Abstract
FOR a number of years NATURE has been, on the subject of water-power in Great Britain, a vox clamantis. It has pointed out that while other countries—notably the United States, France, Italy, Switzerland, and even Canada—have possessed hydrographic services, there has been no co-ordinated effort—indeed, one might almost say, no effort of any kind—in this country to procure the information essential to the determination of its water-power resources and their extent and availability. It is true that a merely superficial review is sufficient to show that those resources cannot possibly vie with the vast stores of power locked up in the Alps, the Pyrenees, and the Rockies. Neither, in consequence of the plenitude of our coalfields, has there hitherto been any occasion to trouble in the least about additional, or alternative, sources of power supply. But the war, or rather its unexpected protraction, has of late completely changed the national outlook. The reckless prodigality with which our stores of solid fuel have hitherto been depleted can no longer be countenanced, and the certainty of ultimate exhaustion has to be faced before increasing scarcity causes prices to mount to unremunerative heights. The nation is learning ecohomy, not only in food and clothing, but also in regard to its natural resources and mineral endowments. A salutary experience has been gained, and, though somewhat late in the day, it is satisfactory to know that the position is at last beginning to be fully realised and appreciated.
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CUNNINGHAM, B. The Water-Powers of the British Empire . Nature 102, 46–47 (1918). https://doi.org/10.1038/102046b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/102046b0