which will permit all legitimate uses.
Section 2(b) of the Act requires that consideration be given to
the inclusion of storage for the regulation of streamflow for the
purpose of water quality control in the reservoirs being constructed
by the Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation, and other
Federal agencies. The Act directs the Secretary of the Department of
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Columbia River Basin Comprehensive WPG Project
Health, Education, and Welfare to advise these agencies on the need
for and value of storage for this purpose. This provision makes
water quality control a full partner in river basin planning and
development.
It should be pointed out that Congress has stipulated that stor-
age in Federal reservoirs will not be provided as a substitute for
adequate treatment or other methods of controlling wastes at the
source. Consequently, the determination must be made as to what con-
stitutes "adequate" treatment. For domestic sewage and those wastes
which can be treated by the so-called conventional treatment processes
involving biological oxidation, an average reduction of 85% of the
organic matter contained in the raw wastes is considered to constitute
adequate treatment. For many industrial pollutants, however, we still
have not developed effective and economical means of control. There-
fore, to define "adequate treatment" it is necessary to evaluate each
type of industry to determine what degree of waste reduction can
reasonably be accomplished within the limits of our technical know-
ledge. Such a determination can be made only by working closely with
the industries involved. We have already received valuable assistance
from several industries and will look forward to similar assistance
from others as our studies progress.
While streamflow regulation is primarily a second line of defense
against residual wastes of conventional treatment plants, it is the
first line of defense against pollution resulting from various land-
use practices, storm water runoff from urban areas, and other sources
of waste which cannot be collected and brought to a central point for
treatment. In either case, this use of stored water may well fill
the gap as an effective quality control measure until the science of
waste treatment and other methods of control become more efficient
and less costly. When that time comes, I am sure the water now stored
for quality control will not want for takers.
As indicated earlier, the Pacific Northwest is blessed with a
bountiful supply of high quality water. There are some hot-spots,
however, where water quality has been degraded as a result of man's
activities and where water uses are damaged.
One of the important water uses in the Pacific Northwest is the
anadromous fishery. Many streams once supporting a good population
of these fish now are no longer productive. In some instances, this
may be attributed to silting over of spawning areas, but probably the
most important factors are increased water temperatures and decreased
dissolved oxygen concentrations. The increased temperatures are not
so much a result of thermal pollution as they are a reduction in
streamflows, removal of vegetation which shaded the water and the
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COMPREHENSIVE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL PLANNING
stream banks, and in some instances the warming of water by impound-
ment. Low dissolved oxygen is largely attributable to organic wastes
from municipal and industrial sources and from some land-use practices.
However, impoundments may also be responsible for reducing dissolved
oxygen downstream from dams.
Impoundments have both beneficial and detrimental effects on
water quality, especially during the summer months when streamflows
are usually most critical. Temperature stratification which occurs in
the reservoirs during this period is frequently accompanied by sig-
nificant changes in the physical, chemical, and biological quality.
The deeper waters are much colder than either the stream waters enter-
ing the reservoir or the upper layers of the reservoir itself. These
waters are also frequently devoid of oxygen. Releases from reservoirs
are invariably from the lower levels. If the water is released from
these depths for the purpose of lowering downstream temperatures for
fishery enhancement, a recognized beneficial water use in the Pacific
Northwest, the fish may die because of lack of oxygen, thus defeating
one of the anticipated beneficial uses. Here in the Pacific Northwest,
where so many reservoirs have been built and so many are yet to be
built, far too little attention has been given to the design and opera-
tion of such structures to minimize these potential conflicts. I
should say, however, that our reservoir studies to date have shown
that reservoirs fed from the relatively unpopulated watersheds have
shown little or no oxygen depletion throughout the summer. This may
be attributed to the minimum amount of organic matter to place a
demand upon the dissolved oxygen, even though stratification does
exist. Studies on Hungry Horse Reservoir in Montana and on the Detroit
Lake Reservoir here in the Willamette Basin show little oxygen deple-
tion at all depths. Brownlee Reservoir on the Snake River, however,
is an entirely different picture. Here the reservoir waters are
essentially completely depleted in dissolved oxygen below a depth of
from 100 to 150 feet. The incoming waters in this case, however, are
much higher in organic matter and support heavy algal growths, both
of which may place a demand on the oxygen resources of the stored
waters.
Because impounded waters usually provide a more favorable environ-
ment for the growth of algae, tastes and odors resulting from such
organisms may be more prevalent and may cause trouble in treating
public water supplies taking water from such sources.
In several places throughout the basin, recreational uses are
frequently downgraded because of bacterial pollution, particularly
immediately below some of the larger centers of population.
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Columbia River Basin Comprehensive WPG Pro.1e.ct
There are other types and sources of pollutants which in them-
selves appear quite insignificant, but which in the aggregate can and
do exert significant effects on water quality and can damage other
water uses. Storm water overflows from combined sewer systems can
result in bypassing the major portion of the pollution directly to
the streams during periods of storm runoff. Siltation from logging,
road building, and certain farming practices, and the use of agri-
cultural chemicals, fertilizers, and pesticides all pose potential
pollution problems.
Many of the issues and problems encountered in water quality
control, however, arise from the relationships existing between this
function and other resource uses. The most serious conflicts arise
between the in-stream, non-consumptive uses and the consumptive with-
drawal uses.
The withdrawal of water for irrigation, for instance, has mate-
rially altered the historical hydrology of many of our streams through-
out the Pacific Northwest, and particularly those lying east of the
Cascade Mountains. Even where this use has not depleted the stream-
flow entirely, the allocated water rights frequently exceed the avail-
able natural flows in some months of every year. Some of these rights
may not be exercised, but it is extremely difficult, if not impossible,
to determine waste treatment needs and streamflow requirements for
quality control without having a sound basis for design purposes.
Assurance that flood water stored for quality control will be avail-
able for its authorized purpose is also essential.
The doctrine of prior appropriation and the use of water for
irrigation are preeminent in the water policies and laws of all of
the Western States. In many instances, however, we have found that
such conflicts can be greatly reduced and water uses expanded through
cooperative planning and intelligent management of available water
resources without seriously jeopardizing prior rights. Water used for
quality control at one location can frequently be available for reuse
further downstream. Exchange of waters between different uses may
also be another possibility for mutual gain. As the water resources
of the basin become more completely utilized, the ability of the
stream system to assimilate the used waters may be just as important
as supplying water for its different uses. The Oregon State Water
Resources Board has taken a forward step in eliminating much confusion
in this area of water use by establishing minimum flows below which
water rights cannot be exercised in those streams which are not now
over-appropriated. Adjudication will be necessary to reserve this
base flow where all flows are appropriated.
17
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COMPREHENSIVE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL PLANNING
The use of water for hydropower generation can likewise impair
water quality and affect downstream uses. While the average dry
weather streamflows below power installations may be increased through
storage, minimum flows are significantly lower and occur at much more
frequent intervals. When hydropower is used for peaking purposes,
this frequently results in cutting off essentially all the streamflow
for short periods and can seriously endanger downstream water quality.
These and many other factors are being considered in the develop-
ment of a comprehensive water pollution control program for the Pacific
Northwest. To be effective, of course, such a plan must be implemented
and the water resources of the area managed to accomplish the intended
purposes. We fully realize that conflicts in water use will develop
and there will be differences of opinion as to how they should be
resolved. One of our principal objectives will be to present alterna-
tive actions, together with costs and benefits of each, which can
serve as a guide to the people in arriving at the political and legis-
lative decisions necessary for the development of the region.
Unlike the water resource development plans for the Corps of
Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation, which can be implemented
directly by the agencies concerned following Congressional action,
implementation of the water pollution control plan will depend on the
action of a wide range of Federal, state and local agencies and indus-
tries, and the people concerned.
The Department's duties and responsibilities for implementation
are spelled out in the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. These
responsibilities include carrying out and encouraging intramural and
extramural research, provision for grants to state water pollution
control agencies to assist them in upgrading their activities, grants
to municipalities and other political subdivisions to finance the con-
struction of necessary treatment works, provision for personnel train-
ing in technical matters relating to prevention and control of water
pollution, development of basic data relating to water quality and
water pollution control, provision for technical assistance to state
and interstate agencies and to municipalities and industries, Federal
action to abate pollution of interstate or navigable waters within
the limitations set forth in the Act, and making of recommendations
for pollution control facilities at Federal installations. Each of
these can play a significant role in a long-range water quality
management program.
In the conduct of our studies here in the Pacific Northwest, we
have developed certain tools that will be helpful in managing water
quality and in predicting future needs as changing conditions may
require. We have developed a computer program which will permit us
18
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Columbia River Basin Comprehensive WPG Project
to predict the cause and effect relationships among waste loadings,
streamflow, quality parameters, and flow regulation requirements.
For example, by using dissolved oxygen as a quality parameter and by
establishing a minimum concentration that can be tolerated in any
stretch of the stream, we can predict streamflow requirements neces-
sary to satisfy the dissolved oxygen objectives. If additional flows
are required, it is possible to predict the storage requirements and
the tributary or tributaries which can best supply the demand.
We are also developing a mathematical model to predict the
temperature regimen of the streams within the basin. The interrela-
ship between temperature and dissolved oxygen in reservoirs will have
to be fully considered.
We are also making use of mathematical models and systems analy-
sis for evaluating the effects of pollutants in estuaries. Much less
is known concerning the fate of pollutants in estuaries than in fresh-
water streams, and many more variables are involved. The use of com-
puterized models can greatly reduce the laborious operations necessary
to handle all of these variables.
Still another model is being developed; namely, a cost model
which will permit a more accurate economic evaluation of a variety of
alternatives of waste loadings, degrees of treatment, and water qual-
ity objectives.
All of these will become decision models in the implementation
phases of the project.
Another useful tool that we have been using for the past two
years is the continuous automatic monitoring of certain water quality
parameters at fixed stream stations. Just two years ago we installed
two such devices on the Willamette River, one above Oregon City and
one on Swan Island in Portland Harbor. These machines measure and
record four parameters; namely, temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH,
and conductivity. This continuous surveillance has proven to be a
valuable tool for use in areas where water quality conditions approach
critical values or where water is in short supply. This can become a
valuable management tool for advising appropriate authorities when to
open the reservoir gates or to initiate extraordinary control measures
to meet day-by-day situations.
