What do you think?
Rate this book
Water: The Fate of Our Most Precious Resource
Examines the political and ecological consequences of the uses and misuses of water as increasing demands threaten the global supply--issues compounded by decreasing water table levels and rampant pollution.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 2000
26 people are currently reading
390 people want to read
About the author
Marq de Villiers
29 books16 followersBorn in South Africa, Marq de Villiers is a veteran Canadian journalist and the author of thirteen books on exploration, history, politics, and travel, including Water: The Fate of Our Most Precious Resource (winner of the Governor General's Award for Non-Fiction). He has worked as a foreign correspondent in Moscow and through Eastern Europe and spent many years as editor and then publisher of Toronto Life magazine. More recently he was editorial director of WHERE Magazines International. He lives in Port Medway, Nova Scotia. [Penguin Canada]
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
August 12, 2023
Water is a Canadian Governor General's Award winner, published in 1999, surveying water issues around the globe. It is thorough, well written and oddly compelling even though most of the content is technical in nature consisting of accounts of volumes, flow rates, supply and demand statistics and the machinations of government agencies as they mostly fail to competently manage water resources almost everywhere. De Villiers has a chatty and agreeable non-ideological approach, which I appreciated since I tend to view things primarily through a pragmatic lens, understanding than human nature and culture has flaws which invariably lead to difficulties in reaching logical and just decisions about any fundamental matter. One theme of the book is that "we are all downstream" in some sense of the hydrological cycle. As world population and standards of living and thus water demand grows, we face increasingly intractable problems in protecting water quality and allocating water supplies. Water crises have been predicted for decades and indeed we are seeing some doozies in the American southwest, the Sahel and in parts of Asia. There are also qualified success stories in Europe and North America. The book is perhaps long on water problem descriptions and short on water solutions but that is the nature of the beast. Like climate change, the worst may be yet to come. But humans are also creative so perhaps, hopefully, we will develop work arounds. Still, I worry about our grandchildren.
January 15, 2020
Quite insightful regarding our water and all that threatens it. A bit depressing at times realizing the damage we have done worldwide and continue To jeopardize our most precious natural resource.
July 9, 2018
This book gives a good summary of freshwater as a resource in terms of basic properties, the history of its human use and control, and the current concerns about water mostly in terms of economics and national and international politics. The book highlights the debates and challenges about human use, mostly as domestic, agricultural, and industrial use. De Villiers presents a comprehensive, if abbreviated, discussion of the politics and economics which is valuable. The book suffers a bit from a lack of similar attention paid to the broader ecological issues, including the nonhuman use of water. The book is somewhat dated, nevertheless, I found the book enlightening and thought provoking.
March 11, 2012
Maybe it's the fact that I've read a lot of books on water but this one didn't really grab me. Most of what De Villier wrote is stuff I knew. It could be over-familiarity with the subject means I need to read more technical writings and papers. It could also be that the book is close to 15 years old so the information is a bit dated. He didn't rely on the same old stories I've read in other books but many of those took place after this book was published. It would seem to make more sense to read the books Cadillac Desert and Last Oasis since he references them so often.
February 24, 2014
Very detailed and eye-opening. A little dry, though. ;)
June 29, 2022
Book 17 of 2022: Water - The Fate Of Our Most Precious Resource by Marq de Villiers (2000, Mariner Books, 352 p.)
This well-written and engaging book purports itself to be a narrative on the world water crisis. I found the intersection of geopolitics with water issues to be fascinating, given my current work in international humanitarian work and water security in many of the countries the author deals with.
In the book he defines that the freshwater supply on the planet is about 2.5 percent of all water on the planet, much of that locked up in the polar ice caps and in the atmosphere. He defines, based on United Nations recommendations that the minimum water need for people is 50 liters per day per person. How recites a litany of global lowering of water levels and flows in reservoirs, aquifers, and rivers. I enjoyed his description of the water use of ancient civilizations.
The book, however, is woefully out of date having been published over 20 years ago. The face of politics and need in Iraq (for instance) has vastly changed post-911 and post-Sadaam. The geographic face of Africa has also changed with changing borders and new countries. The on-going two decade drought in the American Southwest was only just beginning and water use practices have evolved (and continue to evolve) with lessening water in the Colorado River basin (he repeats my favorite canard about Colorado water being used for swimming pools and fountains in LA and Vegas when almost 80 percent is used for agriculture). However, one cannot fault him for not being able to predict the future.
