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Water resources newsletter
358
BOOK REVIEWS
Techniques rurales en Afrique. 1: Evaluation des quantit& d'eau nOcessaires aux irrigations. R6publique franqaise, Minist&e de la coop&ation, 1961, 170 pp. Volume 3 of Advances in Hydroscience, edited by Professor Ven Te Chow, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois, will be published in the summer of 1966. Amongst a wide range of papers of considerable interest it will include one by Wyndham J. Roberts on Evaporation Retardation by Monolayers, and another by Nathan Buras on Dynamic Programming in Water Resources Development. Volume 2 contains a paper by Paul Baumann on Technical Development in Ground Water Recharge, and Volume 1 a paper by Mahdi S. Hantush on Hydraulics of Wells. Electrical Aids in Water Finding. W. G. G. COOPER: Bull. 7, Geological Survey, Zomba, Malawi. Revised
Edition, 1965.24 p. Illus. 12/6. Since its first publication in 1950 there has been a steady demand for this useful handbook and a reprint, in a revised form, finally became necessary. The plates include standard curves for vertical interface or fault, 8 sheets of curves for solution of two-layer problems, and 11 sheets of logarithmic curves for solution of three-layer problems. The methods described are especially useful for their speed and simplicity in the field. In his Foreword to the revised edition F. Hapgood, the Commissioner for Geological Survey, states that a considerable amount of resistivity work has been carried out since 1950 by Malawi (formerly Nyasaland) Government geologists, and over 600 drilled wells have been sited with the aid of these methods resulting in a success rate of over 90 per cent. (See also "The Location of Underground Water Supplies in Nyasaland", by D. N. Holt, Col. Geol. and Min. Res. Vol. 5, No. 4, pp. 438-441). Water Resources Newsletter Australian Water Resources Council, Canberra, No. 5, October, 1965. Apart from providing information on the activities of the more important water resource authorities in Australia the Newsletter describes current work and research in Australia and in other countries under the headings of Droughts and Floods, with an account of the current drought in Australia and its effect on the Sydney water supply. Surface Water Hydrology.
BOOK REVIEWS
359
Hydrogeology and Underground Water, with an account of the Groundwater School held at Adelaide, a list of publications on Underground Water by the Bureau of Mineral Resources, and activities in the various States. Water Resources Research, with a list of Research Grants made by the Water Research Foundation of Australia. Desalination. Irrigation and Water Supply.
Activities of the Australian Water Resources Council The fifth meeting of the Australian Water Resources Council was held at Kununurra (W.A.) on 24th July 1965. Kununurra is the centre of irrigation farming based on the Ord River Project and is the " N e w T o w n " of the Kimberley Region. The Council at this meeting reviewed the first year's operations in the accelerated programme of surface and underground measurement which the State and Commonwealth Governments had adopted on the initiative of the Council. All Governments were increasing their expenditure on water investigation, and in the year just ended expenditure had been raised by as much as 600 000 above the previous level. With its first assessment of Australia's water resources already published, and the accelerated water measurement programme well launched the Council, which was established only three years ago, had in the last year turned its attention more directly to needs in the fields of research, education and training. Concentrating first on the basic problems, the Council had selected a limited number of projects of both current and future importance for Australia and had invited teams of experts to investigate the problems. Topics chosen included desalination, evaporation measurements and methods of evaporation control, and the study of catchments. The Council received the Report on Water Desalination Methods and their Relevance to Australia, prepared at the Council's request by an advisory panel headed by Dr. H. R. C. Pratt of the C.S.I.R.O. The main conclusions, summarised, include: Only processes based on distillation and electrodialysis can be considered for immediate application. There is no prospect at present that desalted water will ever be cheap enough for general irrigation use. The Australian demand centres around very small units for domestic
BOOK REVIEWS
Techniques rurales en Afrique. 1: Evaluation des quantit& d'eau nOcessaires aux irrigations. R6publique franqaise, Minist&e de la coop&ation, 1961, 170 pp. Volume 3 of Advances in Hydroscience, edited by Professor Ven Te Chow, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois, will be published in the summer of 1966. Amongst a wide range of papers of considerable interest it will include one by Wyndham J. Roberts on Evaporation Retardation by Monolayers, and another by Nathan Buras on Dynamic Programming in Water Resources Development. Volume 2 contains a paper by Paul Baumann on Technical Development in Ground Water Recharge, and Volume 1 a paper by Mahdi S. Hantush on Hydraulics of Wells. Electrical Aids in Water Finding. W. G. G. COOPER: Bull. 7, Geological Survey, Zomba, Malawi. Revised
Edition, 1965.24 p. Illus. 12/6. Since its first publication in 1950 there has been a steady demand for this useful handbook and a reprint, in a revised form, finally became necessary. The plates include standard curves for vertical interface or fault, 8 sheets of curves for solution of two-layer problems, and 11 sheets of logarithmic curves for solution of three-layer problems. The methods described are especially useful for their speed and simplicity in the field. In his Foreword to the revised edition F. Hapgood, the Commissioner for Geological Survey, states that a considerable amount of resistivity work has been carried out since 1950 by Malawi (formerly Nyasaland) Government geologists, and over 600 drilled wells have been sited with the aid of these methods resulting in a success rate of over 90 per cent. (See also "The Location of Underground Water Supplies in Nyasaland", by D. N. Holt, Col. Geol. and Min. Res. Vol. 5, No. 4, pp. 438-441). Water Resources Newsletter Australian Water Resources Council, Canberra, No. 5, October, 1965. Apart from providing information on the activities of the more important water resource authorities in Australia the Newsletter describes current work and research in Australia and in other countries under the headings of Droughts and Floods, with an account of the current drought in Australia and its effect on the Sydney water supply. Surface Water Hydrology.
BOOK REVIEWS
359
Hydrogeology and Underground Water, with an account of the Groundwater School held at Adelaide, a list of publications on Underground Water by the Bureau of Mineral Resources, and activities in the various States. Water Resources Research, with a list of Research Grants made by the Water Research Foundation of Australia. Desalination. Irrigation and Water Supply.
Activities of the Australian Water Resources Council The fifth meeting of the Australian Water Resources Council was held at Kununurra (W.A.) on 24th July 1965. Kununurra is the centre of irrigation farming based on the Ord River Project and is the " N e w T o w n " of the Kimberley Region. The Council at this meeting reviewed the first year's operations in the accelerated programme of surface and underground measurement which the State and Commonwealth Governments had adopted on the initiative of the Council. All Governments were increasing their expenditure on water investigation, and in the year just ended expenditure had been raised by as much as 600 000 above the previous level. With its first assessment of Australia's water resources already published, and the accelerated water measurement programme well launched the Council, which was established only three years ago, had in the last year turned its attention more directly to needs in the fields of research, education and training. Concentrating first on the basic problems, the Council had selected a limited number of projects of both current and future importance for Australia and had invited teams of experts to investigate the problems. Topics chosen included desalination, evaporation measurements and methods of evaporation control, and the study of catchments. The Council received the Report on Water Desalination Methods and their Relevance to Australia, prepared at the Council's request by an advisory panel headed by Dr. H. R. C. Pratt of the C.S.I.R.O. The main conclusions, summarised, include: Only processes based on distillation and electrodialysis can be considered for immediate application. There is no prospect at present that desalted water will ever be cheap enough for general irrigation use. The Australian demand centres around very small units for domestic