DEMINERALIZATION OF SALINE WATERS 259 
(c) Acquire, by purchase or by other means, technical data, 
patents and other interests, 
(7) Engage, by contract or otherwise, chemists, physicists, 
engineers and other persons to conduct research and development 
work, 
(e) Cooperate with federal, state and municipal agencies and 
other organizations in effectuating the purposes of the act, 
(f) And, as may be appropriate, to correlate and coordinate 
the research activities of private organizations engaged in this 
field. 
To carry out these provisions, an expenditure of $2,000,000 was 
authorized for a five-year period. An initial appropriation of 
$125,000 was made for the year ending June 30, 1953, followed by 
a supplemental appropriation of $50,000 for specific use in award- 
ing research contracts. To finance the program for the following 
year, Congress appropriated $400,000, one-fifth of the amount 
authorized in the law for the five years. An equal amount was 
made available for use during the current year, which ends June 
So 55- 
The Congress designated the Secretary of the Interior to carry 
out the terms of the act. Because the work and the results relate 
to several of the bureaus in the Department, it was found that the 
work could best be administered by a small group known as the 
Saline Water Conversion Program, within the office of the Secre- 
tary, under the Assistant Secretary for Water and Power. To 
advise the Secretary in broad policy matters, a group was named, 
consisting of nine qualified persons in various fields related to the 
program. Provision was made, also, for liaison with other federal 
agencies having interests in the conversion of saline water. A 
departmental committee from the Bureau of Mines, Bureau of 
Reclamation and Geological Survey provides technical and policy 
assistance. 
In carrying out the program, consideration has been given to 
all known processes for demineralizing saline waters. Support 
has been given to research groups for investigating various 
schemes which show promise of economical fresh water produc- 
tion. 
