Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-02-16
THE NEW FoRcEs-W M ~
Wafer Needs Will Strain Supply

the latter part Of q "dry" decade
now. The next one should begin
around 1878. just about the time
the Nation hits the 450-billion-
gallon daily consumption mark.
We Aren't Helpless
Much can be done in the face OF
the skyrocketing water consump-
ton and possibly diminishing sup
ply. Such practices as conserva-
ton. flood and erosion control,
treating and reusing industrial
water and multiple-use projects
should prove very valuable.
Greater storage facilities are
under way.
Experiments with new water
saving techniques could be Of ex-
treme importance. These include
chemical shields" to reduce evap-
grafton from lakes and reservoirs.
Some such water storages lose
from 3 to Q feet Of surface water
each year by evaporation. Of
which IS per cent may be saved by
q chemical coating not harmful to
marine life.
The removal Of scrub vegetation
and weeds. heavy water users. is
being studied. So are possibili-
ties such as recharging UNDER
ground storages by specially d.
rected run-cff techniques. cutting
Seepage loss by low-cost conduit
Innings. slowing and controlling
snow-melt in mountain areas by
high fencing and sawdust COW
ering. Recent Colorado expert
ments show that covering can ex-
tend the snow-melt time by more
than 100 per cent and thus save
run-off waite: until needed in late
summer.
OF all possible answers. however,
perhaps the most promising over
the long pull are weather control
which will be dealt with In an
other article--and the conversion
Of salt water to fresh.
The oceans offer an inexhaust-
ible new source Of water II de-
sailing processes can be made
cheap enough to go into wide
scale commercial use. Half q
dozen promising methods are al
ready far along in development.
If the new sources work out,
the price may not become too
great. If they don't work out and
II America fails to use her natural
water more carefully. our chill
dren may have to pay 10 times
what we pay for water-and our
grandchildren may find not only
that costs are excessive but the
supply permanently rationed.
Controls Aheod?
The very word "rationed" con-
jures to our generation O spectre
Of social evils and unwanted state
controls. 1t augers more laws and
more complicated, more confined
living.
Water law is as old as Job .
older. So precious has water been
that legal rights in its use de-
veloped long before property
rights in land. It even served
as the basis for allowing men In
certain Asian communities q num-
Der Of wives-one wife could not
walk to the wells and return with
enough water to care for the
household.
United. States law on water
rights Is virtually q legal jungle,
so complex has it become. It
applies to three areas: ~ Water
in the air; (2) water on the
ground, and CD water under the
ground.
Rights to water in the air is a
brand-new legal arena, but as
rain-making and weather control
techniques advance, it is expected
to develop rapidly. So far, about
the only rules which have crystal
lized are State-licensing require
ments for cloud-seeding. Even
tually more stringent regulations
at the national and international
level seem indicated.
Laws governing water on land
are extremely complex, stemming
from ancient common law and
modern statutes.
About so per cent Of the United