Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water (Hardcover)

by Maude Barlow (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Canadian antiglobalization activist Barlow (Blue Gold) calls for a blue covenant among nations to define the world's fresh water as a human right and a public trust rather than a commercial product. Barlow marshals facts and figures with admirable (if often dry) comprehensiveness, noting that as many as 36 U.S. states could reach a water crisis in five years; that once vast freshwater resources like Lake Chad and the Aral Sea are becoming briny puddles; and a handful of multinational water companies, abetted by World Bank monetary policies and United Nations political timidity, are bidding for the complete commodification of formerly public water resources. Her passionate plea for access-to-water activism is buttressed with some breakthroughs; Uruguay has enshrined public water rights in its constitution (the only nation to do so), and water warriors are fighting back in Bolivia, Argentina and Chile, where activists have forced private water companies to cede control of municipal water systems. There's a noble tilting-at-windmills quality to the author's call for private citizens and nongovernmental organizations to challenge corporate control of water delivery, agitate for equitable access to clean water and confront the reality that freshwater supplies are dwindling. (Feb.)
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From Booklist
Activist Barlow has written a follow-up to Blue Gold (2002) that addresses the state of the global water crisis in stark and nearly devastating prose. Her grip on the subject is astonishing and equaled only by an ability to efficiently and effectively pass enormous amounts of information to readers in the most accessible manner. The major focus here is on water privatization and how it has affected countries in Asia, Africa, and beyond. Barlow discusses water forums, community resistance, and deals between governments and corporations, explaining that much of the world is without water or facing extravagant water taxes. Barlow holds the reader’s attention by citing such startling facts as 12 million people in Mexico have no potable water and 25 million more have workable taps for only a few hours weekly. The ongoing drought crisis in the southeastern U.S. makes her arguments that much more prescient and broadens the book’s appeal. Blue Covenant is an intelligent resource for anyone interested in environmental concerns. --Colleen Mondor

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: New Press (February 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1595581863
• ISBN-13: 978-1595581860
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #77,545 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great review of water policy, February 11, 2008

By	John G. Curington - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Maude Barlow has written a very readable review of water policy. At first this would not seem like a very exciting topic, but water policy will soon affect all of us as we deplete the supply of accessible clean water.

Ms. Barlow divides her book into five chapters. She starts by explaining the crisis. Basically, with so many humans on the planet, we are managing to deplete or pollute our finite resource of clean water. We are withdrawing water from aquifers at a rate faster than the aquifers can recharge. Through global warming, we are melting the glaciers that provide us with river water. Through carelessness in industry and agriculture, we are polluting the very same water that we drink.

In the second chapter, the author describes how a powerful water industry is forming to control these dwindling resources. She gives multiple examples of how the industry is not developing for the betterment of humanity or for fair distribution of water, but to reap profit from the increasingly scarce resource.

In the third chapter, she describes the problems with technological fixes such as desalination, water nanotechnology, and cloud seeding. She also emphasizes the ethical and practical problems with bottled water.

In the fourth chapter, she discusses some brave activists who are fighting back against the corporate control our water. She does a good job in covering the activities in multiple continents - the Americas, Asia, Australia, Europe, Africa - and giving concrete examples of activists who have pushed back and won against corporate water interests.

Ms. Barlow finishes with a chapter called "The Future of Water." Here she reviews potential sources of conflict over water. How will the water in the Colorado River be shared as the population in the US Southwest continues to grow? How will Israel, Jordan, and Palestine share the water of the Jordan River? How will Turkey and Syria resolve the conflict over the big dam project on the Euphrates? She finishes by speculating on potential alternatives to conflict. How do we encourage water conservation and fight for water justice?

There is also an appendix with "Sources and Further Reading" as well as a good index.

On the whole, this is an excellent book to review the upcoming water crisis. You will also understand more about the policies that are exacerbating the problems as well as some potential solutions.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Darn Hot!, November 6, 2007

By	Othon Leon "Othon Leon" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water (Paperback)

A tremendous warning is the one Maude Marlow makes with this wonderful book... fascinating in essence, it lets us know why we must head towards a different kind of "growth"... simple: we are finishing even water supplies! the degree of detail she describes cannot be interpreted other than a last warning... either we rationalize our economies (world, national and even individual) or we are condemned to a next war: for water!

Referring to water, Ms. Barlow says: "...those areas of life thought to be common heritage of humanity for the benefit of the many, now coming under corporate control for the benefit of the few (rich)" is a phrase that resonates in my head as I drink water from my purchased bottle of water and wake up to conscience of this once simple act and its implications...

Worth reading document, rich (to say the least) in data, research material, etc.

¡Bravo Ms. Barlow!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Highly Informative, May 28, 2009

By	Lumber Jake (Cleveland, OH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water (Paperback)

This book provides ample information about what is going on in the world of water. It explains how we attain freshwater, the environmental and social implications of our actions, and who the key players are. In some places it provides more names and organizations than one may be interested in, but other places are loaded with eye opening facts and explanations about water and its role in our future. I would recommend picking it up and at least reading the 3rd Chapter.