Aqua Shock: Water in Crisis Revised and Updated

Praise for AQUA shock "Water is truly the challenge of the twenty–first century—our century—and we have to start having a serious mainstream conversation about the legacy we are leaving our children and grandchildren. In Aqua Shock: Water in Crisis , Susan Marks does a great job of getting that conversation started." — Alexandra Cousteau , Explorer, Filmmaker, and Water Advocate, www.AlexandraCousteau.org "We must shift from business as usual to a plan of action to save our environment. As Aqua Shock details, that means water conservation, recycling, reuse, and rethinking how and where we use water today. We can do it, but time is not on our side. We must act now before it′s too late." — Lester Brown , President, Earth Policy Institute "Susan J. Marks brings to our attention the dire straits that America faces and will continue to face because of water shortages and pollution of existing sources. It is time that the American public awoke to these conditions and took steps, however costly, to change them. Aqua Shock helps achieve this goal." — Joel A. Tarr , Richard S. Caliguiri University Professor of History and Policy, Carnegie Mellon University "With Aqua Shock , Susan J. Marks has delivered a highly readable and tremendously informative account of what she quite rightly calls America′s water crisis. Marks not only spells out in rich detail how and why we as a country find ourselves in the present predicament, but also how we can emerge from it and satisfy our thirst for water in a safe and sane manner." — Ronald F. Poltak , 2006 EPA Lifetime Achievement Award Winner, and Executive Director, New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission Water is the new oil—a precious and diminishing natural resource, one ultimately far more important and far less replaceable. Aqua Shock is a lucid examination of how America arrived at this crisis point. Susan J. Marks focuses on the most pressing issues: who controls the water, what risks loom, and how we can preserve and protect our most undervalued resource.

Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 Chapter 1 Liquid Gold 7 Chapter 2 Where Our Water Comes From: A Global Perspective 31 Chapter 3 The Disappearing Act 59 Chapter 4 Danger! Safe Water at Risk 91 Chapter 5 On Governing Water 113 Chapter 6 America’s Water Gods 139 Chapter 7 The Cost of Water: Cash, Commodities, and Capitalism 157 Chapter 8 Can Our Water Be Saved? 189 Epilogue 223 Glossary 229 Recommended Resources 235 About the Author 241 Index 243

Susan J. Marks is an award–winning journalist and author. She spent more than a dozen years at the Denver Post, primarily as Sunday business editor and special projects editor for the business department. She has also written for BusinessWeek, the Los Angeles Times, Forbes, Woman′s World, ColoradoBiz, and the United Communications Group. Her work has received awards and recognition from local, regional, and national organizations, including Gannett, the Colorado Press Association, and the Society of American Business Editors and Writers.