What I enjoyed about this book was that it was written as a series of case studies around the world that each tackled a different set of water-related issues. Also, it was written by a journalist which made it highly readable and entertaining, while still maintaining a fairly academic feel. Also, he personally travelled & interviewed most of the people he discusses, which makes his stories more personal & compelling. His thoughts on the Aral Sea & the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict were extremely compelling. Although I'd heard arguments previously that water was the major issue in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Pearce argues that it was at the heart of the conflict way back. The Israelis had well-defined goals at the beginning of the 6-day war of which territory they wanted to capture, which gave them control over almost all of the Jordan River, as well as most of the western aquifer under the West Bank.

It would have been nice if he would have quoted his sources better. There's no bibliography, and although much of the work is based off of personal interviews which he names, there is also a bunch of factual research fleshing out the book, which he doesn't always cite, which is disappointing, but makes sense for a book that's aimed at an audience much wider than the scientific community.

An awesome book that everyone should read. An eye opener for me really. I never thought about water at all - where it comes from, the politics surrounding it, aquafers, the downsides to dams, hydropolitics, impending doom and gloom :-) It's a book about one of the great natural resources of earth, one that's mostly taken for granted.

Looks globally at our water crisis, including information from over 30 countries. Describes what doesn't work and what is working across history and locale. Good overview and provides some general application information.

A lukewarm 'ok/like' because the subject matter is so incredibly important and it hearkens back to my geology days. It's a subject I like to read about.
But, given that the subject matter is so numbers-driven, why no graphs and charts to help better visualize the issues. Also, no photos. Why? Also, no introduction to basic hydrology and aquifers (with diagrams). The last section was pretty good (but no images or resources links to get more information). A decent book that could have been presented much better.

In view of the drought in the southeast this book is a real eye opener. We are not alone and the problem is not getting any easier to solve. After reading this book I am beginning to think that we should not let the engineers get anywhere near our rivers or other water sources. Also, if we are going to 'help' less fortunate nations drill wells we should at least test the water before they use it. What has happened in India and other regions where the UN and private charities have helped drill wells is very sad if not criminal. The book is not without solutions. But we all need to pay attention to this crisis.

This is a very clearly written, very well resourced piece of work that is worth reading. Pearce makes a valuable point that the issue of water use and control could very well outweigh the use and control of oil in the 21st Century. The common sense solutions offered throughout the book are worth noting.

Many areas of the world have only polluted water as a resource, some areas are running out of water, and some areas have plenty, but are cautious about dispersing it. Many leaders over time have made poor decisions in an effort to leave a legacy. Worldwide, many poor water use decisions are being made.

Pearce has updated his book of the same title but here he gives it a new subtitle (the 2007 version is subtitled, "Water--The Defining Crisis of the 21st Century"). Pearce's book needs to sit on the same shelf as the incredible book by Dahr Jamail, "The End of Ice" (2019); they share the message only on different avenues.

In reading Pearce, I learned of some of the catastrophes we have unleashed. For example, I had not known before that in China, in 1938 when the Japanese Army was invading China, the Chinese generals ordered 800 soldiers to set explosive charges in the Huayuankou Dike. The explosion unleashed enough floodwater to slow the Japanese advance by a month--but it killed 890,000 Chinese during that month.

For example, Pearce relates what he calls the greatest environmental disaster of the 20th C., the Soviet Union's draining of the Aral Sea to feed cotton farms in the 1970s and 80s and eradicating the body water that was once the size of Belgium and Netherlands combined.

Pearce writes about all aspects of harvesting rivers--mistakes and triumphs. I was hoping to read paragraphs or a chapter on the Elwha River reclamation (it happened between his initial version and this current edition), but he bypasses it. Still, it's an impressive study of how freshwater is and will be a defining crisis for our hydrological societies. He covers all the continents and almost crosses all the rivers. He calls for a new ethic in how we use our water.

Pearce's effort would serve as a frightful chapter on water mismanagement in a much needed "Black Book of Development". Its only, minor fault is being structured as a compilation of various types of errors, lacking a bit of a "big picture" behind.

Just starting out on this one. Definitely worth the read if you're into learning about conservation of natural resources. Trust me, you'll learn a lot! I'm waiting for it to get to the "how to fix it" stuff though. All this gloom and doom makes me frustrated!

The book begins with amazing facts, such as: It takes between 250 and 650 gallons of water to make one bag of rice. While one person may drink only 250 gallons (or one ton) of water annually, the water used to cloth and provide food for them annually would fill half an Olympic-size swimming pool (or between 1,500 and 2,000 tons). I've just begun, but am hooked. What if the nutrition labels on food bags listed all the hidden amounts of energy and water it took to create the end food product? (And I can think of the vegan angle that would want to list how much pain and suffering was involved in the production of the animal-based food. Or the fair traders who would want to quantify the amount of human pain in the generation of food.) Will keep you posted.

A lot of it was very interesting as I have never learnt about water usage before.

The issues I had with the book were that a lot of it seemed quite repetitive and I think the book could have been shortened.

The other issue was that he did not use the metric system in the book, nearly the whole world uses the metric system and every scientist uses the metric system. If you're going to write a book based on science you should use this convention.