Last Oasis: Facing Water Scarcity: Facing Water Scarcity Facing Water Scarcity (Worldwatch Environmental Alert) - Softcover

Postel, Sandra

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0393317447 ISBN 13: 9780393317442

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 1997

Synopsis

We have taken for granted seemingly endless supplies of water flowing from reservoirs wells, and diversion projects; access to water has been key to food security, industrialization, and the growth of cities. In this book from the Worldwatch Institute, Sandra Postel explains that decades of profligacy and mismanagement of the world's water resources have produced signs of shortages and environmental destruction. She writes with authority and clarity of the limits-ecological, economic, and political-of this vital natural resource. She explores the potential for conflict over water between nations, and between urban and rural residents. And she offers a sensible way out of such struggles. Last Oasis makes clear that the technologies and know-how exist to increase the productivity of every liter of water. But citizens must first understand the issues and insist on policies, laws, and institutions that promote the sustainable use of water.

About this title

About the Author:

Sandra Postel lives in Amherst, Massachusetts, where she directs the Global Water Policy Project. She is a Pew Fellow in Conservation and the Environment and a former vice president for research at the Worldwatch Institute. Her previous book, Last Oasis, now appears in eight languages and was the basis for a PBS television documentary.

Synopsis:

Argues that a long history of mismanagement of water resources has endangered our water supplies, suggests ways to conserve water, and discusses the economic, political, and social aspects of water.

About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0393317447
• ISBN 13: 9780393317442
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 270