The excessive pumping of aquifers has created a largely ignored environmental catastrophe known only to few scientists, water management experts, and those unfortunate enough to have suffered direct and increasingly dire consequences.
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Robert Glennon is the Morris K. Udall Professor of Law & Public Policy at the University of Arizona, and author of the recent book, Water Follies.
The synopsis of Water Follies from Dr. Glennon's website (http://www.law.arizona.edu/Faculty/getprofile.cfm?facultyid=36) reads as follows: As Professor Glennon explains in WATER FOLLIES, what killed the Santa Cruz - and has devastated other surface waters across the United States - was groundwater pumping. The excessive pumping of our aquifers has created an environmental catastrophe known to only a few scientists, a handful of water management experts, and those unfortunate enough to have suffered the direct consequences. Quite remarkably, no books or magazine articles have focused on the impact of groundwater pumping on the environment. In a striking collection of stories that brings to life the human and natural consequences of our growing national thirst, Professor Glennon provides an occasionally wry and always fascinating account of groundwater pumping and the environmental problems it causes.
Professor Glennon sketches the culture of water use in the United States, explaining how and why we are growing increasingly reliant on groundwater. He uses examples of the Santa Cruz and San Pedro rivers in Arizona to illustrate the science of hydrology and the legal aspects of water use and conflicts. Following that, he offers a dozen stories - ranging from Down East Maine to San Antonio's River Walk to Atlanta's burgeoning suburbs - that clearly illustrate the array of problems caused by groundwater pumping. Each episode poses a conflict of values that reveals the complexity of how and why we use water. These poignant and sometimes perverse tales tell of human foibles including greed, stubbornness, and especially, the unlimited human capacity to ignore reality.
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April 28, 2005
Barrick Museum Auditorium, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
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