Natural Resources: The Dry Society

Of more than 40 major bills that Lyndon Johnson has signed recently, "the most historical of all," he assured visitors last week, is one that will cost only some $37 million annually for the next five years. Since the aim of the measure is to develop economical, large-scale desalinization plants so that cities may drink from the sea, it may at least ensure that Johnson's Great Society will not be dry. As it happened, the President had the bill ready to sign during a White House "water emergency conference" to survey the immediate and long-term problems of the drought-stricken...