With the development of comprehensive plans throughout the Nation,
accompanied by the accumulation of large quantities of water quality
data, it is apparent that a ready system of storage, retrieval, and
analysis is essential if these data are to be most useful. Consider-
able time and effort have been expended in developing such a system
by headquarters' personnel. As a result, there is now in operation a
19
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COMPREHENSIVE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL PLANNING
system known as STORET, which is essentially an automatic library for
storage and retrieval of water quality data. The system is open-ended
so that data stations can be deleted or added at any time. Up to
100,000 water quality parameters can be coded and stored by STORET. Up
to fifty selected parameters may be retrieved for five different stream
configurations, and numerous statistical analyses can be performed on
such data automatically. All information is punched on cards, read
into the system, and stored on magnetic tape for later retrieval. Out-
put can be obtained as a printed form which can easily be interpreted
by a layman, or as magnetic tape which can be used as input to an
analysis program that might be desired by the user. This system is
just now getting operational in the Columbia Basin, and we will be able
to include data from any and all reliable sources and identify its
origin and other pertinent facts relative to the station. We feel that
this will be a most useful tool not only to our operation but to other
interested agencies.
As the need for water becomes more critical, these several manage-
ment tools will increase in value. Making this service available to
the water management agencies of the basin will be a continuing func-
tion of the Columbia River Basin Project.
In closing, I would like to reemphasize that the Pacific Northwest
still has a lot of high quality water and that we are in the stage of
resource development where wise planning, followed by wise decisions,
can advance the economy of the area and the welfare of its people.
Prevention will be less costly than correction.
20
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USE AND ROLE OF WATER POLLUTION CONTROL
PLAN BY OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES
Robert L. McNeil, Staff Director
Columbia Basin Inter-Agency Committee
Portland, Oregon
Mr. Krause has described the National program in water pollution
control, and Mr. Towne has brought this to a regional basis--what the
project is for the Columbia Basin. My assignment, as I understand it,
is to further delineate this by describing the way in which water pol-
lution plans are to be coordinated with other Federal department plan-
ning activity. Mr. Towne asked me to do this because of the role which
the Columbia Basin Inter-Agency Committee plays in coordination between
the various Federal departments. It was his thought that one spokesman
might be able to present a synopsis of the many, many Federal agencies'
activities which relate to water pollution control and to discuss their
coordination.
As a point of beginning, let me state the obvious, that planning
as a process is conceived as an orderly way of going about achieving
specific ends. Whether it be in our own personal lives or in building
a major structure, and/or even to such intangibles as planning state-
ments of policy, plans should lead to order. When it comes to water
resources planning, it might be useful to recall that the provocation
of planning often has been some extreme pressures, something cataclys-
mic, such as a major flood or a major drought. The nature of these
kinds of stimuli can result in crash rather than orderly planning
efforts. It seems to take either crushing natural phenomena or an
accumulation of the debilitating acts of man to set a planning process
in motion. This may, in part, account for the complex and diffuse
authorizations under which Federal departments carry out planning.
Congress has taken action in this way and that, and there has not
always been a concern for the relatedness of one course of action as
against another.
At a few periods in our history, we have taken time to look at
our resources in an orderly fashion, and when we have done this, with-
out the pressure of misfortune, orderly planning has resulted.
Several premises which I think are fundamental to water resources
planning and coordination are:
a. Because a great many Federal agencies have some responsibility
in water resources planning, and because responsibility is in many
separate authorities and acts, there are many opportunities for
21
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COMPREHENSIVE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL PLANNING
conflicts and duplication. (It wouldn't be difficult for me to list a
number of examples to support this premise.)
b. It is worth noting that there is a very rapid increase in
demand for land and water resources and that this competitive situa-
tion is a stimulus to current efforts to do a better job of planning.
There is perhaps a sub-premise here, which is, that we deplore but
tend to be provincial in our outlooks, concerned with what is of local
importance, short-sighted and lacking in vision when trying to see the
national interests and broader social and economic objectives of plan-
ning.
c. A third premise is that resources, science, and technology
have been moving ahead at an accelerated but erratic pace. However,
technical progress in one field has frequently led to problems in
another--especially so in water pollution.
d. A fourth premise must be that, whereas, if our progress in
science and technology is rapid, our progress in social, economic, and
political understanding and action is erratic and slow.
What follows is: (1) a very brief mention of the Federal bureau
interest in water pollution control planning, including a sampling of
compatible and conflicting situations encountered; (2) a description
of one of the coordination mechanisms in use in the Pacific Northwest;
(3) a statement of what I think are some essentials to effective coor-
dination; and (4) some challenges which, if accepted, could lead to
more effective planning.
FEDERAL BUREAU INTEREST IN POLLUTION CONTROL PLANNING
Department of Agriculture
This Department's interest in water resources planning stems from
organic acts dating from 1897.
The Soil Conservation Service, through its technical assistance
program, provides many assists to farmers relevant to pollution control.
Under Public Law 566 of 1954 it is able to assist in providing for
water supply and water quality in local small multipurpose projects.
The Forest Service is committed to the production of high quality
water from National Forests and is interested in local problems of pol-
lution, management of National Forest watersheds which supply municipal
water, and in maintaining and enhancing waterflows and in controlling
sedimentation from forested headwaters.
22
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Use and Role of WPG Plan by Other Federal Agencies
The Economic Research Service has responsibilities in making the
economic analyses of water pollution which results from agricultural
operations: for example, irrigation, the application of fertilizers,
pesticides, and weedicides; and the problems of sedimentation which
result from poorly-managed agricultural lands.
Department of the Army
This Department has been concerned with the problems of pollution
for a long time. Within the Corps of Engineers structures, water
releases for downstream flow augmentation have been provided for many
years. The passage of Public Law 660 in 1956 added emphasis to Corps
flow augmentation efforts.
The Corps has been engaged in comprehensive river basin planning
for a long time, beginning with its early "308" reports. In these,
preliminary notions of the problems of pollution began to come forth.
Today, the Corps of Engineers looks to the U. S. Public Health Service
to provide the basic information essential for pollution control and
water supply planning within authorized projects. It is concerned with
pollution control, not only in planning, but in construction and man-
agement of reservoirs in a balance among the water demands for irriga-
tion, fish and wildlife, recreation, and power. Altogether, these pre-
sent a complex problem.
Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
The interests of this Department, through its Public Health
Service, stems from the Act of 1956, Public Law 660, and have been
described nationally by Mr. Krause, and for the Columbia Basin by Mr.
Towne. I picture the role of this Department in' this respect as essen-
tially that of a counselor. The Department includes competent tech-
nical people in the field of water pollution control. They do not
specify to the Corps of Engineers or to the Bureau of Reclamation what
the pollution control requirements are, but, rather, they counsel with
them on what the alternatives are and provide a sound technical basis
from which choices may be made. The Department of Health, Education,
and Welfare's concern is not only biologic in nature, but also aes-
thetic.
Department of the Interior
This Department's first interest in water resources—hence, pol-
lution control—planning began in 1879. The Department includes nine
agencies which have authority for one aspect or another of water-
related programs, many of which require the kinds of information avail-
able in a water pollution control plan.
23
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COMPREHENSIVE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL PLANNING
The Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife is concerned with the
maintenance of optimum natural waters for the biologic benefit of the
sports fishery. It conducts research and is concerned with the rela-
tionship of water quality to the quality of fish, including such con-
cerns as pesticides and toxicants which may enter the water. This
Bureau works in close cooperation with the state fish and game agencies.
The state agencies define the streamflows, the temperature regimes, and
turbidity levels under state law but based upon consultation with this
Bureau.
The Bureau of Commercial Fisheries is concerned with commercial
fish, whales, seals, and sea lions. The maintenance of an adequate
commercial fishery is quite dependent on adequate planning for pollu-
tion control. There is evidence of all kinds of problems in the
Columbia River, such as decreased dissolved oxygen and slime growths
caused by pulp mill effluents which foul the nets of commercial fisher-
men. The planning effort concerned with water temperature, water tur-
bidity, and the maintenance of adequate minimum flows is vital to the
commercial fishery. These requirements vary widely; information is
needed to maintain temperature regimes for rearing purposes, another
for spawning purposes. The pollution control plan can specify alter-
natives in terms of water quality which will maintain, enhance, or
obliterate the fishery. The fisheries agencies, both state and Federal,
commercial and sport, are thus vitally concerned with the choices indi-
cated within the pollution control plan.
The Geological Survey is responsible for the continuing inventory
and appraisal of the quantity and quality of the Nation's surface and
ground water. It operates a national network of more than 1,300 water
quality stations to determine chemical properties, sediment content,
and temperature of surface water. It also prepares analytical and
interpretive reports on geochemistry and chemical quality of water.
Survey water data are used by other agencies, Federal and local, in
developing water management plans. For instance, time-of-travel stud-
ies being carried out in the Willamette Basin by the Survey with the
assistance of other Federal and state agencies will be invaluable in
developing plans for pollution control.
The Bureau of Reclamation is another Bureau of the Department
which depends on the pollution control plan for aspects of its planning
and construction. The organic Act of the Bureau of Reclamation was
passed in 1902.
This Bureau is concerned with the quality of water as affected by
irrigation. Within its multipurpose structures operation it can manage
flows, temperature, and turbidity. For instance, its structures can
remove sediment, regulate temperature through releases at multiple
levels and, of course, regulate waterflow for augmentation. Crops
24
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Use and Role of WPG Plan by Other Federal Agencies
grown under irrigation and processed with water in winter months yield
effluents which contribute to pollution when reservoir releases are
limited by low inflows.
Each of the Bureau of Reclamation projects is specifically author-
ized. The new authorizations--those that have taken place since the
basic Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1956 was passed—include
water supply and water pollution control consideration. The Bureau of
Reclamation looks to the pollution control plan for choices on the
pollution control possibilities of multipurpose structures for which
the Bureau has authority.
The Bureau of Reclamation is concerned with the chemical quality
of water and studies this at each project to determine suitability of
the water for irrigation purposes and for municipal and industrial use.
The Bureau engages in a monitoring program to provide water pollution
control information at most of its projects. These include determina-
tion of total dissolved solids, chemical analyses, chlorine analyses,
dissolved oxygen sampling and water temperature sampling. It engages
in debris and sediment removal at many dams. The Folsom Dam is one
Bureau structure where water temperature is being regulated.
The Bureau of Mines has broad authority to conserve and develop
the mineral resources of the United States. It is concerned with the
health of people engaged in mining and in preventing wastes of minerals.
Its interest in water pollution control plans is for information on
quality of water requirements for mineral and metallurgical industries.
For example, the water pollution control plan can provide information
on the water requirements and choices of possible or acceptable sites
for metallurgical industries. It can provide the basic information on
what it will cost to provide various levels of treatment to the efflu-
ent from metallurgical industries. The Bureau of Mines is also con-
cerned with the water-borne wastes from mining and metallurgical activ-
ities. It is concerned about disposal of radioactive wastes resulting
from uranium and other operations and with water requirements to pre-
vent pollution from mineral, petroleum, and natural gas extraction, and
with pollutant acid mine water.
