Every Drop for Sale: Our Desperate Battle Over Water

by Jeffrey Rothfeder

An investigative journalist probes the startling gap between supply and demand of safe drinking water in the world, speculating that a water crisis looms on the horizon. 20,000 first printing.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Politics

256 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2001

Reviews

[Brandon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am thoroughly shocked that this author was the editor for BusinessWeek. I'll give him credit for piquing my interest in water allocation research in Latin America, but as an environmentalist I categorically reject his premise that we need to categorize water as a human right and not take responsibility of its use by having it reflect its true economic value. Tragedy of the Commons, my friends. We can't save something if we keep abusing it.

[Lou Grimm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Forget peak oil, forget global warming - we are out of water, and Rothfeder uses an easy-to-read style to present the case.

From places we in the west never hear of, to our own doorstep; Rothfeder tells story after story about a water-shortage disaster so imminent that wars have already been fought over it.

Indanglasia, where women strived to raise money needed for water pumps, only to have their hard-won infrastructure stolen just when their standard of living was finally on the rise.

Cochabamba, where protests, strikes, and demonstrations against the cost of water rising to higher than the cost of food created a state of emergency and mass arrests.

And Canada, yes you read that right, Canada - where privatisation of water led to seven deaths and 2000 sick from poisoned water in a period of weeks.

While the topic is depressing, Rothfeder's style is compelling. He has opened my eyes (eyes I thought were already open) and has made me view my own water usage far more conscionably.

It's become too easy to say that regular shipments of bagged water to Cyprus, the Saronic Islands, and California don't make for cheerful news; or the throwing of human bodies into wells in Kosovo and East Timor to poison civilians is simply a 'wartime measure'; or the destruction of desalination plants in the 1991 Gulf War is just 'strategic warfare'.

But this book begs the question - why do we humans continue to rest on our thirsting laurels? Why are we happy to fiddle while Rome burns? Are we fundamentally lazy? Have we as a species had a bad experience with change, such that change lies in our collective psyche right next to pain and suffering?

I am, however, filled with hope that the generation that's just entered the workforce and is known for its concern for the future, will change things. They are a generation that knows how to question the status quo, and how to do the things that need to be done.

And for the generation after - this book should be made compulsory reading in high school, right up there next to Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (and Every Drop For Sale is a much easier read).

[Wayne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book 5 of 2021: every drop for sale by Jeffrey Rothfeder

I found this narrative about the global water crisis a bit frustrating.

First, the narrative style makes bold statements or has quotes without any citation of sources. The author does have a Notes section at the end were he lists his sources, but it is virtually impossible to tell what facts he gleaned from these. I would have liked his sources footnoted or endnoted in his text.

Second, the book was published 20 years ago (2001) and seems to me to be out of date.

It took me a while to get into it, but it's an okay read. Living in the desert Southwest, working internationally on water supplies, and having a decades long career as a water scientist, I'm pretty aware of global and domestic water conflicts and shortage. I recognize that I am not the target audience for this tome. Even so, I can't really recommend this book because of the lack of proper citations and its age.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book years ago in graduate school, and it resonated with me as a water resources scientist. Our access to clean water is slowly degrading, and the crisis coming is not being addressed; the way a crisis should. I am now using this in my college classes to teach water policy and conflict. It is now a little outdated, but the concepts hold. Those who control the water, control the people. Is water a human right or a commodity? Can the market fix water waste? While Rothfeder does not give you the answers to these questions, he certainly opens the discussion and directs one to think about these issues critically.

The book is especially eye-opening to those not yet in a water crisis.

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rothfeder is incredibly good at relating his own life experiences from the 60s to the late 90s to the larger water issue at hand. The book was nice and I think he did a great job at showing the problem with dams and the constant idea that we, as people, can control nature.
Unfortunately the book is dated now and a lot of it's technical statistics don't really work anymore but its basic point is still true and real and it does not look like something that has changed. Water is still abused

[Rhuff · Rating 4 out of 5]

On the plus side, Jeffrey Rothfeder has delivered a readable, conveniently short survey of the worldwide water crisis. Some have taken him to task for not filling this slim volume with statistics and other empirical data, but Rothfeder is a popular journalist, not an academic. He did not set such a heavy task. The book is designed as an introduction to a seeping and almost invisibly rising environmental dilemma for a general readership impatient with scientific jargon.

That said, its generalities do fall too easily into pop sociology. His description of the rise of water civilization are rationalizations for capitalist and military expansion: nations acquire water rights as fruits of buying or seizing it from others, thus creating wealth, and ruining neighbors. This kind of predatory behavior may seem natural as rain to him - Rothfeder is also a prolific media propagandist for corporate America - but it is not the real history of man's relationship to water.

Communities develop for the most natural reasons of survival around water sources. These sources in turn determine community growth and development over generations. They do give a natural advantage over other less-blessed regions, which may then be unfairly turned against the disadvantaged.

He's right in showing how corporate abuse in wealthy countries is not only profiting off shortages elsewhere, but adding insult to injury in buying local water and selling it back to local consumers. His remedy, though, is further privatization, which in real terms means even further corporate control. He disparages "local government" as being too undercapitalized for effective water management, putting him against other "water warriors" like Vandana Shiva, who makes very strong arguments for local control. The most obvious solution - nationalization - is completely off his radar; while his idea of "stronger regulation" is utopian, as corporate power easily subverts this.

The book has flaws, but mostly in Rothfeder's blinkered endorsement of private corporate power as solution rather than problem. As a general survey of the environmental crisis looming just offshore of tomorrow it's a good summary job.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although it may now be a bit outdated in it's conversation about emerging technologies, this book nicely outlines the causes of our world's fresh water crisis and introduces the players who are working to solve micro problems and those who are more concerned with the macro. It was a very informative read and has clearly changed my water usage practices already. The most unfortunate aspect to it all is that the water I save can't be sent off to areas in desperate need of a good clean cup of water. Most important, however, is that Mr. Rothfeder pushes to change the global outlook of fresh water from a world where water is a commodity to one where it is a right of everyone on the planet to have access to clean fresh water.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

While this book is old enough to probably qualify as outdated, it's as important and relevant as ever. It's extremely insightful and informative. It puts the upcoming water crisis into clear terms on micro and macro levels.

[Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good book, exploring water politics. Worth a read but nothing to scream about.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although this book is old enough to be considered outdated in some ways, it remains relevant today as the water crises continues. People should be aware of this!

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

You think were in trouble with oil?

[Austin High]

333.91 ROT