| Title | : | Blue Revolution: Unmaking America's Water Crisis |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0807003174 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780807003176 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 272 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 2011 |
Blue Revolution: Unmaking America's Water Crisis Reviews
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This book is lovely. Well researched and diverse in the scope of its water stories around the world, it strongly promotes a renewed water ethic for the United States rooted in reverence as well as pragmatism. Technology won't save us. We have to do more than throw money or legislation at the problems that face us. I don't know if Barnett's vision goes far enough, but it's a beautiful start.
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Sacramento apparently loves to be seen as environmentally green. Its promotional nicknames keep getting greener. First it was "City of Trees," then "Sustainable Sacramento," followed by "Greenest Capital City in the U.S." Now, Mayor Kevin Johnson is pitching the metropolitan area as the next "Greenest Region of the Country."
Cynthia Barnett challenges Sacramento's greenhood in the opening chapter of Blue Revolution, an awareness-raising book about America's disrespect for water. The City of Trees may glitter in many things green - urban forestry, solar energy, clean technology and such. But when it comes to water efficiency, Barnett says, "Sustainable Sacramento" is all wet.
The metro region guzzles nearly 300 gallons of water per person every day - double the national average, federal data show. Granite Bay residents and others in the San Juan Water District are among the world's most extravagant water consumers, each tapping an average of 500 gallons daily. By comparison, residents of equally affluent Marin County get by just fine on 150 gallons.
Barnett's larger point is that water use is a gaping blind spot in today's green movement. Beyond Sacramento - her Exhibit A - she points to the Copenhagen climate accord of 2009, which catalogues many threats from a changing climate but fails to mention the most immediate one: a worldwide freshwater crisis. Then there's California's Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. The state boasts the world's most aggressive curbs on climate-changing emissions. But it has implemented them with scant regard for the enormous amounts of water needed to make the required low-carbon fuels and to cool the large solar power plants planned for the California desert.
The book broadly surveys the latest technological innovations, policy reforms, and the pricing and recycling strategies to conserve water. But for water conservation in America to really stick, Barnett says, people need a shared "water ethic." Just as littering, landfilling aluminum cans and belching black smoke became taboo, so must water wasting.
To get there, she says, people need to feel a strong personal connection to water. The Dutch got the religion following the North Sea Flood of 1953, which killed nearly 2,000 people and destroyed 3,000 homes in the Netherlands. Similarly, Australia's catastrophic 10-year drought (2000-2010) redefined life in Perth. Residents now favor more expensive desalinization plants over mining new sources of groundwater.
Do Americans need a more brutal clobbering of floods and droughts to truly appreciate their vulnerability and start living within their water means? Perhaps. As Barnett points out, the alternative would be collective courage among individuals and their political representatives. Congress's record of supporting wasteful farm water subsidies is not encouraging.
Barnett, a Floridian and veteran journalist, wrote Blue Revolution for the general audience but didn't skimp on important nuances or eye-opening details.
Followers of California water politics and policy will appreciate the parallel issues Barnett draws between the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and the Everglades. She also provides enticing fodder for investigative reporters on the powerful water-engineering lobby and its conflicts of interests in public works projects. This book is also for anyone inclined to be the first on their block to replace their bright green lawn with water-wise landscaping. Blue Revolution will help muster the courage. -
Cynthia Barnett knows more about water production and consumption than anyone I ever met, and she shares a great deal of her hard-won knowledge in this astonishing book, which I highly recommend to anyone who drinks, bathes or sprinkles a lawn with the stuff. Barnett, formerly a reporter for "Florida Trend" magazine, first wrote about Florida's water woes in her terrific book "Mirage." Now she's tackled the American and global approach to water use and conservation in her new book, which checks in at stops in California, Texas, Nevada, the Carolinas, the Netherlands, Singapore and Australia -- as well as hopping back to Florida for a couple of memorable sections. The book starts off with an amazing look at water waste in California and later hits the opposite extreme among the compulsively conservation-minded Singaporeans. The section on Perth seemed particularly good. Although Barnett is a skilled writer at making hard topics easy to comprehend, this book is not an easy read because there's so much to (pardon the pun) soak in. But, as with Marc Reisner's landmark "Cadillac Desert" (to which this book is the natural sequel), it's well worth the effort for a reader and is likely to change the way you look at what's been pouring out of your tap. Can't wait to see what she'll do for her third book!
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Barnett talks about the water crisis happening in the U.S. and uses some example from around the world about the need for a "water ethic". Except, as a person who studied water policy, she easily skipped over the actual explanation of what her "water ethic" is. She talks about a more holistic approach to thinking about water, which is beyond using less on our lawns and in fountains and towards a respect for water and ecosystems. She also believes that we need to include nature into our concept of infrastructure, and that part of the water ethic means valuing water enough to pay for it. These ideas are all true, but in my opinion, she really just skims the surface of what the "water ethic" could be and doesn't actually address solutions on HOW to obtain this ethic.
