From the Amazon to the Nile, the Congo to the Colorado, the rivers of the world are running dry. Forget oil, nations have gone to war over water rights in the past, and may be forced to do so again as the availability and purity of this vital resource continues to decline.

Unlike fossil fuels, water is considered a renewable resource, an erroneous belief that has contributed to its abuse and misuse by superpowers and Third World countries alike.

Yet as aquifers are tapped to extinction, rivers dammed to depletion, and wetlands converted to deserts, societies continue to employ the profligate water management techniques that created the current dire situations. The author cogently presents the alarming ways in which this ecological emergency is affecting population centres, human health, food production, wildlife habitats, and species viability.

Having criss-crossed the globe to research the economic, scientific, cultural, and political causes and ramifications of this tragedy, his powerful imagery and penetrating analyses make this a required reading for environmental proponents and civic leaders.