However, one can fault him for his journalistic bent of presenting “both sides”. Climate change deniers are given equal time in the book with the vast majority of climate scientists. Even 20 years ago, anthropogenic climate change was seen as a reality…even more so now. He also indicates that the 4.6 billion year old age of the Earth is an "assumption" (it is not - it is a conclusion based on scientific evidence). He also presents a disdain for environmentalists that is seemingly out of step with his presenting “both sides” of an argument journalistic viewpoint.
The author ends the book with presenting four ways out of the crisis:
• Make more water (desalinization)
• Conserve (management and regulation)
• Reduce population/population growth (trough education)
• Forcibly take it (water wars)
Even while noting that the book is out of date, it still was a good and interesting read. I enjoyed his last chapter on what can be done fascinating, especially since I had just hear on NPR an interview with Pat Mulroy, former head of the Southern Nevada Water Authority and her ideas on desal, the Salton Sea, and the Colorado River supply.
I can’t really recommend this book other than as a description of global water issues as they existed 20 years ago (much like how I view Marc Reisner’s Cadillac Desert – woefully out of date but with still valid history).
This well-written and engaging book purports itself to be a narrative on the world water crisis. I found the intersection of geopolitics with water issues to be fascinating, given my current work in international humanitarian work and water security in many of the countries the author deals with.
In the book he defines that the freshwater supply on the planet is about 2.5 percent of all water on the planet, much of that locked up in the polar ice caps and in the atmosphere. He defines, based on United Nations recommendations that the minimum water need for people is 50 liters per day per person. How recites a litany of global lowering of water levels and flows in reservoirs, aquifers, and rivers. I enjoyed his description of the water use of ancient civilizations.
The book, however, is woefully out of date having been published over 20 years ago. The face of politics and need in Iraq (for instance) has vastly changed post-911 and post-Sadaam. The geographic face of Africa has also changed with changing borders and new countries. The on-going two decade drought in the American Southwest was only just beginning and water use practices have evolved (and continue to evolve) with lessening water in the Colorado River basin (he repeats my favorite canard about Colorado water being used for swimming pools and fountains in LA and Vegas when almost 80 percent is used for agriculture). However, one cannot fault him for not being able to predict the future.
However, one can fault him for his journalistic bent of presenting “both sides”. Climate change deniers are given equal time in the book with the vast majority of climate scientists. Even 20 years ago, anthropogenic climate change was seen as a reality…even more so now. He also indicates that the 4.6 billion year old age of the Earth is an "assumption" (it is not - it is a conclusion based on scientific evidence). He also presents a disdain for environmentalists that is seemingly out of step with his presenting “both sides” of an argument journalistic viewpoint.
The author ends the book with presenting four ways out of the crisis:
• Make more water (desalinization)
• Conserve (management and regulation)
• Reduce population/population growth (trough education)
• Forcibly take it (water wars)
Even while noting that the book is out of date, it still was a good and interesting read. I enjoyed his last chapter on what can be done fascinating, especially since I had just hear on NPR an interview with Pat Mulroy, former head of the Southern Nevada Water Authority and her ideas on desal, the Salton Sea, and the Colorado River supply.
I can’t really recommend this book other than as a description of global water issues as they existed 20 years ago (much like how I view Marc Reisner’s Cadillac Desert – woefully out of date but with still valid history).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 15, 2017
An enjoyable light read on the issue of water at the turn of the century
It is interesting that in the age of space exploration, and as we search for habitable planets across the galaxy, or extra-terrestrial life, that we are so focused on three tiny atoms of the most primitive variety. When combined in this bizarre ménage-à-trois, they behave rather strangely. Densest in liquid form, at roughly 4 degrees Celsius, it is the prime element of life as we know it.
Marq de Villiers book is a somewhat dated but very thought provoking introduction to water management, use, abuse and conservation (c.1999). The book has nice flow, is seldom dry and quenches a thirst for a basic understanding the the historical and contemporary uses of water.
Puns aside, the book uses memorable concrete examples to illustrate some of the issues surrounding water today (or, well, 17 years ago). These are perennial issues, such as the diversion of water from tributaries to the Aral sea for cotton and agriculture. Or the rights of 'up-stream' and 'down-stream' nations over a shared resource (Egypt and Ethiopia). Sinking aquafers in the United States or the Sahara. Salination and desalination...
