137 



tific expeditions may discover deposits of 

 sufficient commercial interest to warrant 

 early competitive bidding. In other cases, the 

 Government's survey activities may identify 

 areas of sufficient mineral potential to cause 

 a number of firms to plan followup investi- 

 gations. Tlie terms for acquiring exploitation 

 rights in such situations must be established 

 in advance to protect all the parties involved, 

 including the United States. 



In still other instances, the Department of 

 the Interior may determine that the national 

 interest compels it to sponsor further in- 

 vestigations because of the lack of private 

 interest or some other reason. Rights to 

 minerals discovered in this manner clearly 

 should be awarded on the basis of competi- 

 tive bidding. Yet by far the most common 

 circumstance, at least for the immediate 

 future, will be one in which private industry 

 undertakes the detailed exploration and in- 

 vestigation. Such initiative ordinarily should 

 be rewarded with exclusive rights to develop 

 the deposits discovered under an appropriate 

 concession S3'stem. 



The key factor is that the Secretary of the 

 Interior should have sufficient flexibility to 

 respond to this variety of situations. 



The Commission recommends that when 

 deemed necessary to stimulate explora- 

 tion, the Secretary of the Interior be 

 granted the flexibility to award rights to 

 develop hard minerals on the outer con- 

 tinental shelf without requiring competi- 

 tive bidding. The Federal rule in this 

 matter also would provide a suitable 

 model for the States. 



The Commission emphasizes strongly the 

 need for orderly action now to establish the 

 basis for future mining of ocean minerals, 

 not becau.se the mineral situation is critical 

 but. because it will take a long time to pre- 



pare for widespread use of the sea's mineral 

 resources. To define and appraise the re- 

 sources and to develop the necessary tech- 

 nology to recover them may well take two 

 decades or more. A beginning can be made by 

 proper definition of the information re- 

 quired and by rescheduling existing opera- 

 tions to initiate the necessary programs. An 

 expansion of Government efl'ort to delineate 

 potentials should be accompanied by private 

 industry action to assess them economically. 

 The combined eff'orts of both will establish 

 a strong foundation for U.S. participation 

 in ocean mining. 

 Fresh Water Resources 



One of man's oldest dreams is to "han^est" 

 fresh water from the sea to reclaim arid 

 lands and to supplement existing water sup- 

 plies to meet expanding needs. But as with 

 other resources, the potential for fresh water 

 from the sea must be appraised in light of the 

 supply available on land. The outlook, then, 

 has been mixed. 



On the one hand, there are many areas of 

 the world — some of them in the United 

 States — in which economic growth is inhib- 

 ited by the high cost of water from conven- 

 tional sources. "\Miile the situation is not 

 critical in the United States, it is critical in 

 many developing countries. The Nation's in- 

 terest in these countries makes water tech- 

 nology, including desalination, a matter of 

 legitimate national concern. 



Brackish and salt water are being converted 

 to fresh water in many parts of the world. In 

 humid or moderately humid areas, the cost 

 of such water is higher than that of surface 

 and ground water. Several lines of research 

 are being pursued to reduce cost and to pro- 

 vide greater flexibility in the use of brackish 

 and salt water. We are by no means at the 

 end of the search for cheaper and better tech- 

 niques. Efforts of the Federal Government, 

 States, and universities must be continued. 



