Self-improvement is as American as apple pie, with wide ranging educational programs abounding throughout the land. The abundance and variety of such educational programs convey a mixed message. Obviously a sentiment is widely shared that there is room for improvement in many areas. At the same time, the existence of these programs represents a sense of optimism that education can remedy troublesome deficiencies and inadequacies.

Consider the phrase "constructed wetlands." Although not a contradiction in terms, the two words make up an unlikely combination. Construction implies a project fabricated and built by humans. What then has construction to do with wetlands, natural areas formed by the complex workings of geology, biology and hydrology?

Because the Endangered Species Act is concerned with the effects of human activities on the natural environment, the law covers a lot of ground, both real and figurative. It can regulate large geographic areas of desert, mountains and forests, as well as have wide legal implications affecting a range of human activities: political, social, economic, and cultural.

Cliches come easy when the importance of water is discussed. Water is life. Water is destiny. "Whiskey is for drinking and water is to fight over" is an oft used phrase to acknowledge water's more immediate influence, especially in the West. Many speakers have proclaimed that water is a driving force in western politics and a wave upon which much of the economic activities of the region rise and fall. In short, water is pretty important stuff.

Expecting safe, drinkable water to flow from household taps once was an unquestioned assumption. This assumption was founded upon various acts of faith - in progress, technology, and the local water utility. For many people, however, this comforting assumption no longer holds true. We of little faith are becoming wary of tap water, questioning its quality and suspicious of its health effects.

Those who labor in the water resources field may at times feel their efforts to be slighted. Whereas military glories are marked by public monuments - statues, plaques, a cannon in the park - milestones in water resource developments are represented by laws, public policies, and court decisions. To small boys and most adults, a cannon in the park is more intriguing.

Fifteen new water resources research projects have been approved for July 1, 1976, funding by the Office of Water Research and Technology (OWRT), U.S. Department of the Interior, according to University of Arizona Water Resources Research Center (WRRC) Director Sol Resnick. Five other projects funded this fiscal year have been granted continue support through the coming year.

Many U.S. citizens believe that thanks to our advanced technology and enlightened public policy we can consume without risk the food and water that are readily available to most of us, as citizens of a rich and privileged country. Some of those who subscribe to this buoyant and comforting attitude, however, may have lately experienced second thoughts. Because of various recent and widely reported incidents, many people are feeling concern about the quality and safety of our food and water. This is not surprising; some of these incidents have resulted in serious, widespread sickness, even death.

Recently very much center stage and in the spotlight, water conservation seems to be an idea whose time has come. If, however, we define water conservation as the careful use of water to better maintain current supplies, then water conservation is not a recent development. What is relatively new is our current perception of water conservation.

The FY 1978 Water Resources Problems and Research Budget Projections Report for the Colorado River - Great Basin Region has been released. The réport was prepared cooperatively by the water resources research institutes of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming, which constitute the Colorado River - Great Basin Consortium of Water Research Institutes and Centers (CWIC).