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Government Documents on Water

Water is essential for human and animal health and plays an essential role in agriculture, energy generation, and other forms of economic activity. Water pollution remains a key public policy issue and many areas of the world do not have access to clean drinking water. Because of its economic, environmental, political, legal, and even national security implications, government agencies produce numerous information resources on water.

Purdue Libraries have many government documents on water. These documents can be found in the HSSE, EAS, ENGR, LIFE libraries as well as in the Undergraduate Library's HIKS Repository. Examples of Library Catalog subject headings you can use to search for government documents on water include:

Drinking Water Contamination United States
Federal aid to Water Resources Development United States
Irrigation Laws United States
Rivers United States
Water Conservation Law and Legislation United States
Water Pollution Law and Legislation United States
Water Resources Development Law and Legislation United States

The principal index for locating U.S. Government documents is the Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications HSSE REF & Periodicals 016.353 Un36 and its online counterpart covering 1994-present and the GPO Index on the Purdue Libraries indexes page covering 1976-present. Other useful indexes for U.S. Government documents include the Congressional Information Service (CIS) Index HSSE RF 328.73005 C76 for congressional publications, the CIS Congressional Serial Set Index 1789-1969 HSSE REF 328.73 C761c and its online version (Purdue users only), CIS Index to U.S. Executive Branch Documents 1789-1909 HSSE REF 351.73 C497 1990, and CIS Index to U.S. Executive Branch Documents 1910-1932 HSSE REF 351.73 C497 1996.

Federal and state legal and regulatory water reference publications include:

Slip Laws HSSE DOC REF AE 2.110:
U.S. Statutes at Large HSSE REF 345.11 Un3
U.S. Code (Titles 33 & 43) HSSE REF 345 Un3co
U.S. Reports HSSE DOC JU 6.8:
Lexis-Nexis Academic (Purdue users only!)  
Federal Register HSSE REF 353.005 Un34
Code of Federal Regulations HSSE REF 353.005 C64
Index-Code of Federal Regulations HSSE REF 353.005 C64 Index
Lists of Sections Affected HSSE REF 353.005 C64 LSA
Indiana Code (Titles 13-14) HSSE REF 348.772 In25c
Acts Indiana HSSE REF 345.91 In2
Indiana Register HSSE REF 348.772025 In3
Indiana Administrative Code (Titles 311, 327 etc.) HSSE REF 348.772025 In2i

Sample federal publications on water include:

U.S. Geological Survey Water Resources Investigations EAS 628.1605 Un3w & EAS MF I 19.42/4:
USGS Water Supply Papers EAS 557.3 Un31w
Water Resources Data for Indiana LIFE 553.7809773 Un3w & LIFE MF I 19.53/2:

Congressional committees are responsible for conducting oversight of federal
agencies water programs and funding these programs. Committees with water
programs responsibilities include:

House Agriculture Committee
(Reps. Mike Pence (R-IN), Joe Donnelly (D-IN), and Brand Ellsworth (D-IN) ) are members of this committee
HSSE DOC Y 4.AG 8/1:
House Appropriations Committee
(Rep. Peter Visclosky (D-IN) is a member of this committee)
HSSE MF Y 4.AP 6/1:
House Energy & Commerce Committee
(Reps. Steve Buyer (R-IN) and Baron Hill (D-IN) are members of this committee)
HSSE DOC Y 4.C 73/8:
House Resources Committee
HSSE DOC Y 4.R 31/3:
(See HSSE DOC Y 4.In 8/14: for this committee's pre-1993 publications)
Senate Agriculture Committee
(Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) is a member of this committee.)
HSSE DOC Y 4.AG 8/3:
Senate Appropriations Committee (Appropriations committees are excellent project expenditure information sources.) HSSE MF Y 4.AP 6/2:
Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee HSSE DOC Y 4.EN 2:
Senate Environment & Public Works Committee HSSE DOC Y 4.P 96/10:
Congressional Research Service Reports (Courtesy National Council for Science & the Environment & University of North Texas Library)  
Government Accountability Office Reports MEL MF GA 1.13:
Congressional Serial Set (Online-Purdue users only HSSE Repository Y 1.1/2:

Internet Resources

Increasing volumes of government information appear on the Internet. Numerous
federal agencies with water responsibilities have websites with detailed information
resources. Examples include GPO Access which provides one-stop access to the
U.S. Government's major legal, legislative, and regulatory resources such as the
Code of Federal Regulations and congressional bills. Other relevant agency
websites include:

Army Corps of Engineers
Bonneville Power Administration
Delaware River Basin Commission
Environmental Protection Agency Water Page
International Boundary Water Commission
Natural Resources Conservation Service
Tennessee Valley Authority
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
U.S. Geological Survey Water Resources
Water Science & Technology Board
American Indian Water Rights in Arizona (Courtesy University of Arizona Library)
Western Waters Digital Library (Courtesy-Great Western Library Alliance) NEW

State & Local Government Resources

Environmental Protection Agency Water Resources
Indiana Dept. of Environmental Management Water Quality Office
Indiana Dept. of Natural Resources Division of Water
Indiana Natural Resources Commission
Louisiana Dept. of Natural Resources
California Dept. of Water Resources
Texas Water Development Board
Lafayette Water Works Plant

Foreign & International Government Organizations

Australia Parliament House of Representatives Standing Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries, and Forestry
Land & Water Australia
Environment Australia Inland Water
Environment Canada Freshwater Website
Canada Parliament House of Commons Standing Comm. on Natural Resources
Canada National Water Research Institute
Fisheries & Oceans Canada-Canadian Waters
European Environmental Agency Water Page
European Union Water Protection & Management
FAO Water Resources Page
Great Lakes Commission
India Ministry of Water Resources
International Joint Commission (U.S.-Canada)
International Water Management Institute
South Africa Dept. of Water Affairs & Forestry
United Kingdom Environment Agency
UNESCO Water Portal
United Nations Environment Program Freshwater
UNEP Global Environmental Watering System

 

Last update: June 18, 2008

Prepared by: Bert Chapman, Government Information & Political Science Librarian