The book paints a dark picture but is far from alarmist. His recommendations are well thought out and explained, though radical environmentalists and left-wing progressives would be alarmed that he sees hope in the market mechanism (water pricing) to reduce consumption. Of the "three strategies" at the close of the book, the best is the second as the first and the third are difficult to achieve en masse.
It is interesting that in the age of space exploration, and as we search for habitable planets across the galaxy, or extra-terrestrial life, that we are so focused on three tiny atoms of the most primitive variety. When combined in this bizarre ménage-à-trois, they behave rather strangely. Densest in liquid form, at roughly 4 degrees Celsius, it is the prime element of life as we know it.
Marq de Villiers book is a somewhat dated but very thought provoking introduction to water management, use, abuse and conservation (c.1999). The book has nice flow, is seldom dry and quenches a thirst for a basic understanding the the historical and contemporary uses of water.
Puns aside, the book uses memorable concrete examples to illustrate some of the issues surrounding water today (or, well, 17 years ago). These are perennial issues, such as the diversion of water from tributaries to the Aral sea for cotton and agriculture. Or the rights of 'up-stream' and 'down-stream' nations over a shared resource (Egypt and Ethiopia). Sinking aquafers in the United States or the Sahara. Salination and desalination...
The book paints a dark picture but is far from alarmist. His recommendations are well thought out and explained, though radical environmentalists and left-wing progressives would be alarmed that he sees hope in the market mechanism (water pricing) to reduce consumption. Of the "three strategies" at the close of the book, the best is the second as the first and the third are difficult to achieve en masse.
April 7, 2020
Dated in places (eg life began on Earth around 3.8 billion years ago, not 2.5billion (p.25)), and the entire climate change chapter), and could have used more editorial attention:
p.33 Gulf of Bosnia s/b Bothnia
p.59 seems to equate Mesopotamia with Iran & Iraq! and apart from the Middle East!
p.65 Collapse of the Antarctic ice sheet will cause sea level to rise almost 60m, not 3-5m
p.346 China is the 3rd largest country, not 4th
p.349 Chengdu capital of Sichuan, is not on the upper reaches of the Yangtze - it is on a tributary of the Min which enters the Yangtze (150km from Chengdu) about halfway along its course.
p 352 If the Aral was ever a freshwater lake, it was long before the Soviets diverted the Amu Darya.
Nevertheless it is an engaging survey of water issues around the world. While some of the politics is depressing there are also instances where political solutions are found, and he does not fall into the trap of insisting that the free market is the answer (although removing subsidies is necessary to ensure adequate conservation), nor the opposite trap of supposing that water should be free (who will pay to make it clean and deliver it?)
p.33 Gulf of Bosnia s/b Bothnia
p.59 seems to equate Mesopotamia with Iran & Iraq! and apart from the Middle East!
p.65 Collapse of the Antarctic ice sheet will cause sea level to rise almost 60m, not 3-5m
p.346 China is the 3rd largest country, not 4th
p.349 Chengdu capital of Sichuan, is not on the upper reaches of the Yangtze - it is on a tributary of the Min which enters the Yangtze (150km from Chengdu) about halfway along its course.
p 352 If the Aral was ever a freshwater lake, it was long before the Soviets diverted the Amu Darya.
Nevertheless it is an engaging survey of water issues around the world. While some of the politics is depressing there are also instances where political solutions are found, and he does not fall into the trap of insisting that the free market is the answer (although removing subsidies is necessary to ensure adequate conservation), nor the opposite trap of supposing that water should be free (who will pay to make it clean and deliver it?)
March 2, 2023
At times De Villiers’ writing seemed a bit florid or oddly arranged to me, but overall I found the book to be quite readable. In ‘Water: The Fate of Our Most Precious Resource’, De Villiers does introduces the reader to major issues facing water resources in the recent past, present and future. Describing the political and scientific landscape surrounding an issue like water is undoubtedly difficult, and I am impressed with the insight into the the legal and political landscape surrounding water rights throughout the globe. I was also struck by De Villiers’ tone in covering Africa, the Middle East, the U.S, and Canada, which felt fresh and distinctive.
The book is out of date by about 25 years, but I think it still holds value as an interesting read and in learning about the history of water politics.
The book is out of date by about 25 years, but I think it still holds value as an interesting read and in learning about the history of water politics.
June 3, 2018
The book is quite dated with most stories and statistics being reported from 1998. It would be nice for a reprint to see how some of the issues mentioned have been resolved. Still it is a good book because the basic problems will have continued to exist and likely to have become exacerbated over time. It is still worth the read even for its basic information.
