Synopses & Reviews
It is zero hour for a new US water policy! At a time when many countries are adopting new national approaches to water management, the United States still has no cohesive federal policy, and water-related authorities are dispersed across more than 30 agencies. Here, at last, is a vision for what we as a nation need to do to manage our most vital resource. In this book, leading thinkers at world-class water research institution the Pacific Institute present clear and readable analysis and recommendations for a new federal water policy to confront our national and global challenges at a critical time.
What exactly is at stake? In the 21st century, pressures on water resources in the United States are growing and conflicts among water users are worsening. Communities continue to struggle to meet water quality standards and to ensure that safe drinking water is available for all. And new challenges are arising as climate change and extreme events worsen, new water quality threats materialize, and financial constraints grow. Yet the United States has not stepped up with adequate leadership to address these problems.
The inability of national policymakers to safeguard our water makes the United States increasingly vulnerable to serious disruptions of something most of us take for granted: affordable, reliable, and safe water. This book provides an independent assessment of water issues and water management in the United States, addressing emerging and persistent water challenges from the perspectives of science, public policy, environmental justice, economics, and law. With fascinating case studies and first-person accounts of what helps and hinders good water management, this is a clear-eyed look at what we need for a 21st century U.S. water policy.
Review
"A Twenty- First Century US Water Policy is refreshingly forward-looking, almost exclusively emphasizing water policy. That is, it is a book that offers solutions." --Great Plains Research
"We are overdue for a wide-ranging national debate over use and conservation of our dwindling water resources. This book frames the issues and makes insightful and innovative suggestions for the directions we should take." --Bruce Babbitt, former United States Secretary of the Interior
"It is the great achievement of Peter Gleick, long our foremost water policy thinker, and of Juliet Christian-Smith to transform the bewildering diversity and chaos that is current US water policy into a clear, comprehensive vision of the big issues and challenges defining the new water landscape. This is a must-read book and essential point-of-reference for anyone involved in water issues." --Steven Solomon, author of Water: The Epic Struggle for Wealth, Power, and Civilization (Finalist, L.A. Times Book Prize)
"A Twenty-First Century U.S. Water Policy is certainly being published at an auspicious time, and its recommendations deserve serious consideration." --Brett Walton, Circle of Blue
"[The authors] clearly lay out the problem and, unlike many other writers, provide readers with solutions, which makes this book an invaluable resource. Highly recommended." --CHOICE
Synopsis
As is becoming clearer and clearer, pressures on water resources in the United States are growing, with no foreseeable end in sight. Yet these pressures are not due to a national water scarcity. While the Southwest faces the problems of draught, a rising population, and over-allocation of resources, the Northeast and Northern Plains must deal with increasingly wet weather and flooding. The greatest challenges that the United States faces with regard to water are regional disparities in availability, a changing climate, worsening water quality, and, increasingly, controversies over management strategies and policies.
While many countries have adopted federal approaches to water management, the United States has no cohesive national water policy. In fact, the oversight of current water policy is shared by over sixty different agencies,and the last national water assessment undertaken in the United States occurred over forty years ago. The lack of coordinated oversight not only renders national policymakers unable to make informed analyses of water quality standards and availability, it also results in large gaps of understanding regarding variability of water resources and how to most efficiently and effectively manage and preserve those resources. A Twenty-First Century US Water Policy culls together independent analysis of freshwater availability; water usage in agriculture, municipalities, tribal settlements, and energy production; exisiting legal frameworks; environmental justice movements; and data on water quality and climate change. The result is a visionary proposal for a coherent and critically needed federal water policy.
About the Author
Juliet Christian-Smith is a senior associate of the Water Program at the Pacific Institute. She specializes in agricultural water uses, comparative analyses of water governance structures, water reuse, and climate change. Dr. Christian-Smith is a recipient of the Environmental Protection Agency's Award for Outstanding Achievement and is a Frontiers of Science Fellow for the National Academy of Sciences.
Peter H. Gleick is co-founder and president of the Pacific Institute and one of the world's leading experts on water and climate issues. A MacArthur Fellow and dubbed a "visionary on the environment" by the BBC, Dr. Gleick was elected an Academician of the International Water Academy and member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. His books include Water in Crisis: A Guide to the World's Freshwater Resources; seven volumes of The World's Water; and Bottled and Sold: The Story Behind Our Obsession with Bottled Water.
Table of Contents
Foreword by William K. Reilly
List of Acronyms
Chapter 1: The Water of the United States: Freshwater Availability and Use, Peter H. Gleick
Chapter 2: Legal and Institutional Framework of Water Management, Juliet Christian-Smith and Lucy Allen
Chapter 3: Water and Environmental Justice, Amy Vanderwarker
Chapter 4: Tribes and Water, Kate A. Berry
Chapter 5: Water Quality, Lucy Allen
Chapter 6: Protecting Freshwater Ecosystems, Juliet Christian-Smith and Lucy Allen
Chapter 7: Municipal Water Use, Heather Cooley
Chapter 8: Water and Agriculture, Juliet Christian-Smith
Chapter 9: Water and Energy, Heather Cooley and Juliet Christian-Smith
Chapter 10: Water and Climate, Heather Cooley
Chapter 11: United States International Water Policy , Peter H. Gleick
Chapter 12: Summary and Recommendations
Appendix : Federal Legislation
Notes
Bibliography
About the Authors
Index