Peter H. Gleick is co-founder and President of the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment, and Security. He is a leading expert on global freshwater resources, including sustainable use of water, the hydrologic impacts of climate change, demand management and water-use efficiency concepts, regional and international water conflicts, water planning and management, and the connections between water, population, and development. Dr. Gleick received a MacArthur Foundation Research and Writing Fellowship in 1988 to explore the implications of global environmental changes for water and international security. He is the author of Water in Crisis (Oxford University Press, 1993) and The World’s Water 1998-1999 (Island Press, 1998) as well as numerous scientific papers.
Availability of an adequate, safe water supply is critical to the health, economy, and environment of any nation and its people. The United States, on average, is well-endowed with water. However, this year’s spring floods and summer droughts illlustrate the …