This volume addresses water policy issues related to water resources research, ground water, water conservation, urban water systems, water resource planning, supply and demand interaction, principles and standards, and cost-benefit analysis, as well as general, institutional aspects of local, state, regional, and federal policies. The five contributors are scientists with expertise in water resources policy; their associations with Congress, the administration, state and local governments, private industry, and the academic community provide broad perspectives of their subject. The focus of their concerns is the Carter administration's Water Policy Initiatives submitted to Congress in June 1978.