The Bureau of Land Management derives its basic authorization
from the Taylor Grazing Act of 1934. It administers 172 million acres
of public land in the western United States. These are the poorer
lands; many have alkaline soils. One of the interests of the Bureau
is the management, use and development of cover on these lands to pre-
vent erosion and to reduce sediment movement. It also advises and
prescribes certain requirements of Public Law 566 of 1954 (Small
Watersheds Act, U. S. Department of Agriculture) when such improvements
take place on Bureau of Land Management lands. This Bureau is directly
25
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COMPREHENSIVE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL PLANNING
concerned with water pollution control planning where such programs as
management of livestock, prevention of range fires, and control of use
of chemical herbicides and weedicides and pesticides are pertinent to
the water pollution control plan.
The National Park Service's principal concern with water pollution
control planning is in the operation of some 1,500 large-sized water
supply systems in connection with the National Parks and in the manage-
ment of refuse and sewage disposal systems within the National Parks.
In addition, they are concerned with the degradation of aesthetic and
ecologic values which result from pollution. This is particularly
relevant in some of the more heavily populated areas of the East. As
an example, the Potomac River is frequently cited as a horrible exam-
ple of aesthetic losses from pollution. !Ehe National Parks management's
concern with aesthetics and ecology makes the end product of water pol-
lution control planning relevant to park planning. The National Park
Service, because of its management responsibilities, is also aware of
and concerned about the use of insecticides and pesticides and their
potential ecologic and aesthetic relationships. Such questions as
whether to control epidemic insect infestations require most difficult
ecologic and aesthetic decision in which water pollution control plan-
ning information is important.
The task of the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation is that of coordina-
tion between the various Federal and state people who have some inter-
est in outdoor recreation. They are interested in any abatement of
pollution because it would result in the increase of water available
for recreation use. A water pollution program which defines how and
where quality and quantity of water can be maintained for recreation
use is needed by this Bureau in providing assistance to the states in
recreation planning and in its coordination responsibilities. The
Bureau criteria have been that the maintenance of flows for the fishery
will usually and inherently provide aesthetic quantities and quality
for recreation. This, however, may not always hold true. It is prob-
able that at a future time the concern of the Bureau for flows may not
be provided adequately within other flow requirements. Such rivers as
the Potomac, the Sacramento, the Willamette, and the Columbia, which
are near population centers, may have recreation flow requirements over
and above other flow requirements.
Federal Power Commission
The Commission, through Section 10(A) of the Federal Power Act,
requires comprehensive plans by the applicant seeking a license for a
structure (private or non-federal utilities). One of the elements of
a comprehensive water plan is a pollution control plan. Up to the
recent time—at least, until the passage of the Federal Water Pollution
26
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Use and Role of WPC Plan by Other Federal Agencies
Control Act of 1956--I think pollution control planning in these com-
prehensive plans was cursory. However, the Federal Power Commission
is in a position to require streamflow regulation, for pollution con-
trol purposes, as a part of licensing in the same way that flows may
be required for the maintenance and enhancement of fishery.
Any program of pollution control which is developed from water
pollution control planning and incorporated into reservoir management
can have a very important bearing on power production. For example,
storage of water for pollution control purposes may provide head for
power production. However, in the case of plants which are operated
for peaking (the production of power during the hours of peak loads),
plant operation may greatly curtail the flows except during these peak-
ing operations. There may be little water released during the bulk of
the day and then during the evening hours when the peak load occurs
water may be released. This kind of fluctuating flow for power opera-
tions can be detrimental to water quality and other flow requirements.
It is possible for licenses to recognize this and to provide for cer-
tain minimum flow releases for fishery and water pollution control,
including adequate dissolved oxygen. Licenses may also require skim-
ming for pollution control and, although this hasn't occurred yet, may
at some future time provide for temperature control during the fishery
spawning season.
In addition to the above, reservoir levels may be manipulated for
purposes of mosquito control. Another concern which soon may be of
major significance is thermal pollution (the increase in the tempera-
ture of water resulting from various operations, such as thermal gener-
ating plants). The operation of generating plants and extensive irri-
gation may cause a rise in temperature of 12 to 13° in a very large
volume of water which, as return flow in accumulative effect, can
result in thermal pollution.
In lightly reviewing the responsibilities of the various Federal
departments in water management, it is apparent that there is a host
of interrelationships between the pollution control plan, on the one
hand, and the planning and operation of water structures and related
resources programs on the other. The relationships range from so-
called rim-to-rim watershed concepts in which the management of lands
have peripheral impacts on the quality of water to the quite direct
impacts of the actual operation of major water control structures.
People who deal with the subject are not always aware of the inter-
relationships or concerned about them. Tremendous strides have been
made in the nine years since the passage of the basic Federal Water
Pollution Control Act. Also, really pressing pollution problems in
some parts of the country are achieving broader public recognition.
27
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COMPREHENSIVE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL PLANNING
COORDINATING MECHANISM
To illustrate the coordination mechanism being used in river basin
planning in the Northwest, I will use some charts. The first of these
depicts coordination through the Columbia Basin Inter-Agency Committee,
a field arm of the Inter-Agency Committee on Water Resources, in Wash-
ington, D. C. The chart is self-explanatory and illustrates the com-
plexity of coordination. Seven major Federal departments and seven
states have responsibility spread over a whole lot of activities. Down
in the lower left-hand corner, the Coordinated Planning Subcommittee
is emphasized. It is the particular arm of CBIAC for river basin plan-
ning coordination. You will also notice on the far right that we have
a Water Supply and Pollution Control Subcommittee, which is concerned
with providing broad coordination between state and Federal and local
water supply and pollution control programs, and incidentally, does so
very effectively. Turning now to Chart No. 2, going from the Coordi-
nated Planning Subcommittee to the Willamette Basin, we have a special
Task Force in the Willamette Basin whose job it is to provide coordina-
tion in the currently authorized review. In the upper box, you see
that this again includes seven Federal departments but only one state.
This basin is totally within Oregon. Under our rules, the State of
Oregon is the Chairman of this Task Force. Following down, we move
from the Task Force, a policy-level group, to the Outline Schedule
Group. The latter are full-time employees devoting all of their atten-
tion to the Willamette Basin study. They are the Section leader for
the Department of Agriculture; the Chief Engineer for the State Water
Resources Board; the Section leader from the Bureau of Reclamation, who
represents all of the agencies of the Department of the Interior; the
Basin planning chief for the Department of Health, Education, and Wel-
fare; and the Section leader for the Department of the Army. In this
instance, the Department of the Army is the Chairman of the Outline
Schedule Group. These people might be considered to make up an unoffi-
cial full-time staff, devoting all their time to the Willamette com-
prehensive plan.
The areas of concern, broken apart for purposes of this discussion,
are physical information, natural resources information, economic
environment information, current water uses and future water needs,
existing developments, present water uses and future water needs, and
finally, in the right-hand column, water and related land resources
problems.
In subsequent work, we have come to agreement that the final
report will include appendices concerning the beneficial uses of water
as defined in Senate Document 97, plus three basic appendices, one
dealing with the whole area; the second, dealing with the hydrology;
and a third, the economic base. Finally, there will be a plan
28
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Use and Role of WPG Plan by Other Federal Agencies
formulation appendix. I think these charts help illustrate the inter-
relatedness of concern in planning.
We are talking here today about the interrelatedness of the water
pollution control plan with the activities of other Federal agencies.
To really fill you in, in detail, about the Willamette Basin Task
Force would require too much time. Suffice to say that the Task Force
has made much progress in the last two years. Participants are in
general agreement that this effort, without a regular staff, is ex-
tremely difficult but is the only working arrangement available. We
have achieved agreement that we are going to produce a single report
and that this single report will be as comprehensive in scope as we
can make it with the money and the men we have available. It will
include a broad framework and projects that are needed in the next 10
to 15 years in sufficient detail to seek authorization. It will dis-
cuss such things as programs which need to be strengthened or started.
It will discuss legislation requirements and such needs as modification
of water resources governmental structure.
Chart No. 3 depicts the broad review schedule for this report.
Coordination is a continuing responsibility and is scheduled for the
entire period of the study. Public contacts are regarded as an impor-
tant continuing responsibility through the whole procedure.
Public hearings and progress reports are indicated as being a
responsibility through the whole study period. The determination of
the needs, potentials, and the development of supporting data, interim
reports, started back about the middle of 1963, the year the study was
authorized, and carries on to about early 1968. There will be a time
when one can't go any further with this determination of needs and
potentials and must get right down to the final plan formulation and
report draft preparation. This is indicated as beginning about 1967
and running through to early 1969. Agency review is scheduled for the
middle of 1969 and report publication at the end of 1969.
SOME ESSENTIALS TO EFFECTIVE COORDINATION
Now, to summarize quickly items c and d of my paper, I will state
what I think are some of the essentials to effective coordination.
Our experience, to date, shows clearly communication is our principal
problem. There are so many people involved in this thing that it gets
to be very difficult to see that the right intelligence gets to the
right people at the right time. A second important problem is to be
sure that the levels of coordination are distinct and clear. It is
futile to attempt to coordinate policy questions at the "doing" level,
29
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COMPREHENSIVE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL PLANNING
and it is equally futile for the policy people to coordinate details
that go into the planning. This is some of the kind of thing that
happens unless there is a good understanding.
A third point is that coordination doesn't necessarily imply
agreement. It implies a free and open discussion, an airing of dif-
ferences of view, modifications in points of view. In the final analy-
sis, it may mean that after considering all the aspects we don't agree
and this may lead to alternatives. I think this is rather an important
distinction. We can cooperate effectively, we can talk together exten-
sively, yet finally we won't always agree but we will have achieved
coordination.
A fourth consideration is that of time. Coordination takes time.
The people who have responsibilities in this field have to be willing
to devote the time of the right people to the job. This gets to be a
real problem. Action agencies want action and they often consider that
the time devoted to meetings and discussion of differences of opinion
and points of view, detract from getting action. Thus, some are reluc-
tant to devote the necessary time and the talents of the right level of
people to the job.
I think the time is past when we can take single points of view.
What one department does affects a number of other departments in a
variety of ways. It is essential that we acknowledge the fact that
this kind of coordination is the job of some of the best people.
