Water
PRS - Polity Resources series
1. Edition September 2012
200 Pages, Hardcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
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.style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;" />
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.
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
water makes a very strong case overall for the involvement of
scientists and local people in planning."
The Guardian
"David Feldman has thoughtfully tackled one of the most
important global issues of our time - water sustainability - by
broadly integrating useful data and examples, clear and accessible
writing, and systematic analysis of the problem's human dimensions,
including environmental justice, privatization, conflict
resolution, stewardship, and conservation."
Tony Arnold, University of Louisville
"Feldman eschews the simplistic characterization of water scarcity
as an engineering problem, instead framing the challenge in the
language of sustainability, and implicating issues of inequity,
poverty, and geopolitics shaped by growing populations, climate
change, environmental destruction, and food and energy shortages.
It's ambitious and skillfully executed - and immensely
entertaining."
Doug Kenney, University of Colorado
"David Feldman demonstrates an impressive depth and breadth of
knowledge of the functional, geopolitical and policy dimensions
involved in dealing with water as a precious, multi-faceted natural
resource in its contemporary context of a planet increasingly
perceived under pressure."
Theo Toonen, Delft University of Technology
''Feldman innovatively reframes the issue of water management as
an ethical challenge and gives the reader a good idea of how water
management involves
the integration of various areas of human activity. Yet, the
book's most important
contribution lies in the the discussion beyond economic and
political explanations and concentrates on the ethical and human
rights aspects of water.''
Nick W. Verouden, Delft University of Technology