The Last Oasis: Facing Water Scarcity
November 1992
Sandra Postel
ISBN: 0-393-31744-7
240 pages
| Print Version | $10.95 | 
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As we approach the twenty-first century, we are entering a new era—an era of water scarcity. We have taken for granted seemingly endless supplies of water flowing from reservoirs, wells, and diversion projects; access to water has been key to food security, industrialization, and the growth of cities.
In Last Oasis, author Sandra Postel explains that decades of profligacy and mismanagement of the world's water resources have produced signs of shortages and environmental destruction. She writes with authority and clarity of the limits—ecological, economic, and political—of this vital natural resource. She explores the potential for conflict over water between nations, and between urban and rural residents. And she offers a sensible way out of such struggles.
Last Oasis makes clear that the technologies and know-how exist to increase the productivity of very liter of water. But citizens must first understand the issues and insist on policies, laws, and institutions that promote the sustainable use of water.