This paper details an overall permit acquisition approach that can help water resource managers to obtain permits for water supply projects in a focused, cost-effective and efficient manner. This approach can serve as an interim solution to the conflicts that may result between water supply development projects and regulations intended to protect environmental resources including water supplies. An integral component of this approach involves development and use of a critical path method (CPM) task network. Construction managers have been using CPM task networking techniques since the late 1950s to plan and control schedules and costs on construction projects. CPMs can play a major role in four of the ten permitting approach tasks, helping managers to identify the major permitting issues, develop an overall permitting strategy, prepare and submit the permit applications, and track the review process. Some uses of CPM are to generate progress status reports, to assess whether changes in the plan affect the overall project schedule, to quickly convey essential information to persons joining the project in mid-stream, and to identify tasks that can be delayed without affecting the overall project schedule.