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

by Maude Barlow

Book Overview

A cautionary account of climate change and the global water supply. "You will not turn on the tap in the same way after reading this book." --Robert Redford

In a book hailed by Publishers Weekly as a "passionate plea for access-to-water activism," Blue Covenant addresses an environmental crisis that--together with global warming--poses one of the gravest threats to our survival.

How did the world's most vital resource...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1595584536
• ISBN13: 9781595584533
• Release Date: June 2009
• Publisher: New Press
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.4" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Highly Informative

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.

Blue water tells all

Concise and compact analysis of World's Water Dilemma. Maude Barlow transcends her Social and Liberal background to give a real snapshot of what's coming. Jack Flobeck Chairman Aqua Prima Center Inc. think tank for water research

A Must Read

This is a must read for everyone on this planet! Filled with alarming facts and information. Most people are completely unaware of the water crisis, so read this book and tell everyone you know.

Great review of water policy

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.

Darn Hot!

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!