Water, Politics, and Ideology: An Overview of Water Resources Management

Author(s): Harvey Doerksen

Source: Public Administration Review, Vol. 37, No. 5 (Sep. - Oct., 1977), pp. 444-448
Published by: Wiley on behalf of the American Society for Public Administration
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/974689
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444 PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW

cuse for these deficiencies; we suggest also tention to provide the necessary skills. Hy-
that, in management terms, there is not all drologists, geologists, biologists, hydrologic and
that much difference between East and West, civil engineers, economists, political scientists,
or between managing for water quality and and professional managers are all involved.
managing for other purposes. Awareness that these disciplines see the prob-
The "pieces" prepared by our several lems in different ways is one of the keys to
authors will speak for themselves; we believe understanding the realities of water policy de-
that taken together they provide a useful ifcision making and implementation.
by no means all-encompassing introduction to A second key is recognition that water
some water management problems. We are par- management is not merely, or even most im-
ticularly happy that several of them reflectportantly, a technical problem. Technologies
the views and experience of practitioners, certainly play a central role and for this rea-
faced every working day with the issues they son this field of administration has been per-
discuss. ceived by some as the province of technocrats.
Two final generalizations seem appropriate. But it is clear, and we think this is evident in
First, it is evident that water management is the articles that follow, that the most basic
inherently to an unusual degree multi- issues and problems are questions of value dif-
disciplinary. Just as no one agency manages ferences and politics.
the nation's water, no one discipline is broad Paul L. Beckett
enough in its range of knowledge and at- Berton L. Lamb

WATER,
WATER,POLITICS,
POLITICS,AND
AND
IDEOLOGY:
IDEOLOGY:
AN OVERVIEW OF WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

Harvey Doerksen, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

The management of water resources certain-

rational,
rational,comprehensive
comprehensivedecision
decision
making
making
by al-by al-
ly is one of the most frustrating kindsmost
of any
most anydefinition
definitionis impossible.
is impossible.
Second,
Second,
management conceivable. Water resources man-policies
policiesare
aremore
more thethe
result
result
of factors
of factors
external
external
agement cannot be viewed as the management to public agencies than of decisions made
of people within an organization toward par-within agencies. Third, conflict in the decision
arena is axiomatic.
ticular objectives, for this is but a small part
of the total water management process. Water
resources managers typically have only partial Physical Attributes of Water
control over the object of their concern-the
The physical attributes of water which
water which they must manage. Therefore,
make its management unique are well known.
water administration encompasses conflict man-
Each attribute has engendered a particular set
agement, interagency coordination, and plan-
of organizational responses. For example, like
ning in a setting of uncertainty.
most river systems, the Colorado River arises
Overshadowing the normal intra-organiza-
in the State of Colorado on the "West Slope"
tional problems are the technical, legal-
(thus ignoring the fact that Metropolitan Den-
political, and philosophical (value) problems
Harvey Doerksen is western water allocation research
associated with water. Water resources manage-
manager
ment must be understood as policy making for the Western Energy and Land Use Team
of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He is author
where agencies, laws, and political entities con-
of The Columbia River Interstate Compact: Politics
verge. Three basic tenets emerge from analysis
of Negotiation, and co-edited Water Politics and Pub-
of current water management systems. First, lic Involvement.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1977

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WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT 445

