"If there was a price placed on clean water we might start treating it like it has value. Maybe when it's gone we'll realize we can't drink oil or money." — Dave Matthews
Less than 1 percent of the world's water is fresh and potable — and no more will ever be available. Thanks to pollution, global warming, and population growth, water access is poised to become today's most explosive global issue. This book, based on the film
Last Call at the Oasis
by Academy Award-winning director Jessica Yu, offers insights into the coming water crisis from visionary scientists, policymakers, activists, and environmentalists, including:
ROBERT MORAN on how oil and mineral development pollute and divert water supplies — often beyond public scrutiny
PETER H. GLEICK on discovering the "soft path" to global water security
ROBERT GLENNON on how the power of markets can help protect the world's water
LYNN HENNING on how a family farmer became a passionate "water activist"
ALEX PRUD'HOMME on how the water crisis affects us all
GARY WHITE on how innovative social and economic strategies can make clean water available even for the world's poorest people
HADLEY ARNOLD AND PETER ARNOLD on how arid regions like America's Southwest can wisely husband water supplies for cities and farmers alike
ROBYN BEAVERS on how today's smartest businesses are making sustainable water management a competitive advantage
ZEM JOAQUIN on nine "ecofabulous" ways of saving water at home — and doing it with style
BILL MCDONOUGH on how smart design can preserve water's "Endless Resourcefulness" for generations to come
No resource on earth is more precious — or more endangered — than water.
is a powerful tool for learning about the water challenges we face as well as the remarkable solutions available to us — if we have the will to use them.