Status of Water Research in the United States

There are six major types of water problems that plague major geographic regions of the nation : pollution, inadequate supply, uneven distribution, floods, variability of supply and demand, and water treatment. Every part of the US has at least one of these problems; most of the states and all of the regions have several. The main problem is not a shortage of water, but a shortage of ideas, technology, and management abilities to utilize the available supplies more effectively. The dilemma is how to obtain the right quantity of water, of the right quality, at the right time and place, at a reasonable cost.