Title from cover.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Water resources planning : past, present and future / John J. Boland and Duane Baumann -- 2. A history of the United States water resources planning and development / Warren Viessman, Jr. -- Appendix 2.1 Evolution of public involvement in water planning / Jerome Delli Priscoli -- Appendix 2.2 Nebraska natural resource districts -- 3. The theory and practice of benefit-cost analysis / John J. Boland, Nicholas Flores and Charles W. Howe -- 4. Environmental issues and options in water resources planning and decision making / David H. Moreau and Daniel P. Loucks -- 5. On the collaboration of ecologists and economists / Clifford S. Russell and Mark Sagoff -- 6. Political decision making : real decisions in real political contexts / Peter Rogers, Lawrence MacDonnell and Peter Lydon -- Appendix 6.1 Overview of American law for allocation of water -- 7. Making the transition : moving water resources planning and management into the twenty-first century / Gerald E. Galloway.

This broad review of the development of US water resource policy analysis and practice offers perspectives from several disciplines: law, economics, engineering, ecology and political science. The historical context provided goes back to the early 19th century, but the book concentrates on the past 60 years. A key feature is a discussion of the difficulty that has generally been encountered in bringing the disciplines of economics and ecology into collaboration in the water resource context.