Institutional Framework For Water Management

Abstract

Water resources in the United States are managed by a number of federal, state, and local agencies, with a variety of missions and sometimes overlapping jurisdictions. Resources are frequently managed through cooperation between many federal and state agencies, or by delegation of authority by federal agencies to state entities. This chapter provides brief overviews of the legal framework governing water use and the functions of the primary federal agencies responsible for various aspects of water management in the United States.