Very readable and packed with fascinating information. But DEPRESSING. The world's fresh water situation is beyond hopeless. And, it going to get worse. Something to look forward to.

The only problem with this book is the complete lack of citations, which is puzzling.

A major crisis is not building, but well on its way. It will define the 21st century, as water is of the utmost importance for us all.

The book provides the details of many spots on Earth, about the problems and the solutions found to water scarcity and abundance. It should be part of every country's education curriculum.

Though, buy the newest 2018 edition if you can, not the 2006 edition I'm reading, as new developments inevitably shed a new light.

This hydrological manifesto is amazing. Very informative and succinct, this book is a call-to-action to all of us, no matter where we live, how rich or poor we are. As we enter the era of increasing water crises, this book offers some very simple solutions to some very serious problems. I can't say that I'm left feeling hopeful after reading it, because I understand that political will to do the sensible thing is rarely there, but maybe we wake up and do the right thing before it is too late.
A must read.

Existe una traducción al español, ISBN 9788495744890, de editorial Barrabas, año 2007, con el horrible título de "viaje al corazón de la sed".

En este trabajo Pearce nos muestra la situación hidrográfica de nuestro planeta a principios de siglo, además de señalar muchas de las barbaridades que se han hecho durante el siglo XX con el verdadero oro de nuestro mundo.

Solo es un libro imprescindible para los organismos vivos que necesitamos agua dulce en nuestros procesos vitales. A los demás es normal que no les interese.

More short form than his other books that I've read, but a fascinating set of information!

A comprehensive overview of global water issues with a particular focus on the impact of dams and groundwater pumping. I read a used edition from 2006 but I believe there is an updated one available. I’d recommend reading the newer one, if possible, as many of the future crises he identifies are already in play. It’s a nice book with short chapters, making for a quick read. Pearce does a nice job blending personal on the ground reporting with big picture ideas and statistics. It starts to drag in the final third or so, or maybe just becomes too much of a bummer as nearly every major river, wetland, and catastrophic development project is profiled. After a while you start to feel like you get the picture— and that picture is bleak.

Very interesting and important read but slow and hard to read.

this is my University's common reading program book for this year. So, now that I've finished it, I have to come up with a way to make it enticing and relevent to a bunch of freshmen (last year's group didn't like Mountains Beyond Mountains, which I loved). The premise of this book is great and it certainly stimulated all of my co-workers also reading the book to think about the issue of water use on both a personal and global level. However, it is extremely repetitive and could easily be significantly shorter, AND, there isn't a single footnote in the whole book. So, who knows how much of this stuff is actually true. Sure, it makes sense on an intellectual level, and there is enough detail included that _seems_ to support the author's hypotheses, but perhaps one of the main lessons I can draw from it to teach my freshmen is the concept of what makes a well-documented and supported academic book - how to read critically - and not necessarily blindly believe everything they read.

"It is too easy to see communities that depend on natural wild resources and the vagaries of untamed rivers as somehow left behind by progress. The truth, quite often, is the opposite. It is they who have unlocked the truth about how to get the maximum use of natural resources. It is the urban sophisticates with their engineering degrees who haven't got a clue." - Fred Pearce, When the Rivers Run Dry

Wow. Great book full of case studies. Eye opening. Informs a more enlightened perspective toward the value of water, its capture and smart use, politics and societal pressures, rivers, dams and water systems around the world.

My big takeaway is the hubris of humanity. It makes sense how we've gotten to this point of trying to master water over a series of logical small steps. But with all these examples of big ideas that turned out to be wrong, have huge unintended consequences and hurt many people downstream, the message is clear: we're much better off working with the natural water cycle, not against it. Seeking to tame and control it won't succeed.

As populations grow and the world continues to need water for drinking, agriculture and industry (not to mention plumbing, which must have a better way on the horizon), we're going to face increasingly uncomfortable situations regarding water. We can face and overcome them if we're smarter, more practical and learn from mistakes to adapt and move forward. But it'll take greater honesty about human limitations regarding water and understanding that working within the natural water cycle is the only answer.

One of Cambridge Sustainability's Top 50 Books for Sustainability, as voted for by our alumni network of over 3,000 senior leaders from around the world. To find out more, click here.

When the Rivers Run Dry sets out a case for water being as large and urgent an environmental challenge as climate change. Today, the world grows twice as much food as it did a generation ago, but it uses three times as much water. As a result, many of the waterways, lakes and rivers that we used to take for granted are under severe threat or already disappearing. Examples include the Aral Sea, the Colorado River, the Rio Grande or even the Yellow River.

Pearce calls for a second agricultural revolution. We've had the 'green revolution' which increased harvests to feed a growing world population but at the expense of water supplies. Now we need a 'blue revolution' before the gains of the past generations are wiped out. This will require 'a new ethos for water: an ethos based not on technical fixes, but on managing the water cycle for maximum social benefit rather than narrow self-interest'.