ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study is to help clarify some of the complex problems involved in river basin development. The popular bases for careful analyses have been inadequate; this study seeks to fill, at least partially, the need for more adequate bases. Moreover, on no important issue of natural resources has the discussion been more confused by preconceptions and emotionalism. On the one hand, one hears the epigram: "While the Tennessee River drains the seven Tennessee Valley states, the Tennessee Valley Authority drains the remaining forty-one states of the Union." On the other hand, co-operative arrangements involving private development of the nation's river basins have been likened to "a partnership, wherein the government operates the escalators, drinking fountains, and other such unprofitable appurtenances, while the private partners man the sales counters and cash registers." Neither statement is distinguished for its objective content. Both derive from only one significant issue in the problem of developing the nation's river basins. That issue is the equity considerations involved whenever income is redistributed, as a result either of the raising and spending of governmental funds or the dispensation of privileges for the use of the public's natural resource assets.