A fifth point is that coordination should be achieved through a
variety of coordination mechanisms. The Task Force is not the all-in-
all of coordination. There is a great deal of coordination taking
place regularly between agencies. There are some kinds of work that
encompass the interest of all agencies and these require a broader
approach. The coordination that takes place in a whole variety of the
Subcommittees of the CBIAC is relevant to the kind of coordination
required in a comphrehensive planning effort.
The sixth point is that coordination has to range over a variety
of organizational levels. It has to take place right out on the ground
where the work is being done. It has to take place at the local level
of government. It has to include the interests of a wide range of
nongovernmental public groups. Historically, some of the best coordi-
nation has been done right at the grass-roots level between on-the-
ground people. However, this needs to be done in a larger over-all
framework because the coordination achieved on the ground may be at
variance with higher level policies and come to blows at a later time.
30
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Use and Role of WPG Plan by Other Federal Agencies
SOME PLANNING CHALLENGES
Finally, coming down to the challenges, it seems quite evident,
in view of the many pressures that are upon us, that we must do a much
better job of realizing the potentials of our land and water resources.
We must make the most of our resources, not only for regional reasons
and national reason, but so our natural resources may properly con-
tribute to a more stable international situation.
One serious problem is communication. More often than not, we
find that we are talking to ourselves. We here today are essentially
resource people, but to what extent do we, as individual resource
people, communicate with the community at large? To what extent is
the work that we are doing in resources —in the broadest sense—under-
stood, believed in, and sought by the public? These kinds of questions
demand concern and self-evaluation by each of us in the resources field.
The space program has done a tremendous job of capturing the pub-
lic imagination and has achieved widespread public enthusiasm. The
goals we are pursuing in space programs are radically different from
our resources goals, but we must engender the same kind of public
enthusiasm for them. The penalties of failure, in terms of the kind
of civilization we have out ahead 50 and 100 years, will be very
severe.
There is the challenge of people to do the job. Are we moving
ahead in encouraging young people to enter into the resources field,
to enter into the disciplines associated with water supply and water
pollution control and the related resource programs? Are we develop-
ing the generalists who have the broad understanding of resources and
will be competent to integrate water pollution cdntrol planning with
other resources planning in the larger scene? Are we bringing people
into the work who are talented and accomplished in social, economic
and political disciplines?
Can we make progress not only in the technical scientific field—
the know-how of water pollution control—but, also, in the more subtle
problems of how we motivate people to accept rapid changes and make
social and political adjustments and decisions required?
Still another challenge is whether or not we have provided the
optimum governmental structure to carry out the problems associated
with water resources planning and development. This opens up many new
questions. We have seen just recently problems of water supply cre-
ated by flooding. A town with water on one side of the river and a
town without water on the other side of the river. No connection
between these, little interest in making these kinds of interconnections
31
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COMPREHENSIVE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL PLANNING
or in providing some governmental framework within which better arrange-
ments can be made. Our problems associated with urban sprawl and tax
structures are all encompassing.
I believe we must be concerned with these social, economic, and
political questions every bit as much as, and perhaps substantially
more so than, we are with technical, scientific questions. If we will
apply the same thought, the same imagination, the same energy, and the
same faith and conviction to answering some of these latter questions,
then our technical answers may more nearly achieve our goals.
32
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THE STATE'S ROLE AND USE OF
POLLUTION CONTROL PLAN
Fred Merryfield
Professor of Sanitary Engineering
Oregon State University
Corvallis, Oregon
INTRODUCTION
We appreciate the opportunity to participate in this well con-
sidered program which has been provided for us by the staff of the
Pacific Northwest Water Laboratory of the Public Health Service at
Oregon State University today.
The previous speakers have discussed the purposes and compre-
hensive plans for water pollution control of a geographical area
larger than several of the well-known nations in Europe. We have
also heard of the fine coordination activities of the Columbia Basin
Inter-Agency Committee which represents the state and Federal agen-
cies responsible for the use and control of the waters of this basin.
Engineers from the more densely populated areas of the world
might smile when we speak of water pollution in connection with this
less dense and less industrialized area, yet we have been and are
concerned with severe pollution of some stretches of our river system;
It might appear, at first thought, that with the rather bounteou;
supply of water allocated by Nature to this area, pollution problems
now and in the future are not of regional importance. If we are to
learn from the past, we should recognize that we can avoid by careful
and comprehensive planning and implementation some of the extremely
serious and costly troubles which arise from indifference.
The pollution of our watercourses, both by Nature and by Man,
have been going on for centuries in the former instance and for the
last 75 to 100 years in the latter case. The invention of the water
closet, the development of industry, and growth of our cities have
all contributed to the pollution of our river systems. It is neces-
sary to examine in some detail the conflicts which exist and have
existed concerning not only the quality of water, but also the actual
uses.
Rivers have been used to transport the wastes of mankind for
centuries, and the very act of disposal has tended to produce an
ignorance of the consequences of such an act. Quality of the receiv-
ing stream is impaired, but the people who are responsible for this
33
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COMPREHENSIVE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL PLANNING
do not usually suffer the immediate consequences of such an act. By
treatment of the river water and treatment of the liquid wastes prior
to disposal, we have been able to provide water for specific purposes
and reduce the obvious pollution. Some of our rivers are seriously
polluted at low flows. State laws and agencies have been created to
protect the community health and abate pollution. Resolution by law
alone has not and cannot resolve the technical and economic problems
of water pollution, but laws promoted by interested people have
focused attention to it in the past fifty years. It is becoming
apparent that the economics and the general social health of the
region can be affected by water pollution. We have been aware for a
long time of pollution in local areas of the Pacific Northwest, and
considerable progress has been made in reducing some of the pollution.
The quality of water has many meanings, most of which are related
to the use of the water itself. Water, of course, is used for so
many purposes that we are inclined to forget the diversity that
exists on any drainage basin. Water is used in this region for domes-
tic supply, power, irrigation, navigation, recreation, industry, fish
and game production, and the stream itself is used as a passageway for
the anadromous fish which populate the river systems. In recent years
the recreational value of water, which is an indirect use, has become
of great importance to the well-being of our citizens. With the use
of more leisure time, it has become apparent that the public has be-
come more conscious of water pollution and today are requesting water
pollution abatement. Some of our conservation associations have been
in the lead for many years, calling attention to the pollution of the
river systems and the need for technical and legislative action.
Many of these people have contributed in no small manner to the legis-
lative actions of our state and Federal government. The development
of our social consciousness in the field of water pollution abatement
is in no small way dependent upon their continued interest and action
of the past 50 or 60 years. We have reached a point when there is
need for a thorough review of the water qualities of our rivers, for
forecasting the future anticipated situation, and for creating a
better understanding for defining areas of responsibility of the
various levels of government. We need to define water quality in
terms of use, to determine what qualities are needed, what methods
are needed to achieve these standards, and the costs of such programs
and the benefits to be attained.
It is obvious that the technical people alone cannot accomplish
this without a public approval. But, it is the function of the tech-
nical people to inform the legislatures and the public so that such
action can be assured.
34
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State's Role
A few moments ago we mentioned that in spite of what appears to
be in the Pacific Northwest an abundance of water for all uses in the
foreseeable future, nevertheless we must be prepared with an effec-
tive quality control program for this region. Technical and scien-
tific developments will aid us, but the large projected increase in
population with the larger demands on our water resources requires
comprehensive planning. These plans must be economically justifiable
and have public support.
It is proposed to review the present situation, some of the
future problems that will be encountered, and to discuss in a general
way some features of quality control.
WATER QUALITY CONTROL
Solution to most problems requires recognition of its existence,
the extent of it, a review of related factors which are connected
with it, development of methods necessary to cope with the problem
through collection of and analyzing data, and formulation of plans
to resolve the problem. Plans must be compared, technically, legally,
economically, and sociologically; and, finally, the plans must be
presented to the suitable authorities for acceptance and modification.
Good planning infers good implementation. Good feedback and periodic
review of the plans and developments with modifications to the plans
are essential.
In any resource planning the character of the resource, its use
and availability, and the quality of it are important. It is essen-
tial that the particular resource be studied with tespect to other
resource development within the region.
Water is a most unusual resource. It is absolutely essential
to life, it can be reused, and it is redistributed annually. It has
peculiar variable geographic and seasonal distributions which are
most difficult to forecast.
The natural flow of our rivers is dependent upon the geology
and topography of the region as well as upon precipitation, tempera-
ture, vegetative cover, etc. This flow is seriously affected by
storage and releases, extraction for irrigation, and diversion from
the drainage basin. One would be guilty of negligence if one failed
to point out the possible extraction from the Columbia River Drain-
age Basin of water for transportation to the southwest and its effect
upon the quality of some of the waters in the system.
It is also apparent that the economic storage of the waters
is limited and it is further conceded that demands by industry,
35
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COMPREHENSIVE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL PLANNING
irrigation, power, etc., will continue to increase at a very rapid
rate. The demands by our populations for municipal water will, of
course, increase, but in general the amounts used are still not in
great quantity. However, there are many localities where sources of
domestic water supply are completely inadequate.
There is a grave difference between the flow of the Columbia
River and the flows of the individual rivers in the basin. Some pub-
lic discussions have failed to make this clear. There is a wide vari-
ation in the availability of water within the basin, even in the
coastal areas. The availability of good quality water is economically
very important, but it is essential that quality be defined on a util-
ity basis.
Much has been achieved to date in setting up standards, but more
information is needed on toxicity, satisfactory biological environments,
effect of releases of stored waters and treated wastes into the river
system, the quality and amount of water returned from irrigation and
the amount of thermal pollution. Some of these questions will require
creative and painstaking research.
Industry, as in the past, will continue to produce new materials
and, consequently, new and far greater volumes of wastes. Research
will be required in all aspects of quality control. Location of indus-
tries will become more of a problem and processing within the industries
will be studied to reduce and eliminate where possible the wastes them-
selves. This is a severe technical and economic problem. The design
of economic water and domestic and industrial waste treatment plants
will require great creative ability. Operational control must be ex-
erted within these plants to produce desired qualities of effluent.
In this region the states' laws of ownership and use of water are
based on either beneficial use or riparian and beneficial use. Many
legal conflicts in this matter have been resolved but there is still
need for further clarification and modification within the individual
states. Some confusion exists between Federal and state statutes.
Technical people need to become more familiar with these legal con-
flicts. Many laws concerning water resource development will be
written in the future by the state legislatures and Congress, as in
the past. There will be greater need for clarification of conflicts
within the laws. We can be of aid in resolving some of these crit-
ical problems of jurisdiction and objectives.