ver across the Continental Divide requires thearate in many cases from those related to
most water), joins with the Green River surfacein water. Public ownership of surface
Utah (which itself arises in Wyoming), moves waters has long been established. In several
south and west through Arizona, and tantalizesstates, groundwater still is treated as private
California on its way to Mexico. The river property, although the trend is toward state
system also encompasses portions of Nevada administration and allocation. While regional
and New Mexico. and interstate water aquifers are now known,
In almost any river system, this pattern ofinstitutional responses historically have been
shared jurisdiction obtains. Organizational re-
expressed at the local level.
sponses include legal doctrines establishing use Water has historically been used as a gar-
priorities, interstate compacts and treaties for
bage pit. Waste materials can be diluted and
apportionment and joint management, inter- purified by aquatic ecosystems. However, there
agency committees for planning and coordina- is a point beyond which the quantity of
tion, and water quality regulations to protectwaste materials introduced exceeds the natural
downstream users. purification processes.
Water flow is not a constant. Terms like The quantity and quality aspects of water
"average flow" and "normal year" have clearly
his- are interrelated. Yet institutional re-
torical meaning but limited usefulness in pre- sponses have evolved separately. Water quality
dicting a particular year's flow. The manage- responses have been the more recent, bringing
ment problem is uncertainty, which can be in both the traditional public health agencies
reduced by reliance on the past. Average flows with peripheral involvement in water resources
are the result of floods, dry years, and daily, and the newer regulatory agencies such as the
seasonal, and annual fluctuations. However, to
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and
be useful, water must be available at the right its state counterparts.
time and place. As a result of uncertainties
caused by cyclical flows, measurement inade- Attributes of the Political System
quacies, and monitoring deficiencies, institu-
tional responses have included legal methods In authoritatively allocating values (water)
to establish priorities of use, creation of agen- in a society, water managers deal with a re-
cies oriented to construction of storage and source valued to some extent, but not equally,
distribution facilities, and, more recently, the by every member of the society. As a result,
establishment of data banks. water management represents a public policy
Another kind of uncertainty is introducedarena with very high public interest. In an era
by the existence of groundwater (the hydrolo-of increasing water scarcity, allocation of
gist distinguishes groundwater, which exists water becomes very challenging indeed.
underground, from surface water which exists Many state, federal, and local agencies share
in streams and lakes). The enormous quanitiesresponsibility for the distribution and alloca-
of groundwater throughout the country exist tion of water resources to a wide variety of
at various levels and in various substrata. Such users. Typically, they do not coordinate these
water may move rapidly as underground efforts effectively among themselves. Each of
streams or it may be trapped in rock storage the numerous agencies exercises control over
basins which prevent movement. It may be the water resources within its own sphere of
recharged from rainfall and surface runoff or influence and vigorously protects its preroga-
it may be limited to the quantity trapped by tives within that sphere. Even where there
earlier geologic events. Groundwater presents have been attempts to coordinate the activities
the water manager with much greater uncer- of related water management agencies (as, for
tainty than surface water because it must be example, through committees and river basin
measured by costly and inefficient drilling and commissions), the dominant agencies have been
monitoring of a series of wells. Questions of able to insure their relative autonomy.
movement and recharge require still more re- This situation is the product of rational
fined techniques. behavior from the perspective of the individual
A set of institutional responses has arisen agencies, even though the situation itself ap-
from the characteristics of groundwater, sep- pears irrational. Major revision of the system

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1977

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446 PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW

would come only at the expense of a multi-

their associated appropriations subcommittees.
The outcome of this arrangement is a lack of
tude of vested interests which benefit from
the status quo. In any event, massive reorgani- comprehensive planning, because most projects
zation to "rationalize" the process would are authorized in the Congress through a form
probably change policy outputs only margi- of item (project) budgeting.
nally. A single, centralized, coordinated institu-
tion created to allocate and manage water re- Attributes of Water Resource Managers
sources would incorporate precisely the same
combination of demands and the same inequal- One of the most pervasive aspects of water
ities of power which are evident in the exist-resources management is that behavior ex-
ing structure. hibited by managers far outweighs other fac-
Water allocation processes are based on tors in restraining coordinated action, limiting
more than one legal doctrine. The predomi- rationality, and producing conflict. Water re-
nant method of water allocation in the West source managers tend to approach decisions
is the "appropriation doctrine," under which from a narrow perspective as a result of pro-
the individual states apportion waters among fessional value biases, agency traditions, and
the various users according to who was first ideology.
to put water to a beneficial use. Each of the water resource management
The "riparian doctrine," commonly usedagencies in tends to attract certain kinds of pro-
the East and practiced to some extent in fessionals. Breadth of professional expertise
western states, bases water allocation on land typically is lacking. Even where agencies have
ownership. Landowners are entitled to certain consciously attempted to introduce breadth by
rights to use the waters of a stream which including support staffs from other professions,
crosses or borders their land. Such uses must they have not been successful in modifying
be "reasonable" and must not harm down- the central focus of the agency.1
stream landowners. The "tyranny of expertise" is a particular
Two additional doctrines-"Indian reserved threat in water management. The intricacies of
rights" and "federal reserved rights"-determine
the decision arena practically insure that decis-
what category of user and what level of gov- ions will be made by experts. The numerous
ernment is entitled to certain waters. Thus public involvement programs which agencies
these doctrines directly affect the amount haveof
attempted typically have required sub-
water available for appropriation by the states.
stantial "education" components preliminary to
These doctrines collectively have a numbermeaningful involvement.
of important management implications. First, Each water resource agency has developed
they result in piecemeal decision making. and perpetuated an almost mystical raison
Second, they shift much of the major d'etre.
de- For example, the Bureau of Reclama-
cision-making responsibility onto the courts.
tion promotes the story of a dusty town with
Third, with each decision, they progressively
bad schools and primitive streets, nearing eco-
reduce the decision options available. Fourth,
nomic exhaustion, which is transformed by a
they provide traditional water users with a
Bureau dam into a thriving population center.2
disproportionate amount of influence over the
However, such justifications for being often
place agencies in direct opposition. The Fish
decision process. Fifth, they deepen the exist-
ing cleavages between the various components
and Wildlife Service, a long-acknowledged
of the decision-making system and makeenemyco- of the Bureau, would tend to value
operation difficult. what is not done, rather than what is done.
Water development traditionally has been
It would include among its successes those
the realm of a troika of groups of political projects blocked and those miles of naturally
actors. The first group is local economic flowing
in- streams saved for future generations.
terests-those most likely to benefit from Like professional values, traditional values
water development in the local area. The affect agency perception of the "public inter-
second is the construction agencies. The thirdest." That the boundaries of rightness of one
group includes congressmen, particularly the agency only partially overlap the boundaries of
agriculture and public works committees and rightness of other agencies (if at all) forces

