Best Books on Water?

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What books do you recommend for information that will be useful in conveying water knowledge to the public? 

CJ w Water Sprite.jpgAs I prepare "The Water Wizard", a theatre-magic show about humanity's relationship with water, I am listening to The Big Thirst by Charles Fishman on audible.com. 

He looks at water from historical, societal and political perspectives as well as environmental and technical. His goal is to give the lay reader an understanding of how modern society is using water and how much re-thinking we need to do to bring our world into balance with limited water resources. 

I have also enjoyed reading Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner and Water Resources by Shimon Cohen-Anisfeld.

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16 Answers

  1. I propose you my own book "operation of irrigation for efficient agriculture... most recent, 2017 publication. Some chapters and cover page has already been up loaded on this site. Pdf files can be obtained free from me. 

  3. Thanks, everyone, for your book suggestions.  I greatly appreciate both the hardcore technical recommendations as well as the mainstream recommendations.  I continue to enjoy listening to "The Big Thirst" which is certainly written for the lay audience.  I have a year of Hydrology under my belt but most of my environmental work has been in recycling and waste. 

  4. H2O and the Waters of Forgetfulness by Ivan Illich

  5. Depending on what kind of audience there'll be, you might include some subtle reference as to the day-to-day tragedy of high infant mortality, due to pathogen contaminated water.  You might mention that we have the means to overcome this problem, but that the motivation is lacking.

  6. Great Question!! I recommend the SWITCH training modules: http://www.switchtraining.eu/home/

    And another document on adaptation (enclosed). The challenges are described in our own review, that has been specifically written for non-experts (the challenges of water, waste and climate change in cities) that can be found here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10668-016-9760-4 or here https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/challenges-water-waste-climate-change-cities-kees-van-leeuwen/ and of course the Urban Water Atlas for Europe: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/urban-water-atlas-europe-kees-van-leeuwen/

  7. The Water Kingdom: A Secret History of China by Philip Ball is fantastic and includes historical, sociopolitical and environmental perspectives. 

    1 Comment

    1. Before returning to the States and becoming involved with state-side recycling issues (and environmental magic) I lived in Asia and did some research on Chinese environmental Asia.  There is a chance I may return to China with a team of magicians...my "in" is not that I am a Copperfield-level magician but I am an environmental magician that speaks Mandarin...a big asset in public education.

       

  9. Besides the existing conversional literature and related to the "magic" properties of water I would propose:

    1. Chaplin M.F. (2007). The Memory of Water. An Overview. Homeopathy 96, 143-150.

    2. Radin D., G. Hayssen, M. Emoto, T. Kizu (2007). Double-blind test of the effects of distant intension on water crystal formation. Explore 2(5), 408-411.

    3. Radin D., N. Lund, M. Emoto, T. Kizu (2008). Effects of distant Intention on water crystal formation: A Triple-Blind replication. Journal of Scientific Exploration 22(4), 481-493.

     

  10. Vanishing Waters - Bryan Davies and Jenny Day (UCT Press) ISBN 1-919713-11-5.  

    Thank you for asking the question - I aim to also source some of the material others have mentioned.  Such an important topic

  11. A colleague, Tom Pagano, and I published "Flood Forecasting: a global perspective" in 2016, by Elsevier/Academic Press. We had contributions from authors internationally on regional, national, and global flood forecasting systems on all continents (except Antarctica). Another colleague, Sadiq Khan, and I are preparing another book entitled "Indus River Basin: Water Security and Sustainability", which should be released later this year. We may try to make this a series covering many of the major river basins globally.

  12. One other book that was compelling was "Last call at the Oasis." This is an area where I've assembled a lot of documentation and read books but I've also found deeper economic reasons for people choosing to ignore the water crisis. More water means more profit and more crops. Ev

    In India, a couple of decades ago I was welcomed everywhere because I was helping make private electricity work. However, when I started demanding that the generating stations also provide potable water in reasonable volumes, I got incredible blowback. 

    Feel free to contact me at wrosswilliams@gmail.com.  I'm quite interested in contributing to any work that can get peoples attention. 

    Another place to do some research is the G.R.A.C.E site by Nasa. It's painting a very vivid picture of the problem. J Famiglietti, has created some fame for himself, but I don't see us progressing as a result.  

     

  14. Chasing Water , my primer on water scarcity, was written for a non-technical audience. Some of my favorite water books include Steve Solomon's " Water: The Epic Struggle for Wealth, Power, and Civilization " and Fred Pearce's " When the Rivers Run Dry "

  16. I am writing such a book aimed at the public and all of the stakeholders. It will provide accurate up-to-date information on contaminants, water treatment, monitoring and health considerations, and address misinformation that misleads the  public and sometimes  practitioners and regulators. It will be out later this year from Taylor and Francis publishers. Joseph Cotruvo, PhD, BCES