It is also apparent that we have a multiplicity of agencies
created by laws of Congress and state legislatures for specific pur-
poses with respect to the use, law, and control of water. We cannot
here enumerate them, but we have had an opportunity today of learn-
ing of the excellent technical coordination that has been achieved
36
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State's Role
between Federal and state agencies during Mr. McNeil's discussion of
the Columbia Basin Inter-Agency Committee. Frankly, we should give
credit to many of our agency groups, both the policy-makers and
administrators, for the excellent achievements to date in the diffi-
cult multipurpose planning. In the past 30 years many multiple-
purpose projects have been built. Are these designed and operated
for quality improvement and maintenance? We might ask "what quality.1
The multiple-use concept is, in itself, a compromise which produces
technical, economical, and social conflicts difficult of resolution.
It is pertinent to point out that surplus waters in all our western
states are under very severe legal scrutiny and that some of our
state resources boards have only the power by law to allocate the
use of these surpluses. Under the law of beneficial use, the surplus
waters in some instances have already been transferred to other
drainage basins. Much of the water in the more arid sections has
already been adjudicated.
THE ROLE OF THE STATE
The role of the state is five-fold. We speak here in gross
terms including not only the technical phases, but legal, economical,
as well as the sociological consequences. Each state should provide
identifiable and recognized participation and leadership in these
areasi
1, The individual state's role, where required in coop-
eration with other states and the Federal government,
is to develop, mutually, adequate technical criteria
for water pollution control and programs for the imple-
mentation and achievement of these criteria. The
objectives of the comprehensive plan to be achieved
should be clear and the area of the state responsibil-
ities and authorities well defined.
Comprehensive plans for water pollution control must,
of course, be justifiable, acceptable, economical,
legal, and measurable. It is the individual state's
responsibility to strengthen its share of the enforce-
ment program where needed.
2. Certainly,each state should concern itself with the
technical phases involved; namely, in helping coordi-
nating the activities for assembly of data on water
resources, assembly of data on waste treatment, evalu-
ation of the effectiveness of waste treatment on the
receiving streams, effect of storage and storage
37
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COMPREHENSIVE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL PLANNING
releases on the quality of the streams, requirements for
fish culture as regards both quantity and quality, con-
trol of the operation and effectiveness of treatment
plants, and the establishment of the value of water qual-
ity in the state's economy.
It would appear that in projections into the future the
state should definitely concern itself with all of the
water use areas, define water quality by use, aid in the
development of economic means for the use of water, the
effect of wastes and treatment in the future, and cer-
tainly should be prepared to establish the state needs
prior to diversion from drainage basins within the state.
Further, the state should be able to determine technical
and economic effects of such diversions on the future
downstream qualities of the rivers.
The state itself should be responsible for its internal
stream monitoring and development of a control program,
possibly, by the use of instruments and computers to
reduce the costs of stream pollution control.
Each state should be responsible for the review of the
legal phases of pollution, and pollution control, and
certainly should resolve to the best of its ability the
problems connected with the ownership and use of water.
Unquestionably, it will be necessary to enact legislative
amendments which will enable state and Federal agencies
to develop the water qualities sought and to simplify and
clarify those laws connected with future water resource
development and projects. There must be, as in the past,
strong executive state leadership. We would further
point out that all of this can only be achieved through
an informed public and legislature. A well-coordinated
public information program should be developed based on
fact and the possibilities that exist in the future.
The state's role further should be to review periodically
and measure in some manner the effectiveness of the com-
prehensive water pollution control plan which will be of
benefit to not only the state itself, but to the region
and nation.
38
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State's Role
It is quite obvious that no state can assume this role
unless it provides adequate financing for such a pro-
gram, and only by attracting to the state's administra-
tive agencies knowledgeable and dedicated people can
the state expect to use the comprehensive plan of a
large basin, such as the Columbia.
39
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WHY SHOULD A MUNICIPALITY BE INTERESTED
IN A COMPREHENSIVE RIVER BASIN PLAN
FOR WATER POLLUTION CONTROL
Roy W. Morse
City Engineer
Seattle, Washington
Municipalities definitely are affected by river basin planning.
We are water oriented. Every city is situated on a river or on some
body of water, and we are interested in every phase of water use.
Water is the life blood of cities and towns. Like a living creature,
it is carried through arteries and veins to every living cell of our
existence - our homes, our places of business, and our industries.
Without this life-giving fluid, our cities would die just as surely as
a living creature would die without blood. It passes through our homes
and carries away the impurities and waste and must be reconstituted
before it is reused.
We are tied into every phase of water use. Hydro power lights our
homes and streets and turns the wheels of industry. Irrigation and
fisheries furnish us the food products. Flood control protects our
cities from loss of life and property. We also depend on water for
much of our recreation such as boating, swimming, fishing, picnicking
and the aesthetic values of water scenery.
Municipalities of the Northwest are greatly favored by climate and
topography in sources for their domestic water supply. Each munici-
pality has temporarily solved its individual problem in obtaining the
best available source of water as to quantity and quality.
We are generally favored by an abundant rainfall with wooded
mountainous areas to act as collectors and ground water reservoirs.
Some municipalities, however, have found it necessary to reuse river
water contaminated by other uses. Officials of these municipalities
are directly concerned with pollution control of the river basin above
and below them. Our interest is broader than this, however, because
every source of domestic water supply has some pollution problems even
to the few fortunate cities that have been able to control the water-
sheds above their points of diversion. The extent to which these waters
have been polluted at the point of diversion determines the extent of
treatment necessary and the ultimate degree of safety and quality of
the water.
41
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COMPREHENSIVE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL PLANNING
The problems of water quality are greatly compounded by upstream
usage. Nearly every water use has some deleterious effect on reuse
of water for domestic supply.
Discharge of sewage treatment plant effluent into a river is the
most common example of the effect of water use. We like to believe
that this water is safe and it may be reasonably safe from disease-
carrying bacteria, but what about the chemical change? Use of modern
synthetic detergents, insecticides and other household cleaners has
created problems. These substances are not easily removed and have
proven to be a problem if not adequately diluted.
Even storm water runoff from populated areas carries some pollu-
tion to the river or other receiving waters. While it is not pres-
ently considered practical or necessary to treat urban storm water,
it may some day become a factor in the pollution of river basins.
Storage of water in power or flood control reservoirs has an
effect on water quality. Shallow areas subjected to sunlight produce
a rapid growth of algae. While these may not be harmful to human use,
they do affect water quality in taste and odor.
Use of water for irrigation has affected water quality in some
cases by minerals dissolved from the soil which flow back into the
river through subsurface drainage. Such minerals may increase the
hardness of the water or add objectionable features such as result
from high iron content.
Why should we, who have temporarily solved our individual urban
problems of water supply and pollution control, enter into river basin
planning?
First, we are unescapably tied into water use. We cannot deny
our interest in this use or our responsibility for the pollution which
we create.
Second, we have the future to consider. Recent years have shown
a growing emphasis on river basin planning. Federal agencies are ex-
panding their studies and will soon have completed preliminary studies
of every river basin in the country. The U. S. Corps of Engineers,
which once was only interested in flood control, navigation and power
generation, now includes the additional fields of irrigation, fish and
wildlife enhancement, water quality control, water supply and recre-
ation. The Bureau of Reclamation, Health, Education, and Welfare and
the Soil Conservation Service, are also making planning studies. These
plans being made today will be translated into construction projects
of the future. Laws will be passed and water rights granted that will
affect water use for many generations. We municipal officials must
42
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Municipal Interest
consider our responsibilities to the future and see that the needs of
our cities are given adequate consideration. We cannot afford to do
less. We know that the average per capita demand for water use is
increasing. Will there be enough water for every use in the year 2000
to 2500? The answer is obvious. There isn't enough water today for
every use in many areas. Water reuse, redistribution and desalting
efforts will become more important to meet future demands.
As important as water is to life, it already has been rationed in
over 1000 United States communities in a single year. The Pacific
Northwest and the United States have no absolute shortage of water at
this time - the shortage is either confined to areas of low rainfall or
it is one of facilities such as reservoirs, conduits, filtration plants,
etc. and some of these have not been adequate since 1940. Many factors
have contributed to this water shortage. These include population
growth, industrial activities and irrigation. But the greatest reason
for water shortage is inadequate advance planning.
The third reason why cities should enter into river basin planning
is that we cannot "go it alone" as we have in the past. Most cities
must ultimately accept water that has had one or more previous uses.
We can only reconstitute this water for our use if the nature and
extent of its pollution is controlled so that it can be treated by
known methods. If we cannot remove chemical wastes from our water
supplies, we must prevent them from entering the water at their source.
What can municipalities do to meet the present and future problems
of pollution control?
We can put our own house in order. That is, if we are not now
providing adequate treatment of waste water from our city, we can take
measures to bring our cities up to accepted standards of pollution
control.
We can coordinate our planning with the over-all planning for
river basins. This means better communication with officials of other
municipal, state and federal agencies. It is only through person to
person contact and acquaintance with other people in the water
resources field that we attain a mutual trust and respect that is so
necessary in moving successfully forward in joint undertakings.
We can participate in the drafting and passage of legislation
that will effect a fair distribution of water resources and protect
regional interests.
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COMPREHENSIVE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL PLANNING
We can participate in the financing of research that will solve
future problems related to new methods of water treatment for maximum
pollution control.
We need a fast and efficient method for sterilizing waste water
and the removal of objectionable solids and chemicals in sewage. We
are living in the atomic age, the age of electronics, jet propulsion
and space exploration. And it is my personal feeling that we are using
horse and buggy methods in our water and sewage treatment. We need a
break-through in these fields. This break-through can only come
through research. Research will be costly and can only be financed by
joint undertaking.
We need research in all aspects of water use. This research is
being undertaken by our universities, of which Oregon State University
is an outstanding example. Their research activities show that they
have long recognized the needs in this field and are meeting the
challenge. We must support them in every way.
Finally, we need to improve our public relations. Research
symposiums will help us to coordinate our thinking. Comprehensive
planning will tell us what action we should take. But plans trans-
lated into action invariably require financing and here is where our
planning fails unless we are willing and able to sell what we have
planned. We must convince our federal, state and local officials and
the people that they represent that they need what we have planned.
We must organize our communications and public relations as thoroughly
as we organize our planning and engineering.
CONCLUSIONS
To summarize the above points:
Municipalities are inescapably tied into river basin planning for
water use and pollution control.
We must plan for the future. The river basin planning that is
being emphasized today will cast the die for generations. Cities must
join in river basin planning to receive adequate consideration of
municipal needs.
We must support research efforts that will provide the answers to
present and future technical problems.
We must build up our communications and public relations to attain
needed support for our programs.
