The Future of Water: Technology, Economics, Political Will

• Author: G. Tracy Mehan III
• Pages: 170-173

170 Best of the Books: Ref‌lections on Recent Literature

The Future of Water:

Technology, Economics,

Political Will

By G. Tracy Mehan III

The Future of Wa ter: A Startling Look Ahead, by Steve Maxwell with

Scott Yates. American Water Works Association. 243 pages.

The End of Abundance : Economic Solutions to Water Sca rcity, by

David Zetland. Aguanomic s Press. 280 pages.

From the May/ June 2012 i ssue of The Environmental For um.

Imagine if all the Californians running

Google, Apple, and Intel had to move

their operations to Milwaukee, not for

the weather, but for the water. Recently, Mil-

waukee cut its water rates, despite an aging

infrastructure and standing regulatory autho-

rization for higher rates, in order to attract

new businesses a nd replace those water-inten-

sive industries of old which used to reside on

the shores of Lake Michigan, such as breweries

and tanneries. ere is a lot of water in the

Great Lakes, not so much in California. Mil-

waukee is coping with stranded assets through

economic incentives, emphasizing its compar-

ative advantage a nd betting that it can gener-

ate economic growth.

Shifts in migratory patterns, driven by water shortages and escalating costs,

are some of the transformations outlined in Steve Maxwell’s very readable

new book, e Future of Water: A Startling Look Ahead, written w ith Scott

Yates. It surveys the United States and the globe to assess trends and potential

solutions to what he does not hesitate to c all “an inexorable planetary crisis.” A

growing population, poverty, government water and energy subsidies, failure