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Not a Drop to Drink: America's Water Crisis (and What You Can Do)

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I found Not a Drop to Drink to be a very interesting an informative book. If offered new facts in excess. While it was very easy to read, gave reference to geographers, and addressed the politics of water, the book lacked in several ways. I would have like to have seen more maps, diagrams, and tables to explain a lot of the information Midkiff presented. I also would have liked him to focus more on the action people could take to preserve water on a personal scale. Much of his "What You Can Do" portions of the book focused on contacting and working with government officials. The average American does not have time for such dedication but would like aid in smaller but significant ways. Overall, I think Midkiff wrote a fantastic book on the water crisis in America, but not for people uninterested in the politics behind that water.

This is a thin, poorly edited book about a coming train wreck in water supply. I think it attempts to follow in the footsteps of the late Marc Reisner's "Cadillac Desert", a noble idea as that (far better) book was a history, and suggested no solutions. Midkoff, to his credit, does suggest some actions, and provides both a broader geographic scope (problems in the Southeast and Northeast) and more currency, but the pedestrian prose, and the narrowness of his research weigh this book down. His look at solutions focuses on desalination and moving icebergs, but ignores water recycling and other conservation methods.

Ken Midkiff analyses America's current and oncoming water crisis in Not a Drop to Drink. The author investigates the problems with how the U.S. gets and uses its freshwater. The author's main argument is that the U.S. uses too much freshwater. The current use of freshwater in the U.S. is unsustainable and our current use puts the needs of future generations at risk. A large amount of freshwater in the U.S. is used for the irrigation of water intensive crops in dry areas. The author shows that this is only economically viable because the government subsidizes water for this purpose. The author thinks it's wrong for the government to subsidize the depletion of our freshwater resources.

Aquifers are being depleted and the author goes into great detail about the Ogallala Aquifer. The author also investigates the current state of rivers in the western U.S. and the Colorado River and the Rio Grande River were evaluated in detail. Both of these rivers often go dry by the time they reach the Gulf of California and the Gulf of Mexico, respectively. Large cities in Arizona, California and Nevada continue to grow and fight for the water rights to these and other rivers. Wells in the southwestern U.S. frequently go dry due to the overuse and depletion of groundwater. The author also looks at the privatization of water companies. The author argues that water companies should always be owned by the government.

All in all, the book is an interesting read. The author does a great job of presenting the current issues but the proposed solutions are not great. Most of the author's solutions are over simplified political solutions.

At the rate we're going the Ice Caps will be gone by 2099.

You know what? We may have to seriously consider a life without an `unlimited' supply of water. This book focuses mainly on the United States, but of course, change the city names around and you have the exact same problems around the world. In a spooky way, America starts to look like China or India as you hear stories about vast tracts of lands drying up, and the accelerated wells being dug around the country, as they have to dig deeper and deeper to find pockets of groundwater.



When I learned about Economic Development in School, there were three main elements, ... Education, Income and Health (as measured by fertility rates). Reading this book made me think that maybe we should consider a fourth metric: Sustainability. Ideally, a country that was making lots of money for its people, but selling its water and natural resources to do so (basically cutting off its nose to spite the face) should not be considered a developed country. The goal is not just about rich citizens now, but enriching the country in the future (and in turn, the world). By ignoring sustainability, we're just not seeing the full picture.

So where is the full picture showing up?

Take the Southern United States, for example. There's a story in here about a Southern US rancher who had to move in with his son, because when the water dried up, his crops were toast. The worst thing, is that what was once valuable land (in the millions of dollars, no doubt) had lost most of its value, because the water was gone.
That's not the rancher's fault, but the city about 20 miles away was sucking up all the groundwater, like a straw.
That's right, the rancher didn't do it. We all did! It's all those 30 minute showers we're taking, and lawns we're watering. And the population in countries like the US keeps growing. So in future there'll be a lot more straws sucking all that water.

So at this rate we'll have to seriously cut back on our water consumption. Here's a list of the foods that we probably won't be eating much of (if at all) in 40 years time.

* Pork, Beef, Poultry
* Milk, Eggs
* Rice
* Berries, Grapes, Wine
* Tobacco

Before you freak out remember, these products are so water rich that you either have to cut them out of your diet, or pay a high price tag for them. When the price starts going up (as is already happening in many parts of the world) you're going to make a decision. So you're not going to cut them out 100%, but we could very well see a time when people just go without these basic foods. In the case of Rice in China, I'm assuming some massive subsidies will kick in. The Chinese will just pay through taxes then.

We already have millions of people around the world, very healthy and strong, living without eating Meat, and Dairy products, etc. Certainly cutting cigarettes out of your diet would be a great thing (don't think the Tobacco companies are going to let that happen without a fight). I'm genuinely curious to see what a recipe book for surviving and thriving in the year 2050 would look like. My guess is we'd be a hundred times healthier.

In addition to diet changes, the book discusses the role of private business in this water crisis. A few times, I've been on the soapbox with my friends, talking about how private companies are getting rich off this water stuff, and yet I really don't have a problem with the companies themselves. The problem with companies is when there's no competition. You know, a Monopoly.

Companies are going to use up all the resources they can. They're going to cut costs wherever they can. And as long as they're within the law, they're going to do everything they can. Sometimes, especially with utilities and natural resources, it's impossible to have two companies competing over, say, water supply. They bid to get the business in the first place, but after that, they basically have a monopoly. We should all be very aware that water companies all over the world are moving in on our tap water. That didn't used to be the case, because water used to be a right-they couldn't own it. Private companies are NOT democratic and only approach efficiency when they compete. It's competition that's great, not private companies themselves. The way to make private companies work is be very specific in the contract. If they sign a casually worded contract, the deal just won't work- they'll cut back on standards too much, and people will complain that the water has a brownish hue. Remember, its their obligation to maximize profits.

These water companies are going to try to move in, and in many cases, a public solution is the best. I know, I know, a public solution is another kind of Monopoly, but at least you get to vote them out of office every 4 years, right?

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books/biz/asia

Midkiff does a good job of presenting this crisis in an easy-to-understand manner. I learned a lot about the water crisis by reading this book. The writing is a little dry, with no maps, photos or graphs to help the reader to better understand the situation. In addition, Midkoff's personal bias towards conservation over innovation (seawater desalinization, iceberg towing) comes across loud and clear. Usually, as a Neo-Green, I get turned off by this sort of "doing less is the only way to save the planet" type of preaching. However, in the case of water, Conservation may just be the best tool for the job. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone who feels in the dark about the water crisis.