44
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INDUSTRY'S ROLE AND PARTICIPATION
IN WATER POLLUTION CONTROL PLANNING
Walter A. Mercer
Assistant Director
National Canners Association
Berkeley, California
INTRODUCTION
Because no provision has been made here for playing mood music,
I will attempt to create a background for my discussion by reading
selected passages from current literature. Robert H. Boyle, writing
in "Sports Illustrated," November 1964, said:
This may be the era and the generation and perhaps even the
very year that the United States of America, in all its
natural glory, goes down the drain. The more I see, the more
I am forced to conclude that from New York to California,
from Florida to Alaska, much of what is lovely, rich, and
real about the United States is scheduled for wholesale
destruction or defacement. Almost everywhere America the
beautiful is becoming America the ugly, the wasted, the
blasted, and the blighted, the home of the neon sign, the
super-duper highway, the billboard, foaming detergents, the
used-car lot, the useless dam, the monotonous housing tract,
the hot dog stand, and stinking pollution galore. Indeed,
according to a recent book by Peter Blake, the U. S. can now
lay proud claim to the title of God's Own Junkyard. We have,
in short, become a nation of pigs.
To this outraged cry of one worried conservationist can be added
the cries of a growing multitude of people who feel that America the
Beautiful is on the brink of utter spoliation. Let me further deline-
ate the background by reading these excerpts from a paper by the Hon.
James M. Quigley, Assistant Secretary, Health, Education, and Welfare.
Water pollution is a major social problem facing the American
people. If I know the American people, it is a problem about
which something is going to be done, something much, much
more than has already been done. If it isn't done by American
industry, if it isn't done adequately and effectively by the
American municipalities, if it isn't done adequately and
effectively by the sovereign states that make up the Federal
Union, then we cannot ignore history. If none of these three
individually, or collectively do the job, it is going to end
45
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COMPREHENSIVE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL PLANNING
up totally and completely in Washington, and it is going to be
done in Washington, not because this is the best way of doing
it, but simply because, like so many other things in this day
and age, nobody else faces up to the responsibility.
I continue to quote:
It is not a job that the Federal Government can do alone, it is
not even a job that the Federal Government can do best, but it
is a job that the Federal Government is going to have to do if
it isn't done in any other way by any other group, including
industry, which in many ways can do it better.
Today, there is a ferment in the land. The idea that water in our
streams ought to be clean, usable water has arrived with all the moving
force of a reformation. I believe that industry in general has or will
accept the idea and recognize that pollution control is a logical and
necessary part of the costs of running a business. But industry's col-
lective responsibilities and individual responsibilities must be de-
fined. It is a complex, multi-complex problem.
Let me quote once more--this time from an industry man--Mr. Leland
Doan, former president of the Dow Chemical Company.
I want to offer you a challenge. It is the challenge that
lies in the management of water.
As for complexity, this challenge involves enough factors to
brighten the eye of the most avid computer programmer. Ques-
tions of science and technology merely begin the list Social,
political, and economic considerations arise—and overlap, and
compete, and confuse.
The challenge lies not in manufacturing additional water, but
in managing an adequate total supply. It must be management
that puts water where it is needed and when it is needed, in
necessary quantity and appropriate quality, to meet the full
range of human and industrial requirements. And this, in my
view, is a challenge with particular meaning and appeal for
the chemical industry.
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Industry's Role
INDUSTRY OUGHT TO BE CONCERNED
Since I am associated with the canning industry, I am sensitively
aware of the fact that federal agencies consistently point to food
processing as being one of the six major industry groups responsible
for most of the industrial pollution in the Nation's streams.
As food processors, we know that we must have an adequate supply
of water. We know that for the most part the water we use must be
clean water. The high standards we have set for quality and cleanli-
ness in food plants cannot allow deviation from this practice.
We cannot, therefore, in good conscience, argue against any anti-
pollution measure which is necessary to protect the quality of our
water supplies. Here, I have underlined the word "necessary".
We know that the food industry produces large volumes of rela-
tively strong wastes. We know that there are water pollution problems.
We cannot afford to be complacent if the situation affects the future
of the food industry and the communities of consumers. We cannot
afford to shirk any responsibility, either collectively or individ-
ually, which may be ours in solving these problems.
Now that I have implied that industry--my industry—may be a pol-
luter of water, although cognizant of its responsibility in water qual-
ity control planning, let me hasten to barricade my position with
qualifications and conditions.
During the past 40 years, the industry has spent much time and
large sums of money in testing and adopting methods of disposal. None
have proven universally satisfactory. Problems of variation in the
nature and volume of waste and variations in the ability of different
treatment systems to handle these variants have produced many problems,
often without apparent solution.
A moment ago, I said that we, in good conscience,cannot argue
against any anti-pollution measure which is necessary to protect the
quality of our waters. Now I would like to point out that there are
as many definitions of pollution as there are groups of people con-
cerned with pollution.
To the Fish and Game Commission, pollution is any stream condi-
tion which prevents abundant fish life. To the rabid conservationist,
pollution is anything which degrades the condition of a stream below
that level of pristine purity seen by the first white man to reach
the stream.
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COMPREHENSIVE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL PLANNING
My adopted definition of pollution is this statement: "Pollution
is the discharge of any material that unreasonably impairs the quality
of a water for maximum beneficial use in the over-all public interest."
Although the regulatory agencies may be sympathetic to our indus-
try problems, industry would be unrealistic not to expect and plan for
more rigid requirements with regard to water pollution control and
protection of our ground water resources. We must realize that the
water we use is community property and must be returned, after use, in
a condition and in a manner which does not damage or otherwise cause
undue inconvenience to the community.
I am indebted to Professor McGauhey of the University of Cali-
fornia for spelling out for me the criterion which has influenced water
management in that State. The evidence accumulated in a study of the
"Economic Evaluation of Water" led in 1958 to the conclusion that in
a water-scarce or poor quality water situation, unallocated good water
should be distributed between various beneficial uses in such a manner
as to stimulate optimum growth of the economy of the State.
If one accepts this criterion and attempts to optimize the divi-
sion of water for economic goals, it is easy to overlook some very
important factors. Professor McGauhey cites the example of one south-
western state which is reported to be considering allocating water
resources to industry because industry is capable of a 1200 to 1
increase in product value per unit of water input in contrast with a
2 to 1 increase by agriculture.
This overlooks the interrelationship between water and other
resources—land, transportation, markets, manpower, raw materials, and
supporting industries, which enter into the location and success of
indus try.
The fate of the California food processing industry, particularly
that segment using perishable crops, is irrevocably linked with agri-
culture. Similarly, the fate of agriculture, as we know it today, in
the green valleys of Oregon is dependent on the future welfare of the
fruit and vegetable processors. Oregon's vegetable production for
processing (green beans, corn, peas, beets, and carrots) increased 32%
in the last 7 years. More indirectly affected, but none-the-less
dependent on agriculture and food processing, is the future welfare of
suppliers to agriculture and food processing.
Now, let's talk about the economic value of the food processing
industry in Oregon. Today, a tremendous share of the State's total
farm acreage is under cultivation to provide produce for food process-
ing industries.
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Industry's Role
Remove canning and other food-processing operations from the
State and the many thousands of acres now used to produce fruits and
vegetables for processing would, of necessity, shift to far less pro-
ductive crops. It would be ridiculous to try to market fresh the
150,000 tons of green beans or the many thousands of tons of potatoes
which are now used by processors. The same is true for other fruits
and vegetables, as well as fish, meats, and the specialty foods sold
in cans or packages.
Let me take just one crop grown in this state for canning or
freezing—green beans—20,000 acres of green beans. Each season,
Oregon bean growers are paid 15 million dollars as cash income to grow
beans. Much of this is distributed to suppliers for insecticides and
their application, for fertilizer, for fuel and equipment repairs, and
for seeds and plants.
For the harvested beans purchased from the grower, the processor
spends: $9.4 million for metal and glass containers, for caps and
lids, and for labels and cartons.
This adds up to more than $24.4 million for the raw materials
needed to produce the State's processed bean pack.
Now add to that: $7.8 million to pay the employees of the bean
processors and $14 million for miscellaneous costs and shipping charges,
So the -— grower receives 15 million dollars to produce the beans.
The processor spends a total of $31.0 million to process and ship the
processed beans to the consumer.
Add these two totals together and the bean growers and processors
make a direct contribution of more that $46 million to the economy of
this State to produce only one vegetable and enough green beans to
provide 50,000,000 people with all the beans they want to eat.
Add beans to the other vegetables, fruits, and nuts grown and
processed in Oregon and we have a grand total of $227 million dollars
worth of economy contributed by the Oregon Farmer, canner, and freezer.
If civilization is not blown from the face of the earth by a
nuclear holocaust, we can only expect that the population growth rate
of the Nation will continue its accelerating upward spiral. We cannot
escape the obligation to increase production of even better, more
nutritious foods to sustain the good health and well-being of these
multiplying masses of people.
Even now, the net rate of increase in human lives is more than
one hundred thousand people per day. How unfortunate, that today
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COMPREHENSIVE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL PLANNING
roughly half the population of the earth is undernourished from birth
to death. How foreboding, that in areas where population pressures
are most explosive, food production is limited or uncertain. Food
could be our most effective means for promoting world peace.
In this regard, let us remember that here in Oregon, at Portland's
dry cargo port, in 1963, 82.57o of all outbound tonnage consisted of
agricultural commodities. An estimated 17% of this tonnage was farm-
produced crops. Here in the fertile valleys of Oregon and the entire
Pacific Northwest, we have a unique combination of soil and climate
that produces abundant supplies of high-quality foods.
I submit that we have a moral obligation to produce and process
as much food as we can to feed the hungry peoples of the world for
many years to come. At the same time, we must plan to meet the grow-
ing food demands of our own people.
WHAT IS NEEDED TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM
Let me assume that we are all convinced that agriculture and the
food processing industry are essential to the economy of the Columbia
River Basin, to the welfare of the Nation, and the world, and because
of this, their current and future welfare should be part of long-
range planning for water resources development and water pollution
control.
What then is needed to solve the problems involved? What should
be the role of industry and its participation in the planning and
execution of water pollution control?
I think that the Public Health Service, and other governmental
agencies concerned with water pollution control planning, want and
need and are seeking the counsel and advice of technically qualified
industry people. I believe that only through the cooperative and
coordinated efforts of government and industry will such planning
develop in a manner which satisfies the regulatory objectives of
government and at the same time protects the welfare of industry.
