244 REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE, ETC. 
Accordingly the British Association, having adopted the Committee’s 
Report, invited the Council of the Institution of Civil Engineers to take the 
matter up, and they, in turn, appointed a Committee for the purpose of 
ascertaining whether it was feasible to carry out a scheme on a self-supporting 
basis. In view of the adverse replies received with regard to finance as a 
result of an appeal to the Catchment Boards and other authorities for technical 
and financial support, this has been found to be impracticable. 
The experience of the present drought has brought home to the public 
mind the vital importance of conserving the national water resources. 
Both the British Association Committee and the Committee of the Institu- 
tion of Civil Engineers now feel not only that they have every justification 
for so doing, but that the time is eminently opportune and propitious for 
an appeal to the Government to take action and to set up an organisation 
to undertake a comprehensive inland water survey. 
We suggest that effect might be given to this recommendation through 
the agency of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research by the 
appointment of a special board, with a headquarters staff, to deal with the 
collection, collation and technical direction of water measurements and 
gaugings throughout the country. The records of water undertakings, 
river conservancies and catchment boards, as well as readings due to private 
enterprise, could be drawn upon for the supply of data, and further observa- 
tions and measurements made as may be found necessary. 
The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, comprising as it 
does such related branches of work as the Geological Survey and Water 
Pollution Research, seems to us particularly adapted for scientific investiga- 
tion of this kind, and we are greatly influenced by the consideration that it is 
entirely independent of interest in the use and control of water, a qualifica- 
tion which we hold to be of the highest importance. 
It is not necessary at this stage to discuss in detail the system of organisa- 
tion for the proposed department, but in outline it might consist of an 
unpaid board with a salaried staff. Voluntary assistance by competent 
persons might be available in various parts of the country, as in the case of 
the British Rainfall Organisation. The department would undertake the 
publication of records at a suitable charge which should materially assist 
towards the cost of the survey. 
Before the most effective use can be made of the country’s water resources 
it is imperative that the fullest information be available respecting the 
quantity and locality of supplies, and for this purpose a thorough and 
impartial survey is essential. 
We respectfully urge, therefore, that His Majesty’s Government will give 
our recommendation their immediate and favourable consideration, in view 
of the important national interests which are involved. 
We are, Sir, 
Your Obedient Servants, 
J. H. JEANs, 
President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. 
HENRY MAYBuRY, 
President of the Institution of Civil Engineers. 
At the Aberdeen Meeting, on the recommendation of Sections A 
(Mathematical and Physical Sciences), C (Geology), E (Geography), and 
