Twelve new water resources research projects have been approved for funding during FY1975-76 by the Office of Water Research and Technology (OWRT), U.S. Department of the Interior, according to Sol Resnick, Director of the University of Arizona Water Resources Research Center. In addition, four projects funded during the past year have been granted continuing support for further research during the coming year.

The Water Resources Scientific Information Center (WRSIC) bibliographic data base is available for computerized retrieval on the Energy Research and Development Administration's RECON system through the University of Arizona on a no-cost basis. States being served by the University of Arizona are Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Washington.

Sol Resnick, Director of the University of Arizona Water Resources Research Center, wishes to announce that on January 2, 1976, he sent out the annual invitation for preliminary proposals for participation in the FY 1977 Allotment Grant of the U.S. Office of Water Research and Technology (OWRT). Funding for water resources research projects under the OWRT Allotment is available to anyone in the State University System (ASU, NAU, or UA).

For the past five years the Water Resources Research Center (WRRC), University of Arizona, aas been coordinating a program of Information Dissemination and Technology Transfer. The purpose of the project is to present research and other water-related information and findings to the public, and various governmental agencies and organizations, for practical application and use in planning and decision making.

Secretary of the Interior Rogers C.B. Morton announced that Dr. William S. Butcher of Austin, Texas, has been named Director of the Office of Water Research and Technology (OWRT). Dr. Butcher comes to the post from The University o Texas at Austin, where he was Professor of Civil Engineering. From January 1971 to January 1973 he served as Assistant to the President's Science Advisor in the Office of Science and Technology, Executive Office of the President. He was Associate Director of the Water Resources Research Center of the Desert Research Institute, University of Nevada, Reno, from 1967 to 1969.

The 19th Annual Arizona Watershed Symposium will be held September 24, 1975, at the Desert Hills Motel in Phoenix. The Symposium, co-hosted by the Arizona Water Resources Committee and the Arizona Water Commission, is open to the public. This year's program promises to be interesting, although it will be hard to match last year's landmark event.

When the state’s urban dwellers think of rural water resources – if they think of them at all – they most likely think of recreational opportunities, like fishing, boating and camping. Residents of rural areas of the state, however, are confronting a wide range of water issues, with ensuring sufficient supplies being the most critical issue. The rural water management strategy that is adopted must reflect the physical, social and cultural characteristics unique to the non-urban regions of Arizona.

In our democratic form of government, the people or, rather, we, the people, are said to be in charge, the ultimate source of political power. To believe that the people are in control is reassuring, to the extent that we are capable of knowing our best interests. And who among us claims not to know what is best for him or for her?

Approval has been received on the Plan of Study developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Phoenix Urban Study office. The program plan identifies the scope and objective of the water resources study, and also serves as an inter-agency agreement between the participants in the study. The approval of this report in January gave the green light for the development of alternative plans to address the problems surfaced during the initial problem identification phase.

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.