The real question, however, is when the talking will stop and the doing will start. Pearce is optimistic but pragmatic too and emphasises that while different areas have different problems with water, there are solutions that can be adapted to fit. One village in India, for instance, uses strategically constructed ponds to trap monsoon water along its drainage path. A mixture of the high tech and the ingenious Pearce’s solutions are plausible, extremely practical and based on some of the creative water conservation ideas he’s come across while on his travels. In addition to the staggering amount of information, he also presents a few ideas for solving it. Pearce is aware of the fact that he’s approaching a very simple question with a very complex solution.
But even this has a point: lack of water might be a global issue, but it’s one that requires local solutions. Not quite so effective is the device of using myriad individual stories to illustrate his point the sheer volume of which makes them slightly disorienting. This is the bigger picture that Pearce wants us to understand, and he does an excellent job of making it plain. It’s a key point: as Pearce never tires of pointing out, we can’t survive if we don’t take better care of our fresh water supplies. It’s an unfortunate but undeniable point: so many of our projects surrounding control and distribution of fresh water seem to be designed with a logic that is distinctly short term. He takes issue with blundering attempts by governments to harness water via dams and drainage systems that often cause more problems than they solve.
One of the great strengths of the book is the clarity with which Pearce lays out the effect of diminished water supplies on global politics. Pearce quotes government officials, hydro-engineers, farmers whose stories and direct experience of dealing with the issue gives the book compelling colour. And he’s certainly not wrong, as the recent dispute between Ethiopia and Egypt over who owns the waters of the Nile has shown. Citing water shortages as a key factor in numerous global issues, Pearce demonstrates how everything from agricultural struggles in India to the continuing tensions in Israel and culture clashes between Mexico and the United States, can be traced back to water. The massive scope of the problem is made plain by the sheer variety of examples Pearce brings to the table. So what can we do about it? Pearce has a few ideas but the real focus of the book is on what will happen if we do nothing - and it isn’t a happy vision. Population pressure, massive use of water for commercial agriculture and inept resource management are all part of a problem that threatens to spiral out of control. This is partly why, says Fred Pearce, fresh water is becoming an increasingly valuable commodity but it isn’t the only one. Worse still, only a third of the fresh water available is easily accessible in lake or river form. But although two thirds of the surface of the planet is water, 97 per cent is salty. Water is one of the building blocks of life: a basic substance we need to survive and thrive, along with countless other species and plants.