February 4, 2018
An excellent book but dated. If it was more current I'd give it five stars.
Marq, when will the next edition come out?
Marq, when will the next edition come out?
August 21, 2020
I feel this book suffers somewhat from its buckaroo attitude, but it offered a very helpful and personable introduction to water conflicts around the world.
July 25, 2011
The first question I asked before reading this book was, "Is it up date?". I still don't know the answer. However, I did read the revised edition (2003 vs the original 1999 edition) and would definitely recommend the revised, as there does seem to be a lot of updates and overhaul. The revised edition is at least 50 pages longer, although it leaves out a nice chart summing up the numbers, in the appendix of the original, comparing the per capita and overall amounts of water available to each country (which was somewhat misleading anyways).
The book structure is as follows. After the introduction, the first half of the book introduces various issues. The natural cycle of water, water sources, how much water there is overall, climate change, polution, dams, irrigation, etc. The second half of the book is divided into geographical sections, detailing the water crises in the middle east, northern and southern Africa, the Indian subcontinent, North America. Europe and Russia are mentioned as examples earlier in the book, but don't get their own section. The final chapters, of course, focuses on possible solutions and outlooks.
I liked the writing. Of course, there are too many meaningless numbers (to us laymen), and that's inescapable, but the word flow in between helped considerably. I found he was fairly balanced, that he included the viewpoint of dissenters. At times I found I disagreed with him, but there was enough balance overall. I did like how he often came back to the point that world overpopulation was a huge factor. As a Canadian, I enjoyed the section on North America, and came to realize that Canada isn't necessarily as water-rich, or responsible, and our water isn't as clean (especially out east) as we've come to believe. Bulk-water exports, on the minds of many Canadians, is discussed, but while I found it interesting and sobering, I didn't always find his conclusions to be particularly convincing on the subject. I like how many different areas of the world are looked at in depth and how international boundaries rarely lining up with natural watersheds has caused so many problems. Overall, I quite liked the structure of the book.
Here are my concerns. The author doesn't seem to believe that humans have heavily influenced climate change. Luckily, however, this doesn't seem to affect the book as much as you'd expect. I wish he'd explained desalination earlier in the book and I don't think he goes far enough into detail as to the potential ecological drawbacks of it. I found a lot of the ingenuities and recent developments to be crammed into the last chapter, without enough time for reflection, which only adds to wondering what has changed in the last 7yrs since 2003. Also, he talks about both sides of the water privatization issue, but I don't feel as though he really fully explored the issue, from all angles. Also, he mentions a lot of huge projects over the years that were disastrous, though he seems to admit, between the lines, that there may be room for more of these in the future. Also, I wish there was at least one basic map for each geographic chapter. Would've helped me visualize much better.
In the end, I enjoyed the book overall, and haven't heard of anything better to recommend. I did enjoy reading it and was certainly left with some questions and concerns, but I think overall, you wouldn't go wrong reading this as your introduction into world water and its politics.
The book structure is as follows. After the introduction, the first half of the book introduces various issues. The natural cycle of water, water sources, how much water there is overall, climate change, polution, dams, irrigation, etc. The second half of the book is divided into geographical sections, detailing the water crises in the middle east, northern and southern Africa, the Indian subcontinent, North America. Europe and Russia are mentioned as examples earlier in the book, but don't get their own section. The final chapters, of course, focuses on possible solutions and outlooks.
I liked the writing. Of course, there are too many meaningless numbers (to us laymen), and that's inescapable, but the word flow in between helped considerably. I found he was fairly balanced, that he included the viewpoint of dissenters. At times I found I disagreed with him, but there was enough balance overall. I did like how he often came back to the point that world overpopulation was a huge factor. As a Canadian, I enjoyed the section on North America, and came to realize that Canada isn't necessarily as water-rich, or responsible, and our water isn't as clean (especially out east) as we've come to believe. Bulk-water exports, on the minds of many Canadians, is discussed, but while I found it interesting and sobering, I didn't always find his conclusions to be particularly convincing on the subject. I like how many different areas of the world are looked at in depth and how international boundaries rarely lining up with natural watersheds has caused so many problems. Overall, I quite liked the structure of the book.
