ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on changes in the US institutional framework relevant for assessing water reclamation projects, as manifested in changing national objectives for water development, and the implications of these changes for project efficiency measures and for water pricing policies. US institutions related to irrigation water have undergone dramatic changes through time. The government's role in water resources development was given explicit form after the late 1930's. Water projects were viewed as serving multiple purpose functions during the "social phase" in the US between 1939 and 1973. Society-wide benefits associated with flood control, recreation and off-farm economic development were recognized as public in nature and costs therefore were to be paid by the public. In 1936-1939, national objectives for water resources development in the US, as expressed in the 1936 Flood Control Act and the 1939 Reclamation Act, set the stage for multiple purposes planning as the appropriate institutional framework for assessing water projects.