I am convinced that if industry and government refuse or fail
to find a way to plan together, if we just muddle along each in its
own self-serving manner, sooner or later the two-way street of
cooperation will be closed and unwanted legal measures will become
necessary to accomplish what needs to be done.
I have heard it said that the Public Health Service does not
want the counsel and advice of industry—that if industry ever gave
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Industry's Role
them any good advice, they would ignore it. I cannot believe that
this is true. The record does not bear this out.
Only yesterday, at a meeting where Public Health Service and
Industry scientists exchanged research information, Dr. David
Stephan, Assistant Chief, Basic and Applied Sciences Branch, Water
Supply and Water Pollution Control Division of Public Health, re-
quested the following advice and counsel from Industry:
1. Identify major unsolved problems in the industrial waste
field. Are these problems technical or economical?
2. Which problems should the Public Health Service be work-
ing on?
3. What are the performance and cost targets for pollution
abatement measures needed to achieve clean waters?
This is an invitation to industry to participate in water supply and
pollution control planning. In my opinion, industry must respond.
It is in the interest of industry and the public to do so.
INDUSTRY1S COOPERATIVE ROLE
Let me presume that I know what the Public Health Service needs
from industry located in the Columbia River Basin. I would list
three major areas, distinctly separate in some aspects, but over-
lapping in most, within which industry should develop information,
if it is not already available, to be supplied to the Public Health
Service or other appropriate agency. The data and information accu-
mulated should be of such a nature that its use by planning engineers
would make possible:
1. Long-range projection of the water supply and water quality
needs of each major water-using industry.
2. Assessment, for each industrial community, of its current
and future waste management needs.
3. Evaluation, for each major type of industrial waste, of
the technological and economical feasibility of treatment
by available or yet to be developed methods.
Now I would like to add detail to the general areas of need
outlined above.
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COMPREHENSIVE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL PLANNING
The reservoir and ground water capacity which must be developed
in a particular region is a function of the intake water requirements
of industry and of the dilution water necessary to maintain specified
water quality standards in relation to the waste loads discharged by
industry.
In water resources planning by public agencies, assumptions are
made about industrial water utilization patterns. These assumptions
are made with regard to water intake per unit of product, consumptive
use per unit of product, and waste volume and pollutional load per
unit of product. But water utilization patterns in industry are
changing as a result of changes in the technology of industrial opera-
tions and changes in the economics of industry. Today, water resources
engineers are basing plans for 100 years of water development on data
which are subject to changes affected by intake water costs, effluent
controls, and the costs of recirculation of water. Often these change
factors have been ignored by public planning agencies in considering
industrial water needs. Often industry management has been unable or
unwilling to supply sound information to be used for this purpose.
Previous surveys of water use in the canning industry have been
inadequate. The National Canners Association, in cooperation with
the National Science Foundation, is currently engaged in a compre-
hensive nationwide study of water usage in food canning. The study
is including data on the factors which influence water use practices
in the canning of food. It is hoped that the survey results will
indicate the extent to which technological changes affect water use
and waste disposal patterns. The survey report will be made avail-
able to all interested public agencies.
With regard to assessment of the current and future waste manage-
ment needs of industrial communities, we must assume that certain
water quality standards are or will be desirable in the stream to
which each community is discharging its waste waters. Achievement of
these standards may be by one or a combination of several ways.
Complete or partial treatment of waste can be carried out within
the individual plant or operation. It can be carried out totally
within municipal or regional waste treatment facilities. Finally,
some combination of in-plant plus municipal treatment can be utilized.
Where one food processor or pulp mill represents the only industry in
a small town, joint treatment in a community facility may be more
economical for the industry and the town. Where several industrial
plants are located in a given area, the likelihood of economics being
achieved by community treatment of wastes is enhanced.
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Industry's Role
Urgently needed are soundly based formulas for determining the
economics of waste treatment under varying circumstances of indus-
trial waste load and community size.
Many communities, within which food processing plants are
located and whose sewage treatment systems receive the food plant
wastes, experience treatment difficulties during the canning season.
We recognize the need to develop information which will enable us to
know whether it is more economical to the community to have in-plant
treatment of all or a part of the wastes before discharge to the
sewer or whether the economics point to centralized treatment of
combined wastes.
As an example of the effort needed, the California State Water
Quality Control Board supported a project which was carried out by
the Research Laboratories of the National Canners Association in
cooperation with the City of Stockton, California, and one of the
five canneries located in that city.
The general aim of the research was determination of the vol-
umes and characteristics, physical and chemical, of all significant
in-plant waste streams and composite waste flows in the processing
of peaches and tomatoes. This survey is preliminary to evaluation
of the technical and economic aspects of in-plant treatment of strong
wastes before discharge to the sewer.
This research is importantly unique and significant because it
brings to focus on a common problem the interest and experience of
the pollution control agency, the waste producer, and the affected
city. The results will be available to all interested persons.
I think it can be said with little qualification, that if costs
were not a limiting factor, any type of industrial waste could be
treated to the extent necessary to prevent stream pollution. Unfor-
tunately, waste treatment by industry must be economically possible,
in the first place, and technologically feasible, in the second
place—and one, of course, influences the other. However, necessary
water pollution control programs cannot be contingent on economic
desirability. It is certainly to be expected that some segments of
industry, in some areas, will not survive.
Where not now available, technologically feasible methods of
treatment for industrial wastes must be developed. Industry, in most
cases, must be given the design criteria and operational procedures
for such methods. Generally, this must come from government-
supported research. However, industry can play an important role
in this development of improved methods.
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COMPREHENSIVE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL FLAMING
Industry can and should inform the Public Health Service of its
research needs» If industry is supporting research, there should be
an exchange of information. Industry should help in assigning prior-
ity to government research. Industry should attempt to objectively
evaluate the economic feasibility aspects of treatment methods appli-
cable to each particular industry.
INDUSTRY PARTICIPATION IN
WATER POLLUTION CONTROL PLANNING
Perhaps you have heard the story of the National Technical Task
Committee on Industrial Wastes. In many ways, it is a unique story
because the Task Committee has no parallel in history. Today, I also
represent the Task Committee. This was the expressed wish of the
Committee meeting yesterday in Cincinnati.
Briefly, the story is this. In 1948, Congress passed the original
Federal Water Pollution Control Act. This provided for a Water Pollu-
tion Control Advisory Board, appointed by the President of the United
States. Its assignment was to advise and consult with the Surgeon
General about water pollution matters. This Advisory Board recommended
to the Surgeon General that he form a National Technical Task Committee
on Industrial Wastes to work with and advise the Public Health Service
on industrial aspects of pollution abatement.
Because the Task Committee is a committee of industry people
representing the Nation's industry, it has been accused of being less
than altruistic in its outlook on water supply and water pollution con-
trol problems.
Although the Committee was originally organized to give technical
assistance to the Public Health Service, there is a current discussion
of the need to broaden or otherwise change the scope of the Committee's
relationship with the Public Health Service. This is being considered
at the request of Mr. James Quigley, Assistant Secretary of Health,
Education, and Welfare.
The concensus of the recommendations for change state that areas
of future Committee concern, in addition to matters of a technical
nature, should include!
1. Policy considerations, including enforcement policy but
excluding any participation in actual enforcement activities.
2. Increased awareness program, with emphasis on better com-
munications for:
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Industry's Role
a. Industry awareness
b. Government awareness
c. Public awareness of progress being made by industry.
3. Economic considerations and feasibility.
4. Legislative proposals, as regards positions that might
appropriately be taken on such proposals.
5. Broadening of cooperative role with other organizations.
6. The Task Committee membership should include additional
representation from industries participating to encom-
pass above areas of interest, but with each industry to
have one vote on the Task Committee.
7. A series of meetings arranged for industry management
and Government officials are proposed to include repre-
sentation of those responsible for top policy deter-
minations in the particular industry with which the
meeting is held, the meeting to be followed by a tour
to show representatives of HEW-PHS some of the procedures
currently employed in taking care of wastes and typical
problems confronting the industry.
In furtherance of this proposal, I have, as a representative of
the National Canners Association, agreed to explore with executives
in the canning industry the procedure indicated above, and I have
outlined a plan that will be carried out for both the conference and
tour of my industry. This is a pilot effort which may establish a
pattern for such meetings in other industries.
In further self-analysis of the Task Committee's role—it was
suggested that the scope of activities of the Committee might be
extended to encompass air pollution and solid waste disposal as well
as matters involving liquid wastes.
I believe that similar committees organized on a regional basis
would serve a useful purpose. I believe that the results would be
equally beneficial to industry and to the public planning agencies.
I recommended that the Public Health Service should invite indus-
try to participate in long-range planning in both policy and technical
phases of water quality and water pollution control.
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COMPREHENSIVE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL PLANNING
I believe that industry ought to sponsor and support the Public
Health Service in its efforts to develop technical and administrative
staffs adequate in number and ability to meet the critical needs for
action in pollution control planning.
I also believe that the Public Health Service should attempt to
enlist the technical assistance and good will of industries produc-
ing wastes and, where circumstances permit, support research in qual-
ified industry laboratories.
Finally, I believe that when adequate information is available,
an educational program should be designed to acquaint industry with
water pollution control planning, its design, objectives, and time
schedule.
Let me assume that research can develop the technological pro-
cedures for treating food wastes to the point that their discharge no
longer causes pollution. What about the economic burden and the com-
petitive disadvantage of the industry plant which must provide more
and more intensive treatment in order to meet more and more rigid
pollution control regulations. This cost for non-productive effort
cannot be added to the cost of his product in the market phase. The
housewife cannot be expected to reward the producer who went the
second mile in waste treatment by paying a premium for his product.
Among other needs is the important one of analyzing the effect
on industry water utilization patterns of incentives for inducement
of water conservation and pollution abatement programs. Assuming
that the State or the Federal government would sponsor appropriate
legislative measures, what would be the effect on conservation of
water and prevention of pollution? Would such measures make it pos-
sible for industry to finance water-saving and pollution prevention
procedures?
In my opinion, the single most effective measure for pollution
abatement would be the granting to industry of special tax advan-
tages to encourage and enable the construction, installation, and
use of improved treatment processes.
In this regard and in conclusion I would like to read this
statement by Senator Ribicoff in support of his bill which failed
in the previous Congress:
If we are to clean up our air and our water, a large part of
the job must be done by private industry, but we simply cannot
point the finger at private industry and say, 'You are caus-
ing some of the pollution. Do something about it.1 We must
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Industry*s Role
frankly recognize that the purchase and installation of
equipment to control pollution is a big expense, and that
unlike many capital outlays that ultimately produce new
profits, these costs basically serve the health and safety
of the public.
