From cities to biofuels, competition for water is accelerating. Climate change threatens to intensify the onset and severity of the water crisis in several regions of the developing world: this is already happening throughout much of Asia, the Mediterranean, southwestern Australia, and the southwestern US. Along with water shortages, unsafe water becomes an increasingly widespread problem, too. As water crises trigger food and health crises, billions may slip further into poverty, leading to greater social and political unrest, new wars, and worsening national security. Out of Water doesn't just illuminate the coming global water crisis: it presents innovative solutions in agriculture, engineering, governance, and beyond, including state-of-the art techniques for integrated water management. Out of Water will help raise the level of debate about water to the highest levels of government, and identify workable reforms and incentives to help water users utilize this crucial resource far more efficiently.
Chapter 1 Not Another Crisis!
Chapter 2 From Abundance to Scarcity in 25 Years
Chapter 3 Causes of Water Scarcity
Chapter 4 Climate Change and Water
Chapter 5 Agriculture and Water
Chapter 6 Water, Food, and Poverty
Chapter 7 Integrating Water Planning and Management
Chapter 8 Water Governance for People and the Environment
Chapter 9 Water Rights and Water Costs
Chapter 10 Solving the World's Water Problems
Colin Chartres, a world-renowned authority on water issues, is Director General of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). He has 35 years' experience in R&D and policy areas related to water and natural resources, and served as Chief Science Advisor to the Australian National Water Commission. He has published more than 120 papers, book chapters, and reports on soil, water, and agricultural management issues.
Samyuktha Varma is Executive Officer to the DG/Communications Specialist at IWMI. She focuses on issues of water, equity, and poverty in developing countries, ensuring that women's voices are heard in the development of water management solutions. A social scientist, her background has led to her work on issues ranging from human rights to urban governance.
"No water, no life. Are you wondering how this planet can be 'running out of water' when it still rains and rivers flow? This book is your guide. Colin Chartres has lived his life to improve the management of the water that gives life to all. His lessons are worth learning."
– Margaret Catley-Carlson, Member of the UN Secretary General's Advisory Board, Chair of the Global Water Partnership, and former Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF
"Chartres and Varma ably combine sound science and intelligent writing to illuminate the enormous technical and managerial challenges inherent in meeting the world's rapidly growing water needs. Wisely, Out of Water pays special attention to the complexities of managing water for agriculture, by far the largest consumer of water worldwide and the major contributor to water scarcity."
– Roberto Lenton, Chair, Inspection Panel, The World Bank
"Ensuring that we use water more wisely, more productively, and less profligately will be one of the defining challenges [...] of this century. There are solutions, and while implementing these will not be easy, they are achievable, as pointed out in this book."
– From the Foreword by Dr. Joachim von Braun, Director, Center for Development Research (ZEF)