gilda_elise

The Great Lakes are one of the world's largest reservoirs, and more than forty million Americans and Canadians live in their basin. How that water is used by, or diverted from, those people is the story of The Great Lakes Water Wars. Peter Annin writes an account of the people and stories behind these upcoming battles. Destined to be the definitive sourcebook for the general public as well as policy makers, The Great Lakes Water Wars is a balanced, comprehensive look behind the scenes at the conflicts and compromises that are the past - and future - of this unique resource.

The book is highly readable, though it doesn’t stint on detail. Each chapter goes into a different “war,” a different threat to the Great Lakes water basin. And as someone originally from a dry state (Arizona,) and now living within the basin (Michigan,) I was especially concerned about the future of the lakes. With bottled water companies already taking water, and casting greedy eyes on more, that future seemed uncertain. The demise of the Aral Sea is also covered in the book, giving a disturbing vision of what could happen.

Sometimes it seemed as if the states that surround the lakes were their own worse enemies, unable, or unwilling, to compromise in order to find a way to protect the Lakes, Whether it was Illinois’ ill-conceived reversal of the Chicago River’s flow, or Michigan’s keeping that charter from having real teeth, that would create problems further down the road.

A more comprehensive compact, the Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact, would finally be enacted in 2008, and while not perfect, would help to protect the Basin. Unfortunately, the wars continue, with Nestlé, in particular, still trying to take more water. Updated information can be found on the author's website.