Peter Gleick discusses the future of water in the 21st century
(note: the following is a guest post by AWS reader S. Corey Thomas)
A recent edition of Fresh Air on NPR featured an interview with Peter Gleick, a MacArthur Fellow and co-founder of the non-partisan environmental think-tank, The Pacific Institute . Since 1998, Gleick has assessed the state of global water resources in a biennial report, The World’s Water. The fifth volume in this acclaimed series is now available, with a focus on the implications between water and terrorism and the increasing risks of flood and drought due to climate change and excessive development.
In this interview, Peter Gleick discusses the water crisis that looms over many areas of the United States, including Atlanta and the drought-stricken southeast. The difficulties of desalination are explored, as well as the environmental costs of bottled water versus tap water. Gleick notes that, in many places in the US, we have reached the limits of growth against the constraints of freshwater supplies. Atlanta would do well to pay attention to his message.
Below are some excerpts from the interview:
“The opportunity to build new dams and new reservoirs is pretty much gone. We’ve built on the good dam sites, and unfortunately some of the bad dam sites as well. We’re going to have to rethink the way we use the existing resources we have. There may be places to build new infrastructure, but I actually think the 21st century is going to be — in the United States especially — a century of water management, and smart use, and rethinking allocations of water from one user to another, and figuring out how to use the infrastructure we’ve built better.”
“In the past, the attitude has been ‘Build it, and we’ll figure out a way to get the water there.’ And that worked, to some degree, in the 20th century, but it’s not gonna work in the 21st century. There isn’t any more water. We’re at the limits of our resources here. And we’re not gonna go to Canada or Alaska, we’re not gonna desalinate seawater infinitely and move it to Las Vegas — it’s too far and too expensive. And so, the idea that we can grow without thinking about the resources that are available for that growth is an old idea, and it’s not going to work any longer.”
S. Corey Thomas
November 29th, 2007 at 10:35 pm
He is correct, but Georgia government officials seem not able to see the future that rampant out-of-control growth is not sustainable. Freshwater is the most valuable resource in the world and without it you perish.
November 30th, 2007 at 10:50 am
Come on posters this subject is important. Endless development in the US is NOT sustainable, so please post your thoughts and ideas on here. We can not survive without freshwater.
November 30th, 2007 at 11:06 am
I equated the lack of posts to a general acceptance of what was said.
December 2nd, 2007 at 9:55 am
The lack of posts is IMO clearly a psychological factor. Air is also important to our very existence, yet we allow endless belching of any number of poisons to be expelled into another life-sustaining resource. Why would water and survival be any different?
The general public’s entire psychological perspective (our collective belief system) is built upon growth. We’ve personally tried to have this discussion with a few people. These conversations go absolutely no where, and in one case we were told that our “ideas” were so offensive we should STFU.
The average 30 to 60ish person has absolutely no concept of limits in this country. They went to college, they work hard and they were promised a comfy McMansion with imported granite countertops in the suburbs, a Volvo and Suburban in the drive, 2.5 children, a dog and two or three recreational vehicles, i.e. jetski, the weekend Harley and/or four-wheeler. They entertain themselves with Desperate Housewives, college football and analysis of Suzie’s latest boyfriend, whom they do not approve of. They take 30 minute showers, wash the car (and recreational Harley), water the lawn, run the washing machine for that one special top, have the AC set at 60 and have an immigrant powerwashing the house - all at the same time.
They simply will not admit the oil is running out, which effects the power running the McMansion. They simply will not admit the water is running out. And, when we asked one family member just to look at a few reports, namely IPCC, they responded that there was no need because you can’t trust what “those governments” write up.
Funny, they seem to trust in the Saudi reports that promise unending reserves of oil under their soil.
We’ve come to the realization that nothing we say will awaken many of our friends and relatives from this slumber. Honestly, they are so heavily invested in the dream that if the water does run out they’ll probably crawl under the sink with a wrench rather than accept reality.