The Water Paradox: The Future of Water


Publisher: Yale University Press

Author(s): Edward Barbier

Date: 2019

Topics: Climate Change, Economic Recovery, Renewable Resources

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If water is valuable and scarce, why is it so poorly managed? Up to now, we have adopted only one approach to resolving this water paradox. We ignore the signs of growing water scarcity, until sudden and unexpected shortages force us to take drastic measures to curtail excessive use. This is proving to be a costly response to water crises—as the following example illustrates. In 2017, for the first time in 2,000 years, Rome turned off its iconic drinking fountains.