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1977

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WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT 447

many of the decision processes into an inter- utility districts (e.g., REAs) or private power
agency arena. As a result of intra-agency companies. Public power arguments were asso-
agreement and interagency conflict in this sit- ciated with the Democratic Party as a result
uation, many professionals become frustrated of New Deal programs including the Tennessee
by what they perceive as failure in the inter- Valley Authority and the Bonneville Power
agency decision arena to implement policies Administration, both of which were required
which have wide support within their agency. by law to give preference to public power
Ideological beliefs also are prevalent among distribution systems. The policy issue was not
water resource managers and form another whether massive hydroelectric power develop-
basis for determining "correct policies." People ment should take place, for both sides agreed
come to believe that water ought to be used that it should, but who should market the
in certain ways, depending on their back- power produced.
ground. The dichotomous ideologies which
have most substantially influenced water man- The Environmental Movement
agement include state rights/federal control;
private power/public power; and preservation/ The environmental movement has recently
development. These ideologies have worked to greatly heightened public interest in the preser-
make cooperation, trade-offs, and compromise vation of naturally flowing streams for fish
difficult. and wildlife, recreation, and esthetic purposes.
Some western states (Washington, Oregon,
States' Rights versus Federal Control Montana, and Colorado) have recently passed
The states' rights ideology has increased in legislation legally recognizing for the first time
intensity over the past few years. States' rights that such nonconsumptive, instream uses of
arguments have as one base the massive ac- water are beneficial. Such change is a direct
cumulations of economically viable water rights challenge to the traditional users whose ap-
by individuals under state water appropriation propriations required diversion of water from
doctrines; more recently they have also been the natural stream. This controversy is coming
reactions to threat of federal government usur- in the eastern states with increased pressure
for water use.
pation of state control. The states are more
organized in this ideological struggle than their The ideological bases for it are currently
federal equivalents, through such organizations emerging, and their full impact has yet to be
as the Western States Water Council. felt. Of vital importance for water resources
In policy terms, it is likely that a shift in managers is the fact that this controversy rep-
the water allocation arena from states to the resents a head-on collision between those who

federal government would significantly alter value non-consumptive "uses" of water, and those
who believe that "unused" waters are wasted.
the mix of benefits to water users. A general
atmosphere of distrust, suspicion, and often
antagonism between state and federal water Summary
resource managers decreases the possibilities of
cooperation, and heightens conflict. It shouldThe physical attributes of water create sub-
be noted that state antagonism toward federalstantial uncertainties for the decision maker
agencies is selective, because some traditional
that are only partially reduced by techno-
development alliances transcend levels of logical advances. The highly diverse political
government. and legal system for managing water resources
Private versus Public Power creates uncertainties which defy comprehensive
management. The managers themselves bring to
Historically, private versus public power the decision-making arena preconceived notions
conflict has had great impact on water of public interest based on professional train-
resources management. Beginning in the late ing, agency traditions, and ideological value
19th century and reaching its peak at the frameworks. All these factors work against
national policy level in the 1950s, the focus attempts at meaningful coordination and co-
of this ideological struggle was whether hydro- operative decision making. This is an adminis-
electric power should be marketed by public trative world set apart from most.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1977

