Paperback : HK$191.00
Water is our planet?s most precious resource. It is required by every living thing, yet a huge proportion of the world?s population struggles to access clean water daily. Agriculture, aquaculture, industry, and energy all depend on it - yet its provision and safety engender widespread conflict; battles likely to intensify as threats to freshwater abundance and quality, such as climate change, urbanization, new forms of pollution, and the privatization of control, continue to grow. But must the cost of potable water become prohibitively expensive for the poor - especially when supplies are privatized? Do technological advances only expand supply or can they carry hidden risks for minority groups? And who bears responsibility for managing the adverse impacts of dams funded by global aid organizations when their burdens fall on some, while their benefits accrue to others? In answering these and other pressing questions, the book shows how control of freshwater operates at different levels, from individual watersheds near cities to large river basins whose water - when diverted - is contested by entire countries. Drawing on a rich range of examples from across the world, it explores the complexity of future challenges, concluding that nations must work together to embrace everyone's water needs while also establishing fair, consistent criteria to promote available supply with less pollution.
Water is our planet?s most precious resource. It is required by every living thing, yet a huge proportion of the world?s population struggles to access clean water daily. Agriculture, aquaculture, industry, and energy all depend on it - yet its provision and safety engender widespread conflict; battles likely to intensify as threats to freshwater abundance and quality, such as climate change, urbanization, new forms of pollution, and the privatization of control, continue to grow. But must the cost of potable water become prohibitively expensive for the poor - especially when supplies are privatized? Do technological advances only expand supply or can they carry hidden risks for minority groups? And who bears responsibility for managing the adverse impacts of dams funded by global aid organizations when their burdens fall on some, while their benefits accrue to others? In answering these and other pressing questions, the book shows how control of freshwater operates at different levels, from individual watersheds near cities to large river basins whose water - when diverted - is contested by entire countries. Drawing on a rich range of examples from across the world, it explores the complexity of future challenges, concluding that nations must work together to embrace everyone's water needs while also establishing fair, consistent criteria to promote available supply with less pollution.
Figures and Tables vi
Acknowledgements vii
1. Freshwater: Facts, Figures, Conditions 1
2. Geopolitics and Sustainability 28
3. Threats to Freshwater 59
4. Who's in Control? 92
5. Water Ethics and Environmental Justice 124
Notes 156
Selected Readings 178
Index 189
David Lewis Feldman is professor and chair of planning, policy, and design at the University of California, Irvine.
"Feldman's useful and clear overview of the modern world ofwater makes a very strong case overall for the involvement ofscientists and local people in planning." The Guardian "David Feldman has thoughtfully tackled one of the mostimportant global issues of our time - water sustainability - bybroadly integrating useful data and examples, clear and accessiblewriting, and systematic analysis of the problem's human dimensions,including environmental justice, privatization, conflictresolution, stewardship, and conservation." Tony Arnold, University of Louisville"Feldman eschews the simplistic characterization of water scarcityas an engineering problem, instead framing the challenge in thelanguage of sustainability, and implicating issues of inequity,poverty, and geopolitics shaped by growing populations, climatechange, environmental destruction, and food and energy shortages.It s ambitious and skillfully executed - and immenselyentertaining." Doug Kenney, University of Colorado "David Feldman demonstrates an impressive depth and breadth ofknowledge of the functional, geopolitical and policy dimensionsinvolved in dealing with water as a precious, multi-faceted naturalresource in its contemporary context of a planet increasinglyperceived under pressure." Theo Toonen, Delft University of Technology "Feldman innovatively reframes the issue of water management asan ethical challenge and gives the reader a good idea of how watermanagement involves the integration of various areas of human activity. Yet, thebook s most important contribution lies in the the discussion beyond economic andpolitical explanations and concentrates on the ethical and humanrights aspects of water." Nick W. Verouden, Delft University of Technology
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