Water: The Fate of Our Most Precious Resource

Water: The Fate of Our Most Precious Resource

Author: Marq de Villiers

Publisher: McClelland & Stewart

ISBN: 978-0-7710-2641-6 (0-7710-2641-2)

OUTLINE

Water isn't running out. The amount of water on earth is the same now as in the past. We dig deep, damn up, reroute and disperse based on dollar demand and what's changing is the amount of water that remains potable for human use.

In this book Marq de Villiers presents a history of the world through water and how it has come to be that we face such dire situations with it globally. The text goes into great detail with supporting scientific, economic and statistical data. This factoid approach is met with the integration of highly readable mini-stories, mostly based on his personal travels to the far reaches of the earth. Comparisons are drawn between seemingly polar opposite areas of the world hitting on the rapidly growing populations, desertification, falling water tables, and pollution that come as a result.

The need for urgent action on this issue and the development of a system that allows for integrated management of all aspects of water supply and demand is embedded the overarching message.

RELEVANCE

The bottom line is that water enables the existence of all things and therefore, based on the history of its handling, it is completely undervalued in the present world. A sustainable lifestyle would redefine its necessary use by using little, then increasing the number of ways it can be used in one cycle and distributing it in a way that provides solution for today and tomorrow in equal consideration. The way this is achieved will vary greatly depending on the region of the planet. There is no immediate and obvious solution to the massive web of problems surrounding water but there is a clear indication that individual action is crucial.

Suggestions made for proactive change are directed toward large bodies of people and governments so the individual has only their conscience to rely on when changing their small scale habits and influencing the larger picture. The information acquired from this read greatly informs those choices by turning the micro quickly into the macro with the simple turning of a tap.

Rating (1-5 useless to relevant): 4

OPINION

This is a thorough read. More “to the point” publications exist on this topic but do not often provide the same breadth of supporting information. The beauty of the piece is that it works as both a text book and a human portrait of water. Be warned that the beginning of the book is heavily weighted with the mechanics of water usage and I was not truly captivated until I was nearly quarter of the way through the pages when examples of water crisis around the world arrive.

This book leans toward a “science and technology will save us all” attitude near the end that is bound to raise the eyebrows of some but most of the book is presented in a more neutral delivery of facts for the reader to conclude upon themselves. There seems to be reluctance by de Villiers to attack in depth the ever important political side of water that is so crucial to its current conditions. This could be due to its constant change and clouded nature. Overall the book has something to inform both the clueless and the scientist into the severity of their own timely action. In the end the reader is still left satisfied they've explored the major global issues surrounding the topic and is compelled into a new consciousness of every last drop.

Rating (1-5 useless to relevant): 3.5

Review by Alison Macklin