Water resources : efficient, sustainable and equitable use /

Water Resources is one of 12 books addressing global sustainability concerns commissioned by the Forum for Responsibility in Germany (e.g., S. Rahmstorf's Our Threatened Oceans, CH, Mar'10, 47-3824; F. Schmidt-Bleek's The Earth, CH, Mar'10, 47-3826). Mauser (Ludwig Maximilian Univ. of Munich) first discusses what it is about water--and its relationship to life--that makes it unique. Subsequent chapters focus on two areas where water usage has already caused severe environmental disruption (Aral Sea) or where the potential for international water conflicts is high (Nile River and its tributaries). The discussion on sustainable water use emphasizes the 1992 Dublin Statement on water, which emphasizes that it is a basic human right to have access to clean water and sanitation at an affordable price. Considering the depletion of surface and groundwater resources today in light of projected global population growth (9.5 billion by 2050), it is clear that providing water for individuals, agriculture, and industry will be one of humanity's biggest challenges for the future, requiring major improvements in water recycling and efficiency of use. The overall quality of writing is very good, but some of the graphs are mislabeled, and other illustrations are of low quality. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates, two-year technical program students, and general readers. T. J. Kroeger Bemidji State University

A gift to sustainability science by German businessman and editor Wiegandt, the "Sustainability Project" (www.the-sustainability-project.com) is a 12-volume, 3000-page series (of which these four titles were submitted for review) initially published in Germany. The aim is to present current research on complex topics in a manner accessible to general readers while keeping content scientifically sound. The series succeeds, but by no means is it a walk in the park; Wiegandt makes no apologies, asking 12 leading experts to explore critical environmental, economic, and social pressure points that must be addressed in the next 30 years. A survey of some of its constituent titles suggests this set's breadth: Our Threatened Oceans, Feeding the Planet, The Demise of Diversity, Overcrowded World?, Climate Change, and The New Plagues. The volumes are not numbered, but Jill Jager's Our Planet: How Much More Can Earth Take?, with its discussion of planetary "overshoot," generally introduces the other titles, while Harald Muller's take on future world governance in Building a New World Order: Sustainable Policies for the Future provides a fitting conclusion. The argument carried relatively uniformly through all 12 volumes-i.e., confront the dismal truth about conditions, then suggest possible courses of action-lends the set unity, as does the way project authors refer to one another's work (an obvious method of linking the pieces together, a cumulative index, is lacking). Many of the solutions offered are practical and well known, e.g., label consumer products with metrics that will inform potential buyers of their real ecological cost and use less energy. Other recommendations are sensible but tough, e.g., "dematerialize" American society by a factor of ten within a few decades and make the knowledge presented here part of the educational curriculum from kindergarten through university. But one of Muller's recommendations, though wished-for, seems downright contrary to (human) nature-his suggestion to outlaw war. Verdict Glossaries, graphics, and brief reading lists help to make the dauntingly comprehensive "Sustainability Project" palatable for advanced readers. While academic and large public libraries will no doubt want the entire set, smaller libraries could safely buy the relatively inexpensive individual titles on hot topics like climate change and water resources. Those wanting more graphics and less text will find a superb alternative purchase in Norman Myers and Jennifer Kent's The New Atlas of Planet Management. James Gustave Speth's The Bridge at the End of the World would be another solid choice.-Robert Eagan, Windsor P.L., Ont. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.