Out of Water: From Abundance to Scarcity and How to Solve the World's Water Problems
- By Colin Chartres, Samyuktha Varma
- Published Jul 14, 2010 by FT Press.
- Copyright 2011
- Dimensions: 5-3/8 X 8-1/4
- Pages: 256
- Edition: 1st
- Book
- ISBN-10: 0-13-136726-9
- ISBN-13: 978-0-13-136726-5
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Product Author Bios
Colin Chartres (Colombo, Sri Lanka) is a world authority on water issues and Director General of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). He has 35 years' experience in R+D and policy areas related to water and natural resources, and served as Chief Science Advisor to the Australian National Water Commission. Samyuktha Varma works at IWMI. She focuses on issues of water, equity and poverty in developing countries, and with ensuring that women's voices are heard in the development of water management solutions. A social scientist, her background has led to her work on issues ranging from human rights to urban governance.
From cities to biofuels, competition for water is accelerating. Climate change threatens to intensify the onset and severity of the water crisis in several regions of the developing world: this is already happening throughout much of Asia, the Mediterranean, southwestern Australia, and the southwestern US. Along with water shortages, unsafe water becomes an increasingly widespread problem, too. As water crises trigger food and health crises, billions may slip further into poverty, leading to greater social and political unrest, new wars, and worsening national security. Out of Water doesn't just illuminate the coming global water crisis: it presents innovative solutions in agriculture, engineering, governance, and beyond, including state-of-the art techniques for integrated water management. This book will help raise the level of debate about water to the highest levels of government, and identify workable reforms and incentives to help water users utilize this crucial resource far more efficiently.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Forget Peak Oil, We're at Peak Water, By
This review is from: Out of Water: From Abundance to Scarcity and How to Solve the World's Water Problems (Hardcover)
We in the West, myself included, take water for granted - it falls free from the sky and it runs whenever we shower or run the faucet. With the potential for global population heading toward 9 billion by 2050, the authors delineate where the problem "hot" spots are for water, and what measures we can take right now from conservation, to better irrigation, to price-risk management.Chartres and Varma have written a well-rounded book on the incongruence of water prices and its scarcity. Litre for litre, water is more expensive than gasoline. Everyone and every industry is at risk of a scarcity of water. Whether you are Continental Grain trying to provide food to the world or an alternative energy firm trying to help ween us off hydrocarbons, you will find this book very pithy and full of resources. It's also insightful for CFAs, analysts, private equity, and venture capital professionals who are considering allocating funds and expertise to the water market... Read more
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Useful info, but fails to engage the reader, By
This review is from: Out of Water: From Abundance to Scarcity and How to Solve the World's Water Problems (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
The subject matter is of the utmost importance, and the book conveys some good information even for those who already know something about the world's water problems. Unfortunately, the presentation leaves much to be desired.The writing style is stiff and repetitive. The reader begins to feel that each chapter makes the same points, just stated in a slightly different way (e.g., water scarcity is driven by population growth, the shift toward meat-intensive diets, competition between water users, slow adoption of efficiency measures, and climate change effects). The graphics are not helpful. The black-and-white photos, most of them taken by author Chartres, are not well composed and don't do a good job of illustrating the points that the authors are trying to make. The charts and maps generally are too small (in a couple of places, multiple world maps on a single page!) and their color-coded information is hard to discern because they're in black-and-white. The target... Read more
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Out of Water: From Abundance to Scarcity, By
This review is from: Out of Water: From Abundance to Scarcity and How to Solve the World's Water Problems (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Authors Chartres and Varma come from a very strong back ground on the subject of water issues throughout the world.Chartres back ground includes director of International Water Management Institute and 35 years of experience in research. Varma covers women's issues and equity of water worldwide and the effects of poverty and it's relationship with water use and control.The book takes the reader methodically through the Mideast countries to the causes of water scarcity and the effects of population growth.Authors takes a common problem in each chapter from Biofuels, farming and diet around the world and finally concluding with solving water problems. Highly recommended.
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Out of Water: From Abundance to Scarcity and How to Solve the World's Water Problems
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgments xii
About the Authors xiv
Foreword xvii
Preface xxi
Chapter 1 Not Another Crisis! 1
Why Is Water Important? 1
Some Water Facts 4
Chapter 2 From Abundance to Scarcity in 25 Years 15
The River Jordan 18
The South Asian Groundwater Phenomenon 25
The Murray-Darling Basin 30
The Colorado River 35
Lessons from History 40
Chapter 3 Causes of Water Scarcity 45
Introduction 45
Blue and Green Water 48
Causes of Water Scarcity 48
Population Growth Impact 50
Dietary Change 52
Biofuel Production 53
Urbanization, Globalization, and Other Factors 55
Climate Change Impact 56
Conclusion 57
Chapter 4 Climate Change and Water 59
What Are the Most Likely Impacts of Climate Change? 61
Climate Change Impacts in Asia 66
Climate Change Impacts in Australia 70
Does Water Have a Role in Mitigating Climate Change? 72
Adapting to Climate Change 73
Conclusion 75
Chapter 5 Agriculture and Water 77
Why Is Irrigation So Important? 92
Virtual Water and Water Footprints 95
How Can We Achieve More “Drop Per Drop”? 97
Urban Water Reuse for Agriculture 100
Conclusion 101
Chapter 6 Water, Food, and Poverty 103
The Big Picture–Farming and Poverty 105
Nature and Poverty 107
Irrigation and Poverty–Learning from Asia 109
Groundwater and Poverty 112
Women, Water, and Food 114
Water as Welfare 116
Conclusion 117
Chapter 7 Integrating Water Planning and Management 119
Integrated Water Resources Management 121
Drinking Water and Sanitation in the Developing World 122
What Happens to Our Waste? 126
Recycling and Reuse of Wastewater 128
Multiple Use Water Systems 133
Conclusion 135
Chapter 8 Water Governance for People and the Environment 139
Understanding Water’s Unique Properties 142
A New Blueprint 144
Going Local 146
The Farmers Will Do It for Themselves 148
The Participation Principle 150
Recognizing Informal Institutions–The Commons and Community Management 152
Rivers 153
Conclusion 155
Chapter 9 Water Rights and Water Costs 157
Water Allocation Mechanisms 159
South African Water Policy 160
Water Allocation and Pricing in the United States 162
The Murray-Darling Basin, Australia 166
The Situation in Other Countries 169
The Economics of Water 170
Lessons from Complexity? 176
Conclusion 178
Chapter 10 Solving the World’s Water Problems 183
1. If You Can’t Measure It, You Can’t Manage It 185
2. Treasure the Environment 187
3. Reform Water Governance 189
4. Revitalize Agricultural Water Use 192
5. Manage Urban and Industrial Demand 198
6. Empower the Poor and Women in Water Management 201
Conclusion 204
Endnotes 207
Chapter 1 207
Chapter 2 207
Chapter 3 209
Chapter 4 210
Chapter 5 211
Chapter 6 213
Chapter 7 214
Chapter 8 215
Chapter 9 216
Chapter 10 218
Index 221
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