ABSTRACT
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, and the Ministry of Housing and Local Government have long been the primary cabinet agencies in water resources affairs in England. The Water Resources Act of 1963 is as important for its organizational and financial provisions as for its new legal powers. Both organizational arrangements and the provisions for financing are instrumental to the substantive water management measures. In most cases, the River Authorities are the initiators of water management actions and have a wide latitude in decision making. The newly created Water Resources Board provides for the first time a central focus for the national concern about water resources and their effective development and management. The Minister of Housing and Local Government exercises the central government responsibilities for municipal water supply and sewage disposal. River Authorities assume the functions and powers of River Boards, in addition to the new responsibilities regarding water conservation which were specified in considerable detail.
