Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 April 2015
The current energy crisis, water supply and distribution problems, land use conflicts, and environmental issues are bringing with them a series of federal and state policy actions (legislation, new institutions, and court decisions) in response to the complex problem of resource allocation. In their simplest form, the policy questions deal with the public sector influence on the allocation of available scarce resources among alternative uses, and the allocation of scarce public investment funds among alternative programs to augment available supplies of these resources.
This paper is based on a portion of a study directed by the author, funded jointly by the Office of Water Resources Research, U.S. Dept. of the Interior, and the Texas Water Development Board, and supervised by the Systems Engineering Division, Texas Water Development Board.