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Excellent! Check out my full review on my blog at
http://hydro-logic.blogspot.com/2011/... -
An important book! Everyone should read this one!
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A great read to back to back with Grass Soil Hope. Where Grass Soil and Hope looks at Carbon; Blue looks at water and ways to keep it in the ground. NOT in our reservoirs, canals or municipal aquifers, but in our soil, by recycling, conservation of water, better management techniques and, most importantly, changing our relationship with water.
For years the world has fought water and Blue talks about that fight. But today we can no longer fight water. We have to work with water. Ancient aquifers are running dry. Dams are low because of lack of rain up river. Storms on our costs are getting worse as the heat in the ocean gets dissipated in the form of hurricanes and typhoons. Droughts are getting worse. Municipalities look to more and bigger engineering to fix these problems: bigger dams, bigger levies, bigger shore defenses. But if we conserve, use less, recycle, and change our water habits. (Start with getting rid of green lawns) We can mitigate storm surge, bring back wetlands, mitigate run off from our fields and residences, by pin planting instead of ploughing, and save our selves from sinkholes and drought by planting desert crops and or using less water from our aquifers.
Like I said a good companion for Grass, soli and hope. I'm going to add rain catchment to water the garden the grandkids and I are going to plant come spring. We will water the garden with rain water run off. Added benefit, the dogs paws won't get as muddy since much of the run off from the roof will be in a barrel. Many good ideas to take to your city council that still insists on green lawns and put water restrictions in place during drought. Next council meeting that discusses our water I'll be there to get changes made. Lets go prickly pear cactus. -
Bought for $16 by KRH in October 2022 for reading and discussion with the ELPC Environmental Book Club meeting on November 10, 2022. Read chapters 1, 6, 10, 11, 12.
Good on history and problems, wrong turns, bad policies, environmental causes and consequences, and obvious and innovative solutions. I’ll never be oblivious to water, or think of it the same way again. But:
The book was 2011, so it needs updating - where are her trends now? “Green revolution” “blue revolution” “no revolution, head-in-the-sand” Question
The WASTE:
Drinking water becomes Stormwater and flushes toilets
Drinking water used for Lawns & aesthetics
The numbers of gallons and dollars of expense are too mind-boggling to absorb.
Many Painful ironies, e.g., Aldo Leopoldo’s legacy of land ethic and sustainability 12 miles down the Wisconsin River from “the largest concentration of water parks on the planet,” pp. 16-19
Presbyterian churches in Atlanta, p. 150
Nothing on fracking (the “Halliburton loophole” was Inc 2005)
She likes GE and Kraft. How are they doing now?
Per capita daily consumption:
U.S. 150 gal.
Perth: 135 gal., down to 100 in 2009
Water ethic, pp. 227-28
Conserve conserve conserve
Legislation is needed
Conservation-rate pricing
Smart meters and other technology
Hundreds of ways - things to do and things not to do: the book is primarily anecdotal
Enough people are not concerned enough -
An excellent book about urban areas (mostly) and the demand for potable water. The author covers various geographic areas, from Singapore to Las Vegas to Milwaukee to Perth to San Antonio and the hill country of central Texas, all to demonstrate the "state of the game" in those widespread areas. In every place it is about managing potable water. It has a lot of interesting ideas and lots of variation in how people are dealing with the growing water shortages.
But it's dated. Published in 2010 it is a great reference for that time. But a lot has changed in the intervening years and that's always the problem with books like these, regardless of subject. Once published the info begins to age immediately. How are all these areas doing with water today? I have no idea. I just know about the track they were on over a decade ago.
Still, Barnett is an excellent writer keeping the book interesting and lively and not too bogged down in numbers or bad news. She is compelling and cares a lot about the subject and that can carry you as a reader a long way. -
I enjoyed learning about other countries and what they are doing to address their water issues. I also like the comparisons that she drew between Florida and California and Texas. However, she casually mentions issues like the Colorado River without going into detail. I agree that the United States is in a crisis regarding its water and most people are unaware of what is happening with their local water supply, with the rivers, reservoirs, drought conditions, water quality, etc. More education needs to happen; reduction in water use; change the way that water is used, meaning more recycling of water for industry and landscapes. This book is a step towards educating the public, but I would have liked to have seen a wrap up with more solutions offered.
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Blue Revolution outlines water issues around the globe and what some areas have done to conserve.
Hopefully readers will be more aware of the water crisis and their water usage, and communities will create their own water ethic. -
Well written, super informative book! We definitely need to start talking more about water.
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Interesting to me as a water engineer and environmentalist. Good info on a small and large scale and nice perspective.
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This is such an important under discussed topic. Water is so overlooked in our society.
This book is a great introduction to the importance of water and how it is used.
The book felt very unbalanced; the transitions between chapters were abrupt. She often mentions topics in passing hinting at later discussion but they are never brought up again (infrastructure, mining, manufacturing, well and septic use, dam controversy).
