Water politics
Subtitle: governing our most precious resource
By: David L. Feldman
Publisher: Polity
Published: 2017
Language: eng
Number of pages: 244
ISBN-13: 9781509504619; 9781509504626
Subjects: Water-supply; Political aspects; Co-management; Water resources development; Water security
Description: As the world faces another water crisis, it is easy to understand why this precious and highly-disputed resource could determine the fate of entire nations. In reality, however, water conflicts rarely result in violence and more often lead to collaborative governance, however precarious. In this comprehensive and accessible text, David Feldman introduces readers to the key issues, debates, and challenges in water politics today. Its ten chapters explore the processes that determine how this unique resource captures our attention, the sources of power that determine how we allocate, use, and protect it, and the purposes that direct decisions over its cost, availability, and access. Drawing on contemporary water controversies from every continent - from Flint, Michigan to Mumbai, Sao Paulo, and Beijing - the book argues that cooperation and more equitable water management are imperative if the global community is to adequately address water challenges and their associated risks, particularly in the developing world. While alternatives for enhancing water supply, including waste-water reuse, desalination, and conservation abound, without inclusive means of addressing citizens' concerns, their adoption faces severe hurdles that can impede cooperation and generate additional conflicts. -- from back cover.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Why water politics matters; title: Contested waters: the politics of supply; title: Clean, green, and costly: water quality; title: The water-energy-food nexus; title: Drought, flood, and everything in-between; title: Water rights and water wrongs; title: International cooperation; title: Water conflicts; title: Tapping into toilets: new sources of water; title: Toward a water sensitive future.