Peter P. Rogers

Rogers and Leal address a critical issue, and do present a few excellent municipal solutions. But I think the authors were trying to be non-judgmental, and sadly fail to explore the political issues of for-profit water systems and water rights. They do skim these issues, but the avoidance of value judgments is clear for where they stop the discussion.

I saw three gaping holes in the presentation.
1. The chapter on agricultural water use focuses on increasingly high tech solutions to continue growing corn and soybean monocultures in parts of the country that are plainly not suited for them. There was not even a whisper of the possibility of switching to more adaptive crops and soil management practices that would allow sustainable agriculture.

2. The chapter on the bottled water industry wants to condemn the practice, but waffles heavily, even quoting Nestlé's chairman admiringly for his perception on the value of water.

3. The task of cleaning water for consumption is the whole thrust of the book. But industrial contaminants are hardly mentioned. There is lots of material on sewage reclamation and San Francisco's restaurant grease to biodiesel program, but the plastics, wood and oil industries, to mention just a few major polluters, are not addressed at all.

Oh, and alternatives to flush toilets should have been a topic as well.

There is a meaningful discussion on the economic value of water.… (mais)