766 



NATURE 



[August 19, ly. 



opinion of the Committee on the question of the 

 most desirable mechanism of control for the whole 

 water resources of the country, and it is evident 

 that some diversity of opinion had to be reconciled 

 in arriving- at it. One member, Mr. W. A. Tait, 

 of Edinburgh, submits a Minority Report in which 

 he considers that all the reforms required can be 

 secured by improving the present system, both by 

 assimilating the law of England to that of 

 Scotland and by making certain simplifications in 

 procedure. He holds that there is no justification 

 for a new central water authority. One member 

 signs the Majority Report with a reservation in 

 which he deprecates the creation of a Water Com- 

 mission, on the ground that the Ministry of 

 Health, if strengthened, can deal adequately with 

 the matter. Another signs with the reservation 

 that he would have preferred a Central Depart- 

 ment to deal with all water interests. The remain- 

 ing- seventeen members found the terms of the 

 Majority Report sufficiently comprehensive and 

 guarded to express their views. 



One might imagine that the easiest way to 

 simplify the confusion of contending water 

 interests would be to create a Central Department 

 for the United Kingdom to which all existing 

 Departments should transfer their duties as regards 

 water, and in which any additional powers which 

 might be required should be vested. By the con- 

 stitution of the Committee the water problem in 

 Ireland was referred to a special Irish Sub- 

 Committee, and recent events naturally confirm 

 the policy of keeping Irish interests by them- 

 selves. But the Committee has not found it pos- 

 sible or expedient even to recommend the reten- 

 tion of Great Britain as a unit, and the scheme 

 outlined refers in its entirety to England and 

 Wales, Scottish interests being left to the Scottish 

 Office. 



It seems unfortunate, in the present state of 

 public feeling, that a rearrangement of duties 

 could not have been suggested which should avoid 

 adding to the present number of officials ; but, on 

 the other hand, it is necessary to bear in mind 

 that the Committee set itself to devise a practic- 

 able scheme which could be got to work with the 

 minimum disturbance of existing Departments. 

 Viewed as a workable compromise, the plan sug- 

 gested by the Committee has sound qualities 

 which probably compensate its obvious theoretical 

 deficiencies. 



The Committee points out that nine previous 

 Royal Commissions and Select Committees which 

 NO. 2651, VOL. 105] 



had considered water problems between 1866 and 

 1910 had concurred in recommending the creation 

 of a central water authority to control the alloca- 

 tion of water, to act as an advisory body to Par- 

 liament, and to collect information as to water 

 resources. Much fresh evidence was called by 

 the Committee, and the final scheme for control 

 put forward in this Report is as follows. 



The allocation of sources of water in England 

 and Wales should be entrusted to a body of four 

 Commissioners appointed by the Minister of 

 Health, to whom their responsibility should be 

 direct. The chairman of the Commission should 

 be a Civil Servant or lawyer having ripe experience 

 of administration and legislation. The other three 

 should be technical members, all to be paid and to 

 devote their whole time to the work. An Inter- 

 departmental Committee representing the "multi- 

 plicity of interests to be reconciled " and including 

 representatives of various scientific services should 

 be set up by statute to assist the Commissioners. 



In order that the Commission may perform its 

 duty of allocating water, its first concern is held 

 to be to acquire all necessary information on the 

 subject. This should be obtained from the Depart- 

 ments already engaged in collecting such data, 

 particularly the Ordnance Survey, the Geological 

 Survey, and the Meteorological Office ; but as 

 these do not cover the whole ground the Commis- 

 sion should be empowered to set up a Hydro- 

 metric Survey. The Commission should consult 

 with the Scottish and Irish authorities with a view 

 to the compilation of all records on a uniform 

 system. 



It is recommended that every proposal to take 

 water from the surface or from underground, except 

 for private domestic use, should be submitted to 

 the Commission for its licence. If the Commission 

 sees cause to withhold its consent, the promoters 

 can still proceed by means of a private Bill ; but 

 if a licence is issued, they need apply only to the 

 Department dealing with the particular use of 

 water, and this Department should be empowered 

 to grant an Order which, if unopposed, should 

 take effect without confirmation by Parliament. 

 Existing Departments are empowered to deal with 

 all uses of water except water-power, and it is 

 proposed to create either in the Board of Trade 

 or under the Electricity Commissioners a new- 

 Department for the study, control, and encourage- 

 ment of the use of water-power in Great Britain. 

 Encouragement should include the grant of tem- 

 porary financial assistance to promising power 



