Abstract:
A drought in 1968 caused officials in the Piedmont to reevaluate water resources, management, and legal precedents for distribution. The author reviews both legislative measures pertaining to water supplies and the organizations responsible in overseeing and enacting these laws from the early 1950s through 1968. This evolution of policy lead to the 1967 General Assembly decision to combine departments in to the Department of Water and Air Resources, an entity entrusted to ensure both the quantity and quality of water distribution.