Here are my concerns. The author doesn't seem to believe that humans have heavily influenced climate change. Luckily, however, this doesn't seem to affect the book as much as you'd expect. I wish he'd explained desalination earlier in the book and I don't think he goes far enough into detail as to the potential ecological drawbacks of it. I found a lot of the ingenuities and recent developments to be crammed into the last chapter, without enough time for reflection, which only adds to wondering what has changed in the last 7yrs since 2003. Also, he talks about both sides of the water privatization issue, but I don't feel as though he really fully explored the issue, from all angles. Also, he mentions a lot of huge projects over the years that were disastrous, though he seems to admit, between the lines, that there may be room for more of these in the future. Also, I wish there was at least one basic map for each geographic chapter. Would've helped me visualize much better.
In the end, I enjoyed the book overall, and haven't heard of anything better to recommend. I did enjoy reading it and was certainly left with some questions and concerns, but I think overall, you wouldn't go wrong reading this as your introduction into world water and its politics.
June 23, 2009
A fine introduction to global water issues. Done back at the turn of the century (Enron is still a going concern), de Villiers looks at the major areas of water stress across the globe and at some of the political issues surrounding them. South Africa-born and raised on a water-starved farm on the desert's edge there, de Villiers asks clear questions about misuse and maldistribution of water resources, and he looks at the political issues as well. If farmland is taken out of cultivation to conserve depleting aquifers, what happens to the farmers? Are we willing to effectively dismantle cities and towns in the American West that have no access to water on any rational economic calculation? How do you ask China or Africa to forego using water for development that could lift populations--- at least temporarily ---out of poverty? De Villiers' account of water issues in Israel/Palestine is well-handled, and probably deserves another chapter or two. A very good introductory book, and a good springboard to more technical (and more political) analyses.
July 19, 2014
I'm counting this book as one of my favorite text books, because although I read it after university, I was working at Brandon University and over beers with my husband and one of his thesis advisor, it came out that this was used as a text book at BU. So I read text books for fun. Could be worse.
This is a fascinating book that prompted a more comprehensive understanding of just how much a catalyst water is from carving landforms, to world politics, to environmental and industrial concerns, besides absolutely essential to life. It's a great read.
This is a fascinating book that prompted a more comprehensive understanding of just how much a catalyst water is from carving landforms, to world politics, to environmental and industrial concerns, besides absolutely essential to life. It's a great read.
August 4, 2018
A well-researched, intriguing, and frighteningly personal look at the worlds water resources and the problems they face (or faced). Three stars only because it is rather outdated at this point (the revised and updated addition I read came out in 2000. A lot has changed in the water world since then). However, this is still a good read for those who are interested in the history of the water crisis. Those wanting to understand the state of our water resources now, should look for more updated material.
August 1, 2008
I opened this book, inspired and ready to love it, during a water project of my own in the Karnataka state of India. I didn't make it past 80 pages. The book reads like a series of statistics and quotes with little additional thought or input from the author.
April 27, 2011
This book sucks. I only finished it because I thought it was going to get better. It is pretty much just a huge list of water atrocities. The only good parts are when he block quotes marc reisner's Cadillac Desert.
October 22, 2014
A welcome and prescient overview of several water issues confronting the globe at an accelerating pace. Like demographics, water is the intricate and often misunderstood or underestimated "wiring" underlying many present and future events.
January 4, 2016
A very interesting book to learn more detail about water. As the population is booming, the author mentioned the detail about water crisis, water pressure, and water issues.
I wonder what would be his thoughts after the US invaded the Middle East. What wars bring more stress about water!
I wonder what would be his thoughts after the US invaded the Middle East. What wars bring more stress about water!
June 23, 2007
Depressing!
January 24, 2008
this is one of the most fundamental, comprehensive books i've ever read about the resource we are rapidly flushing down the drain. Wish I owned it...
January 4, 2012
I've come to learn a bit more about how precious water is in our world and how we need to manage it better.
September 3, 2010
Sometimes subject to hyperbole and a little dated (2001), de Villiers gives a good outline of the issues involving the scarcity of fresh water
June 24, 2014
Rereading this 7 years later. Some of the specific cases are out of date, but the message and examples are still for the most part relevant. Great to really sink in to it outside of school.
February 3, 2015
Interesting facts, but dry. I found it hard to read.
September 28, 2016
Well written for a topic that would usually come across as dry
June 11, 2021
Muy interesante, aunque creo que no ha envejecido bien en algunos aspectos.
May 25, 2008
Wonderful overview on the state of water access and availability around the world.
Currently reading
July 18, 2009SO good.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews