The Water Problem: Climate Change and Water Policy in the United States - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0815727844 ISBN 13: 9780815727842

Publisher: Brookings Institution Press, 2017

Synopsis

Building water resilience is the single biggest challenge in a changing global climate.
The United States faces a water crisis as critical as the energy crisis that once dominated headlines. Like the energy crisis, a solution can be found. Pat Mulroy, for many years general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, the lead negotiator on the Colorado River for the State of Nevada, and a Brookings fellow, has gathered a number of practitioners and scholars to show us why we face a crisis caused by climate change and what we can do to alleviate it.
While the focus recently has been on California, with its water restrictions and drought, many other parts of the United States are also suffering from current and potential water shortages that will only be exacerbated by climate change. The Water Problem takes us to Miami and the problem of rising oceans fouling freshwater reservoirs; Kansas and Nebraska, where intensive farming is draining age-old aquifers; and to the Southwest United States, where growing populations are creating enormous stresses on the already strained Colorado River.
Mulroy and her contributors explore not just the problems, but also what we can do now to put in place measures to deal with a very real crisis.

About this title

About the Author

Pat Mulroy is a Brookings nonresident senior fellow for climate adaptation and environmental policy at the Metropolitan Policy Program located at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, Boyd School of Law. She also serves as the senior faculty advisor for water resources and technology at the Desert Research Institute. For twenty-five years Mulroy served as the general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, shepherding the creation of the agency that, through revolutionary water management changes and aggressive water conservation programs, allowed the region to triple in size during her tenure.

From the Back Cover

Building Water Resilience is the single greatest Challenge in a changing global climate

Most Americans take the availability of water for granted. But the convergence of various factors―especially climate change―is placing extraordinary stresses on this essential resource.

When climate change is coupled with an explosion in human population and the staggering demands placed on water by industry and the high tech sector, it is no longer possible to ignore this precious resource. These factors, along with an aging and crumbling infrastructure, make the urgency of addressing the water issue only too obvious.

While shortages are often associated with California and the Southwest, where drought has led to water restrictions, other parts of the United States are also suffering from current and potential water difficulties that will only be exacerbated by climate change. The Water Problem takes us to Miami, where rising oceans are fouling freshwater reservoirs; to Kansas and Nebraska, where intensive farming is draining age-old aquifers; and to the U.S. Southwest, where growing populations are creating enormous pressures on the already strained Colorado River.

Mulroy and the contributors explore not just the problems, but also what can be done to deal with a very real crisis.

Edition details

• Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
• Publication date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0815727844
• ISBN 13: 9780815727842
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 209
• Editor: Mulroy Pat