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448 PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW

Notes

1. Daniel A. Mazmanian, "Participatory Democracy in
a Federal Agency," in John C. Pierce and Harvey
Doerksen (eds.), Water Politics and Public Involve-
ment (Ann Arbor, Mich.: Ann Arbor Science Pub-
lishers, 1976), pp. 219-222.
2. Helen Ingram, "The Politics of Information: The
Social Well-Being Objective," in Wade H. Andrews,
et al., The Social Well-Being and Quality of Life
Dimension in Water Resources Planning and Develop-
ment (Logan: Utah State University, 1973), p. 55.

FEDERAL
FEDERAL WATER
WATERRESOURCES
RESOURCES
MANAGEMENT:
MANAGEMENT:
THE ADMINISTRATIVE SETTING

Helen Ingram, Resources for the Future

J.R. McCain, University of Arizona

The
Theadministrative
administrativesetting
setting
of federal
of federal
water water as correct, the characteristics of
accepted
resources
resources management
management reflects
reflects
the pattern
the ofpattern
waterofas an issue become all important be-
politics
politics inin
thethe
larger
larger
arenaarena
of water
of policy.
water policy.
cause they set limits upon administrative
Traditionally,
Traditionally, the the
fragmented
fragmented
structure
structure
of ad- of ad- and behavior. How public and politi-
structure
ministrative
ministrative agencies
agencies
pursuing
pursuing
separate,
separate, cal actors perceive the stakes they have in
individ- individ-
ualized
ualizedgoals
goals
has has
beenbeen
appropriate
appropriate
to the dis-
to the dis-
governmental allocation of water resources
tributive
tributive policy
policy
arena
arena
existing
existing
in water.
inOur
water. Our various uses predetermines the sort of
among
first aim in this article is to describe the political arena which exists.
long-standing administrative structure and
policy arena of water resources. Second, we Water as an Unlimited Birthright
examine the forces for change in adminis- Water has historically been perceived as dif-
trative arrangements, particularly the mandate ferent from other resources like oil or timber
of the Environmental Protection Agency. or copper which are recognized as finite and
Finally, we assess the current administrative the costs of which are accepted as a function
setting and long-range opportunities for further of supply and demand.2 Water is so important
modification of the policy arena in the future. to so many activities that people are reluctant
to conceive of a world in which it might not
The Traditional Arena
be cheap and plentiful. Further, water has
long been associated in the American mind
The key to unlocking the long-standing with economic development. Governmental in-
policy-making process in water resources, in- vestment in water has historically been an ac-
cluding the structure and relationships of ad- cepted strategy to generate growth. A water
ministrative agencies, is the way in which project can turn a flood plain into a shopping
water is perceived. Examining the anticipated center, a desert into an oasis, and a roaring
benefits and costs of policy first, as inde- torrent into electric power.
pendent variables which determine the pattern The anticipated benefits from governmental
of political action, is the important theoretical
Helen Ingram is a staff member of Resources for the
contribution of Theodore Lowi.1 Lowi suggests
Future, on leave from the directorship of the Insti-
that we turn upside down the usual models tute of Government Research, University of Arizona.
for studying policy making which treat the She has published extensively, with particular empha-
character of policy last, as the resulting out- sis on public policy, natural resources, and the en-
vironment.
put of a process. Policy should be considered
first, as an independent variable which determ- J.R. McCain is a research associate with the Institute
ines the patterns of political action. If Lowi is of Government Research, University of Arizona, and
doctoral candidate in political science. His main areas
The authors are grateful to Dean Mann and Scott Ullery of interest include public policy, natural resources,
for their helpful comments. and American Indians.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1977

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