Written in Water

February 15, 2010
This varied collection of 25 essays by leading conservationists, edited by documentarian Salina, range from a warning by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Frank Clifford about the ten-year drought threatening 30 million residents of Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Denver, to stories of successful activists like Marion Stoddart, who stopped the industrial pollution of Massachusetts's Nashua River. A photographic study of Mount Everest shows graphic evidence of receding glaciers; several pieces describe traditional methods of "rainwater-harvesting and storage" being implemented in locations like Nepal; Rose George discusses the reasons behind the staggering statistic that 2.6 billion people worldwide live without sanitation, "surrounded by human excrement," which causes 25 percent of global child deaths. The book's central message, that "water conservation is not about scarcity" but rather its careful use and fair distribution, comes through in a number of sober but optimistic calls to action.

February 15, 2010
Of all the environmental concerns we face, threats to freshwater rank highest on the list. After creating the documentary film Flow: For the Love of Water, Salina jumped at the chance to create an anthology about the need to value, safeguard, and conserve water the world round as rivers dwindle, reservoirs evaporate, glaciers melt, drought and pollution worsen, and nearly a third of the earths people are water-poor. Peter Gleick begins by observing that water reform requires fundamental changes in thinking, policy, and culture, a view shared by each of the eloquent and incisive water visionaries who follow. Frank Clifford considers the consequences of the disappearing Colorado River. Rose George writes of water and sanitation. Alexandra Cousteau explains why she continues the water-centric environmental work of her grandfather, Jacques, and her father, Philippe. Sandra Postel, director of the Global Water Policy Project, believes we must be bold in confronting water scarcity while regaining a sense of wonder about this irreplaceable resource, like that of the little girl she saw running toward a shimmering fountain of water, shrieking in sheer delight.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)