"Water, Water Everywhere..."

Water Wars: Drought, Flood, Folly and the Politics of Thirst
Diane Rainses Ward

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Lurking in the background of the last great wars over oil is a likely series of battles over a resource without which we literally cannot live: water.

That is why corporations have already begin working toward the privatization of water rights and the distribution of water throughout the globe. It is a relatively quiet profit-making encroachment on our most basic free commodity -- at least up until now.

Water Wars sets the stage for the developing political and real wars over something we always believed to be a free, elemental resource. In short, it's an extremely fascinating and well-written primer into how historically we have gotten to this point. It focuses on specific issues and initiatives relating to water -- and reveals their impact on the global problem.

Along the way, Diane Raines Ward, the author, provides us with historical background on the role of water in the development of civilization. After all, it's the ultimate resource we take for granted and is inextricably intertwined with life itself.

Yet, after reading this book, you will never take water for granted again.

Consider some of these facts:

"Six thousand children die daily from water-related maladies."

"In Onitsha, Nigeria, poorer householders spend almost twenty percent of their income on water."

"1.4 billion people, almost twenty percent of those living on the planet, don't have access to an adequate supply of clean water."

Currently, "a third of all countries suffer water stress."

"In Bombay, local mafias chain water taps and charge residents by the bucket."

Our fear is that it won't be long before water distribution becomes a private, not a public, utility. Imagine Exxon/Mobil in charge of our water supplies. Trust us, they are already thinking about it. Water is the new oil to big business, because oil is running out.

In "Water Wars: Drought, Flood, Folly, and the Politics of Thirst," Diane Raines Ward makes a compassionate, detailed and compelling argument that we need to adopt an international strategic approach to water use, because demand is outstripping supply.

It's a plea we should heed, ignoring it at our peril. She leaves it to another author to explore the corporate plans to turn water into a profitable commodity (although bottled water already does that on a small-scale), but she persuasviely sets the stage.

We may be reaching the tipping point where water will no longer be free, and the poor may literally die of thirst on a regular basis.

Diane Raines Ward warns us.

We should be listening.

With shipping included, BuzzFlash is able to offer "Water Wars" for less than the original price due to a special purchase.