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"Without water we perish. Marks starts out by outlining all the ways we humans abuse one of our most precious resources and she details the complex political situations that have lead us down this path. But she also points out some successful solutions and that's why this book is such a great -- an important -- read. The book is an easy read, too. Marks's style is straightforward -- she's not trying to scare, not trying to push a personal political agenda disguised as truth. She tells all sides of the water story fairly."

From the Introduction to "Aqua Shock":

"The U.S. water shortage isn’t confined to the Great Plains or the West, either. At least thirty-six states across the country expect water shortages of some kind by 2013, and that’s not even factoring in drought or changing climate conditions, according to a 2003 report from the U.S. General Accounting Office. Forty-six states are expected to be under drought conditions by 2013. If you think that it’s not in your neighborhood, look more closely:

--The nearly five million residents of Atlanta, Georgia, were shocked into reality in 2007 when it was revealed that their
main water source, Lake Lanier, was drying up. By spring 2009, rains finally had eased drought conditions, and in June, Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division issued its first non-drought outdoor watering schedule since June 2006.

--North Carolina had its driest winter in 113 years in 2007, according to data from the National Climatic Data Center, part of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

--Florida, a peninsula (meaning that it is surrounded on three sides by water), averages more than fifty inches of rain a year, yet regularly faces water-shortage emergencies in some areas. With rainfall totals 70 percent below normal, by mid-March 2009, Tampa Bay Water’s regional reservoir ran out of water, and the utility was forced to turn to alternative sources for water.

--In May 2008, a fire in Florida’s Lake Okeechobee—specifically in the then-severely depleted lake’s bed—covered thousands of acres before being extinguished.

--New Berlin, Wisconsin, near the banks of Lake Michigan, must deal with water restrictions because of population growth, water use limitations imposed by international laws and regional agreements, and drainage patterns. Geologically, the city sits on a subcontinental divide: Part of the city drains into the Great Lakes Basin (the area that includes the Great Lakes and its watershed), and the other part drains away from it.

--Rain forests and paradise aren’t immune, either. Some parts of the Hawaiian Islands have experienced what the National Weather Service and the U.S. Drought Monitor (a drought report published by the U.S. government) call “extreme drought” conditions.

Water shortage is a national problem we no longer can ignore. It’s global in scope, too. Here are some numbers:

--More than 1 billion people worldwide do not have access to minimal amounts of clean water, according to United Nations data.

--In Latin America alone, approximately 76 million people lack safe water, according to the World Bank.

--Every year 1.8 million children die as a result of diarrhea and other diseases caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation, according to the United Nations report mentioned above.

--By 2035, as many as 3 billion people may live in areas with severe water shortages, especially if they live in Africa, the Middle East, or South Asia, as the World Bank predicts they will. The issue for Americans isn’t simply a result of population growth or water demand, drought, development, or pollution. It’s all of that and more."

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BUZZFLASH REVIEWS