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The Resource Last oasis : facing water scarcity, Sandra Postel

Last oasis : facing water scarcity, Sandra Postel

Creator
Summary
  • "It is no coincidence that human civilization sprang from river valleys and floodplains. Access to water has been crucial to our food security and to the growth of cities and industries. In recent times, the fortunate have come to take water for granted: Endless supplies seem to flow from dams, reservoirs, wells, and diversion projects." "But for decades now we have wasted and mismanaged the world's water. Engineering projects, ever larger as demands spiral upward, have created an illusion of plenty even in the midst of scarcity. Gross underpricing has concealed the need for careful management. We have come to view water strictly as a resource that is there for the taking, rather than as a living system that drives the natural world on which we depend." "We are entering a new era - an era of water scarcity. The signs are evident the world over: shrinking lakes and seas, depleted river flows, and falling groundwater levels. Chronic shortages could unfold this decade in much of Africa, northern China, pockets of India, Mexico, the Middle East, and parts of western North America." "Already 26 countries have too little water to support their populations sustainably. We hear rumblings of potential war over water in the Middle East. And competition for supplies is brewing between city-dwellers and farmers around Beijing, New Delhi, Phoenix, and other water-short areas." "In this, the third volume in the Worldwatch Environmental Alert Series, Sandra Postel examines the limits - ecological, economic, and political - of water. Postel, vice president for research of the Worldwatch Institute, writes with authority and clarity of these emerging threats to our future. And, perhaps most important, she offers a disarmingly sensible way out of such struggles."
  • "Last Oasis discloses that the technologies and know-how exist today to make every drop of water go further, decreasing the likelihood of both scarcity and conflict. Postel shows us that with currently available methods, agriculture - which uses the lion's share of fresh-water resources - could cut its demands by 10-50 percent, industries by 40-90 percent, and cities by one-third. All this with no sacrifice of economic output or quality of life." "Successful, cost-effective strategies are already up and running. Boston, Massachusetts, reduced its water use 16 percent in four years, thanks largely to home water-saving devices, industrial recycling, and repairing leaks - at a cost only a third to half as much as conventional proposals to expand the supply. Some 70 percent of Israel's sewage gets treated and reused to irrigate 19,000 hectares of farmland. In Germany, state-of-the-art paper manufacturing plants use 100 times less water to produce each kilogram of paper than older factories elsewhere." "In much of the world, it turns out, ways to conserve water and use it more efficiently represent the least costly and most environmentally sound options for achieving water balance. And so far, Last Oasis discovers, they have barely been tapped." "A key challenge is to reform government policies that now price water far below its worth, perpetuating the illusion of plenty. Beyond such practical measures, Postel calls for a new water ethic - one that makes the protection of water ecosystems a central aim in all we do, and that compels us to use less whenever we can, and share what we have." "If we fail to understand the limits of water, Postel reminds us, we may learn the hard way the truth of Ben Franklin's adage, "When the well's dry, we know the worth of water.""--Jacket
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Edition
1st ed.
Extent
239 pages
Contents
  • An illusion of plenty
  • Signs of scarcity
  • Engineering's promise
  • Bread and water
  • Paradise lost
  • Hydropolitics
  • A world heating up
  • Thrifty irrigation
  • Small-scale solutions
  • Wastewater no more
  • Industrial recycling
  • Conserving in cities
  • Pricing, markets, and regulations
  • A water ethic
Isbn
9780393309614
Link
http://www.gbv.de/dms/bowker/toc/9780393309614.pdf
Instance
Label
Last oasis : facing water scarcity
Title
Last oasis
Title remainder
facing water scarcity
Statement of responsibility
Sandra Postel
Creator
Subject
Language
eng
Summary
