"WHOSE WATER IS IT?"

Developed in association with Mountain Culture at The Banff Centre, "Whose Water is it?" brings together the original work of world-renowned scientists, advocates, authors and water managers: people whose expertise in and commitment to clean and sufficient water for the 21^st century has translated into creative endeavours, scientific research and action.

It examines threats both to the quantity and to the quality of the world’s water, from the vast storage houses of fresh water in the world’s mountains to the downstream regions that are home to water’s most intensive use. As downstream demand increases, conflicts over the ownership and use of that water are increasing. And as the rate of global climate change and the amount of airborne pollution increases, the quantity and quality of water available downstream is also becoming increasingly compromised.

With a focus on the prospects for the next 20 years, "Whose Water is It?" puts a vivid and compelling face on water and its fate, from Polar icefields facing increasing threats from pollutants, to the water-starved regions of the Middle East to the deserts of the American southwest. "Whose Water is It?" presents the most important issues facing the world’s water supply through deeply human accounts involving real people from around the world and the challenges they face.

Contributors include Margaret Catley-Carlson, Maude Barlow, Marq de Villiers, Aaron Wolf, David Schindler, David Suzuki, David Hayes, Lester Brown, Robert Glennon, Peter Gleick and Hans Schreier.

To be released in the fall of 2003 in celebration of the International Year of Fresh Water, this engaging publication presents a broad scope of our mountains as water towers and their plight in the 21^st century.

For copies of the book, please contact your local bookstore.