4. The future planning and conservation of water resources by regional water authorities

The new water organization proposed for England and Wales will present a formidable challenge to all in the Industry, but at the same time it will provide exciting opportunities for all engineers and scientists practising in thisfield. In many respects the new organization will be different from, and in advance of, that in any other country in the world.

Under the new organization engineers responsible for planning water conservation schemes will be required to take a much broader view of the problem than hitherto and will have at their disposal a far wider range of possible solutions to consider.

Although there are still nearly 200 separate water undertakings in England and Wales, water resource development has, in recent years, to a very large extent, been planned on the basis of the 29 river authority areas. In future, it will be planned on a basis of regional water authority areas each covering, on average, three times the area of one of the present river authorities.