Preface: Among the leaders in federal water resources planning in the decades following World War II, few have exerted more influence than Theodore Schad. He began his career with the Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation. Later, Schad joined the Bureau of the Budget and the Library of Congress Legislative Reference Service. As staff director to the U. S. Senate Select Committee on National Water Resources (1959-61) and as executive director of the seven-member National Water Commission (196-73), he ensured that analyses of water problems fully exploited the insights and skills of engineers and natural, social, and physical scientists, while remaining sensitive to political and administrative realities. In the 1970s, he continued to serve the water community in a number of positions with the National Academy of Sciences, the Conservation Foundation, and the National Groundwater Policy Forum.
This interview is the fourth published in the Water Resources People and Issues: Hydraulics and Hydrology series. However, it is the first of the series to enjoy the support of the Corps of Engineers Institute for Water Resources, which funded and helped coordinate its publication. Through in-depth interviews, this series presents the thoughts and careers of key individuals who have influenced United States water resources development. I commend this interview to all those interested in the past and future of water resources planning.