Therefore, there must be some public sharing with private
industry of the economic impact of these expenditures.
I believe the industry agrees wholeheartedly with the philosophy
of this statement.
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SYMPOSIUM SUMMARY — RESEARCH NEEDS
TO IMPROVE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL PLANNING
George W. Gleeson
Dean, School of Engineering
Oregon State University
Corvallis, Oregon
At a conference of this type there is a certain advantage when a
person happens to be the summarizer. Being the summarizer, he gains
more from the program than anybody else because he pays particular
attention to all that was said. I now have before me nine pages of
notes from the various topics which were delivered today. I appreci-
ate them all.
In an attempt to summarize a conference, I play a game. The game
consists of putting down the thoughts, about a week ahead of time,
which, from the program titles, I think the various speakers will
generate. Then, as thoughts are generated, I see how close I have
come to second-guessing them. Today I have done a reasonably satis-
factory job in this connection, which means that I am either better
informed in the area of water pollution control planning than I
thought, or that there is unusual agreement between viewpoints. In
attempting this summary, please note that the subtitle permits me to
interject some remarks of my own.
I compliment those responsible for the arrangement of this pro-
gram. It includes, first, the broad aspects, then the specific
regional aspects of pollution control, then the role of the state and
municipalities which I assume represents the public, and, finally,
the role of industry in the program. I believe all segments of the
pollution control problem have been covered in a rather comprehensive
manner.
I proceed with the summary and say that, in connection with Mr.
Krause's remarks, I conclude that long-range, long-duration planning
is now going to meet certain stable objectives in a relatively per-
manent fashion. He regrets that he does not have a crystal ball, but
because of the certain intangible factors that are involved in plan-
ning of such a magnitude, he must make use of crystal-balling. I con-
clude that the planning is directed toward the highest and best use
of water for all of the multiple purposes served by a total watershed,
or in a total region. The planning excludes brush-fire activities.
It excludes fragmented approaches and eliminates any measures of
expediency from consideration. I think the planning envisions the sys-
tems approach which many of us for a long time have felt is the only
approach to such broad and important areas and subjects. The planning
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COMPREHENSIVE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL PLANNING
will not only be continuous in terms of planning itself, but also con-
tinuous in terms of evaluation as to how well the program is meeting
the established objectives. The comprehensive planning involves the
multiplicity of purposes, influences, agencies, disciplines, methods,
and means. Accordingly, both interdisciplinary management and control
are indicated. As an interjected remark, I would be very happy if
Wally Towne would tell me how to administer interdisciplinary research.
He is doing it as well as the interdisciplinary planning. Of all the
failures that I know of on university campuses, interdisciplinary activ-
ity happens to be the most obvious. Incidentally, as long as I can
suggest areas of research, I would suggest that research in the areas
of management of interdisciplinary activity is one on which we could
stand more light.
I appreciate Mr. Krause's first reference to the "population
explosion," if you want to call it that, which is superimposed upon
all other problems which we have. The demographic factors are, of
course, superimposed upon the problems of water quality and control.
Mr. Krause referred to the economic and financial factors, the health
factors, the legal factors, and the social factors. I was much pleased
with his remark about preventative planning, because I believe this is
one of the areas in which immediate action is possible and necessary.
He stated that objectives were never completely met. He indicated that
we still have a lot to learn in certain areas regarding methods and
procedures for removal of contaminants. He indicated a three-phase
program or three-pronged program of planning, implementation, and
operation, with a two-vector approach, one for inventory accumulation
and the other for a resource economics study. He further indicated
that the historical approach was perhaps ineffective in planning; that
we need complete perspective; that the objectives must be firmly estab-
lished, expressed in specific values even though such objectives might
well be variable in location, variable in terms of user interest, and
variable in terms of time. I'm more than pleased with his description
of the systems analysis approach through mathematical modeling of river
basins because of the complexity, as well as the many facets and
aspects involved. In my opinion, the systems approach, with the best
possible use of all of the available mathematical tools, may be the
only way in which we can completely encompass all of the necessary
information in a packaged fashion in any planning as comprehensive as
river basin planning happens to be.
I refer to Mr. Towne's presentation. I was particularly inter-
ested in his discussion of thermal pollution; in his discussions of
conflicts between the multiple uses of water and water quality; and,
also, the over-appropriation of water rights. There is no question
but what some high degree of management in a large number of fields is
presently indicated, and that management and implementation of planning
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Symposium Summary -- Research Needs to Improve WPG Planning
will finally result. I have no question about this; I'm sure it will
take place. Even at the present time, I might suggest that there is
management required in the over-appropriation of water within the
state, and some cleanup of the situation in which confusion exists in
depth is necessary. Mr. Towne also referred to systems analysis and
mathematical modeling; to the process for continuously monitoring
streams for the storage and retrieval of data to which I say, "Thank
Heavens!" He indicated that the Northwest is particularly lucky both
in terms of the amount of water and the time at which current studies
are taking place.
In reference to Mr. McNeil's presentation, I don't know whom I
should compliment, but I should certainly compliment somebody or every-
body involved in an organizational plan of such broad scope as the
Columbia Basin Inter-Agency Committee and its related subcommittees.
There is some slight indication woven through all of the remarks of
all of the speakers of conflict between authority and control agencies.
This will continue to be; it's inevitable. Mr. McNeil referred to the
slowness in our social and political developments as compared to our
technological developments, and later on in his presentation, made
special points of public relations, of information dissemination to
the public, and of public understanding of the problems in this field.
I digress and take exception. This same remark was made by Professor
Merryfield.
In conference with my associates — and I call them that—in the
field of social psychology, they tell me that it will not be necessary
to condition the public to the acceptance of broad programs of the
subject type, either prior to or at the time of implementation. The
public will not be greatly concerned with even the broader aspects of
the problem, let alone the specific details; they will shortly, if
they are not already, be conditioned to place the responsibility for
programs of this type in the hands of those to whom that responsibil-
ity has been delegated. This rather shocks me in a way, but I am told
that within the next 20 years, this conditioning, if that is the
proper term, will be so firmly established that once the responsibil-
ity has been assigned to a responsible party to carry on any activity
in the public interest, they will expect that the responsibility will
be discharged in their behalf under optimal circumstances and with
optimal results. I think I agree, or perhaps I've been brainwashed,
but I'm beginning to be convinced that we have a certain level to
which we can effectively disseminate information, and beyond which
level the effort is rather futile because of the diffused nature of
the pathways of the information among the public.
I believe the broad schedule that Mr. McNeil presented for the
planning progress and the coordination of the involved agencies and
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COMPREHENSIVE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL PLANNING
interests can produce nothing but a final result which should be com-
pact, concise, and certainly applicable to the given region. Also, I'm
quite sure that such falls within the broad framework as outlined by
Mr. Krause.
I've already made reference to the sociological nature of the
pollution problem as referred to by Professor Merryfield. I agree that
the unenlightened public should be enlightened, but I am not sure that
they're going to accept this enlightenment. I think that the State
has a definite responsibility, and that the States recognize this
responsibility primarily in the implementation phase of this program.
The State recognizes its responsibility as a participant in the planning
phase. The State level comprehension of the problem and the State
level activities in this connection are overshadowed by the complexi-
ties and over-all planning for large basins. Professor Merryfield-
suggested, as I do, also, a review of the doctrines of use and owner-
ship of water, particularly the riparian rights. He discussed the
interrelationships of control. In this area we have need for research.
The interrelationships of control systems need some study in depth.
I'm not wholly in agreement when Fred defined the river management as
an art. It is partially an art, but I do think it is somewhat of a
science, also.
Mr. Mercer presented at the beginning of his talk the cry of the
outraged conservationist and indicated that this would be heard more
often in the future, and of this I'm absolutely sure. All over the
country is a feeling in depth that we must at least clean up, if not
effect true conservation. This feeling is becoming a conscious part
of the public thinking. Mr. Mercer believes, and I believe, that
industry recognizes the need for pollution control and is determined,
if they have not already asked, to be included in all planning and
control measures. I'm sure that his plea for economic assistance in
the establishment of industrial control devices is justified. I agree
with him that industry is beginning to face up to their full share of
the responsibility, and we have very definite evidence, both individ-
ually and collectively, that they are doing so. That this attitude of
cooperation continues, of course, would be my hope. I agree with him
that the long-range projection of industrial requirements is a neces-
sary study; that the long-range projection of potential community
facilities is a necessary study; and that we are now in the third
phase of considering each waste as a separate and distinct problem.
Mr. Mercer identified the problems of his own industry; he asked that
some preference be given to those most important; and that industry
participate on a cooperative basis in research and a study of the par-
ticular problems of industry.
The municipalities as described by Mr. Morse are, as he said,
inescapably tied to and dependent upon water. The municipalities have
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Symposium Summary — Research Needs to Improve WPG Planning
been a part and parcel of all water use planning since the beginning
because their very lifeblood depends upon it. He outlined the sources
of water and the changes that take place. He discussed water shortage
and attributed much of it to inadequate advanced planning. He indi-
cated that the municipalities cannot go it alone; that they must co-
ordinate their efforts with other agencies and join in any planning
effort that is under way. He indicated that there is research needed
in all aspects of water use, and I heartily agree. I will agree with
his indication of public relations and public interests, and in his
statement of organized communications, because he stipulated a munic-
ipal level. Actually, the public at this level is involved; they
cannot help but be. However, when you magnify this interest to the
national level, there are serious questions as to whether or not you
can engage all of the people in an interesting fashion in planning as
complicated, technically and otherwise, as the program of pollution
control happens to be.
I close by just asking a few questions and leave these questions
with you, not expecting an answer from anyone. My first question is:
"When in the evolutionary process does an interdisciplinary program
establish itself as a prime discipline?" I'm tired of talking about
interdisciplinary programs when those programs have reached the status
where they, of themselves, constitute a prime discipline. They may be
a package of many interdisciplinary units, but some have matured to
the stage where they, in themselves, are no longer interdisciplinary.
My next question: "Is it within the nature of organized man to
permit semi-unstructured and mobile activities to remain outside the
province of compartmentalization and fragmentation?" "In a broad
program which must, because of its breadth, be somewhat unstructured,
can we prevent island entities from developing which become divorced
from the over-all planning activity?"
And I ask: "Is it possible to conduct large, effective inter-
disciplinary programs without the creation of empires?" I hope that
it is and, if it is, I would then like to know what terminal facili-
ties are involved in the planning and at what stage those terminal
facilities are put in force. "What relationship will exist for the
coordination of the necessary residuals of particular planning stages
with the remaining implementation, operation, control, and enforce-
ment?"
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