The central thrust of the third volume in this highly regarded series is that we must rethink the way we capture, distribute, and use water if we are to meet the challenges of increasing scarcity and growing populations. In the lead chapter, Peter Gleick describes one potential solution to the growing global water crisis: a “soft path” for water, which seeks to deliver water-related services matched to users’ needs as well as resource availability, rather than relying on centralized infrastructure and technology and institutions developed in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Introduction

Brief: Water in Outer Space

Chapter 1: The Soft Path for Water

Chapter 5: Pacific Island Developing Country Water Resources and Climate Change 

Table 10: Irrigated Area, by Region, 1961 to 1999

Table 12: Number of Dams, by Continent and Country

Table 14: Regional Statistics on Large Dams

Table 15: Commissioning of Large Dams in the 20th Century, by Decade

Volume 9

Volume 8

Volume 7

Volume 6

Volume 5

Volume 4

Volume 2

Volume 1