  • "It is no coincidence that human civilization sprang from river valleys and floodplains. Access to water has been crucial to our food security and to the growth of cities and industries. In recent times, the fortunate have come to take water for granted: Endless supplies seem to flow from dams, reservoirs, wells, and diversion projects." "But for decades now we have wasted and mismanaged the world's water. Engineering projects, ever larger as demands spiral upward, have created an illusion of plenty even in the midst of scarcity. Gross underpricing has concealed the need for careful management. We have come to view water strictly as a resource that is there for the taking, rather than as a living system that drives the natural world on which we depend." "We are entering a new era - an era of water scarcity. The signs are evident the world over: shrinking lakes and seas, depleted river flows, and falling groundwater levels. Chronic shortages could unfold this decade in much of Africa, northern China, pockets of India, Mexico, the Middle East, and parts of western North America." "Already 26 countries have too little water to support their populations sustainably. We hear rumblings of potential war over water in the Middle East. And competition for supplies is brewing between city-dwellers and farmers around Beijing, New Delhi, Phoenix, and other water-short areas." "In this, the third volume in the Worldwatch Environmental Alert Series, Sandra Postel examines the limits - ecological, economic, and political - of water. Postel, vice president for research of the Worldwatch Institute, writes with authority and clarity of these emerging threats to our future. And, perhaps most important, she offers a disarmingly sensible way out of such struggles."
  • "Last Oasis discloses that the technologies and know-how exist today to make every drop of water go further, decreasing the likelihood of both scarcity and conflict. Postel shows us that with currently available methods, agriculture - which uses the lion's share of fresh-water resources - could cut its demands by 10-50 percent, industries by 40-90 percent, and cities by one-third. All this with no sacrifice of economic output or quality of life." "Successful, cost-effective strategies are already up and running. Boston, Massachusetts, reduced its water use 16 percent in four years, thanks largely to home water-saving devices, industrial recycling, and repairing leaks - at a cost only a third to half as much as conventional proposals to expand the supply. Some 70 percent of Israel's sewage gets treated and reused to irrigate 19,000 hectares of farmland. In Germany, state-of-the-art paper manufacturing plants use 100 times less water to produce each kilogram of paper than older factories elsewhere." "In much of the world, it turns out, ways to conserve water and use it more efficiently represent the least costly and most environmentally sound options for achieving water balance. And so far, Last Oasis discovers, they have barely been tapped." "A key challenge is to reform government policies that now price water far below its worth, perpetuating the illusion of plenty. Beyond such practical measures, Postel calls for a new water ethic - one that makes the protection of water ecosystems a central aim in all we do, and that compels us to use less whenever we can, and share what we have." "If we fail to understand the limits of water, Postel reminds us, we may learn the hard way the truth of Ben Franklin's adage, "When the well's dry, we know the worth of water.""--Jacket
Member of
Cataloging source
DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Postel, Sandra
Dewey number
333.91
Illustrations
  • illustrations
  • maps
Index
index present
LC call number
TD345
LC item number
.P67 1992
Literary form
non fiction
NAL call number
TD345.P67
NAL item number
1992
Nature of contents
bibliography
Series statement
The Worldwatch environmental alert series
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Water-supply
  • Water conservation
  • Water rights
  • Eau
  • Eau
  • Conservation de l'eau
  • Ressources en eau
  • Pénurie d'eau
  • Water conservation
  • Water rights
  • Water-supply
  • Milieukunde
  • Waterhuishouding
  • Waterbronnen
  • Watergebruik
  • Droogte
  • Umweltkrise
  • Trinkwasser
  • Wasserversorgung
  • Zukunft
  • Wasser
  • Abastecimiento de agua
  • Conservación del agua
  • Derecho de aguas
Label
Last oasis : facing water scarcity, Sandra Postel
Link
http://www.gbv.de/dms/bowker/toc/9780393309614.pdf
Instantiates
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
An illusion of plenty -- Signs of scarcity -- Engineering's promise -- Bread and water -- Paradise lost -- Hydropolitics -- A world heating up -- Thrifty irrigation -- Small-scale solutions -- Wastewater no more -- Industrial recycling -- Conserving in cities -- Pricing, markets, and regulations -- A water ethic
Control code
ocm26502918
Dimensions
22 cm.
Edition
1st ed.
Extent
239 pages
Isbn
9780393309614
Lccn
92030356
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations, map
System control number
  • (Sirsi) o26502918
  • (OCoLC)26502918
Label
Last oasis : facing water scarcity, Sandra Postel
Link
http://www.gbv.de/dms/bowker/toc/9780393309614.pdf
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
An illusion of plenty -- Signs of scarcity -- Engineering's promise -- Bread and water -- Paradise lost -- Hydropolitics -- A world heating up -- Thrifty irrigation -- Small-scale solutions -- Wastewater no more -- Industrial recycling -- Conserving in cities -- Pricing, markets, and regulations -- A water ethic
Control code
ocm26502918
Dimensions
22 cm.
Edition
1st ed.
Extent
239 pages
Isbn
9780393309614
Lccn
92030356
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations, map
System control number
  • (Sirsi) o26502918
  • (OCoLC)26502918

Subject

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