Of the 20,000 miles of coastal deserts that gird the earth (8), most are all but bereft of population. Yet, paradoxically, many of them, were they given the amenities, could be productive, pleasant places to live. Several methods that might make these areas more habitable have been put forth, the most ambitious being that of the Oak Ridge National Laboratories (9). Oak Ridge scientists conceive of huge nuclear centers. Each center could support an industrial complex and a 300-acre farm. But the prerequisite investment would be of such enormity that few less developed nations could afford one without the largess of the developed world. On a modest, and hopefully more immediately attainable scale, the University of Arizona has devised an approach that can economically provide power, water and food for coastal communities.