The author focused many pages towards the wastefulness of watering lawns; yet manufacturing and mining were never mentioned. Mining has a huge impact on Australia, especially Perth. A discussion on Perth's water consumption without the mention of mineral extraction prevents the readers from visualizing the big picture. Isn't the big water picture the underlying tone of this whole work?
The author also suggests more female engineers need to be involved in water decisions; she then refers to a statistic referring to how few female engineers graduate. Yet, the highest percentage of female engineers work in the environmental engineering field (typically related to water). This seemed an odd and out of place comment in an otherwise politically neutral book. Her other comments about engineers are rather negative and imply that most hydrology engineers are politically involved (a reference to a case in Florida that received much media attention). It doesn't sound like the author sat down with many engineers or understands their role in designing infrastructure and providing the public with safe drinking water).
Water infrastructure was also referred to early in the book as outdated and inefficient but she never explained how or why. More importantly, never suggested ways which large scale infrastructure can be improved or even approached in creative, and progressive ways.
Other than the message of water conservation, I believe the best aspect of this book was how the material was presented in a politically neutral manner. This is very important because, hopefully, the message will reach a greater audience.
If you are scientifically minded, I would not recommend this book. If you want a very basic understanding of water use and what a few countries have done to solve their water problems, this is a fast read that can brief you on the situation.
Normally, I would have rated this book three stars, but the importance of the issue and the neutral manner in which it was approached, grants it an additional star. -
Cheap, abundant water is an illusion that American's have clung to for a long time. A lot of our solutions to continue this abundant and cheap facade going have actually exacerbated the problems that Americans are facing. Barnett takes a look at where we've been, where we are and where we're going in America if we don't change the way we think about and use our water.
Since this is the world I work in I was pretty familiar with a lot of the concepts of conservation and crisis of infrastructure and the waste that exists in the way Americans use water. However, Barnett added an international perspective, talking about the Netherlands, Singapore and Western Australia and how they have changed their country's relationships with water and are moving away from the old and into the new. Additionally she does a great job of looking at American cities that have risen to the challenge of creating an ethic for water, particularly in Texas and Atlanta.
Barnett argues for a local water ethic. Because our country is so diverse and the landscapes and waters that supply our cities so varied, the most successful solutions seem to be those intensely local ones. Very, very interesting book for anyone in the US to read. -
Living in Prescott, AZ, we are a high-desert area that has been in drought for many years, with more to come. Water is a precious commodity, and there are constant arguments and discussions about our lack of it. Aquifers (the Little Chino and the Big Chino) are being depleted at a terrifying rate, and the Big Chino is the headwaters for the Verde River, one of only a few truly natural rivers left in Arizona that will surely dry up if enough water is siphoned out of that aquifer..
Water issues seem to be just about everywhere. Emphasis today is more on our carbon footprint and very little seems to be directed toward our nation's water.
A book I just read provides a wealth of information about this crisis, how we have managed to mess things up and how a number of countries and cities are taking steps to improve their water use. Cynthia Barnett's book, Blue Revolution: Unmaking America's Water Crisis, is chuck full of stories on our water dilemma and how we can take steps to improve. Almost 40% of the book consists of references used in the book, but Ms. Barnett writes in a very engaging way in spite of the citations. -
Water is a precious resource that needs to be carefully managed. It's something that has been largely overlooked as is stated in the book. I myself am a bit of a conservationist and yet sometimes I don't the careful usage of water.
To make the case for water conservation, Australia and Singapore are examples that are used for evidence. While Singapore isn't well known for having water issues. It's still an example of careful water management and future issues. Australia on the other hand is the country that we've all read about. For several years Australia has had to ration water usage.
Places that have never had a problem with adequate water supplies now have to ration. There is a time coming that a green lawn may be a thing of the past. This book made me realize this. We really need to learn to live within our means when it comes to water. -
This is a very well researched book that I would highly recommend to people already interested in the water crisis and environmental ethics. The first few chapters are very dry (no pun intended). It was hard to get through so I would not recommend this book to someone who isn't very interested in the topic. For those who are interested there is a fountain of information to be gained and the second half flows much better (ok, those last two were intended! :-P)
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This is a very informative and important book about how we need to change our ethic in using water before it's all used up. It's especially relevant to people like myself living in the dry western US. Read it and change your ways!
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An amazing read! Barnett delves deep into our troubles with water, both in the world and in the United States. Her knowledge and grasp of the problem is wide reaching; she not only explains the problems, but she offers real and attainable solutions.
A must read for everyone. -
An eye opening book that exposes the reader to just how false a sense of security we had regarding the "abundance of water" in the US (and Florida as a resident).
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More like a 3.5, but really well researched and presented. And brings home what an important issue this is.
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A really enjoyable, informative read about the water issues currently facing our world. I read it for a class and enjoyed every minute of it.
