Conversation on Water

Andrea K. Gerlak (TUCSON, AZ) is the director of the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy and a professor in the School of Geography, Development & Environment at the University of Arizona. She is a coeditor of Agency in Earth System Governance and Mapping the New World Order. Gerlak has more than two decades of experience leading university-community environmental partnerships and consulting with international and national organizations on water policy and governance.

• Series Editor's ForewordPrefacePart I. Health and the Need for Clean Water1. Nearly 60 Million Americans Don't Drink Their Tap Water, Research Suggests—Here's Why That's a Public Health Problem2. The Importance of Replacing Lead Water Pipes from Coast to Coast3. Wildfires Are Contaminating Drinking Water Systems, and It's More Widespread Than People Realize4. Climate Change Threatens Drinking Water Quality across the Great Lakes5. PFAS "Forever Chemicals" Are Widespread and Threaten Human Health—Here's a Strategy for Protecting the PublicPart II. Digging Deeper to Get More Water6. Ancient Groundwater: Why the Water You're Drinking May Be Thousands of Years Old7. As Climate Change Parches the Southwest, Here's a Better Way to Share Water from the Shrinking Colorado River8. Farmers Are Depleting the Ogallala Aquifer Because the Government Pays Them to Do It9. Millions of Americans Struggle to Pay Their Water Bills—Here's How a National Water Aid Program Could Work10. Five Unusual Technologies for Harvesting Water in Dry Areas11. Why Wall Street Investors' Trading of California Water Futures Is Nothing to Fear—and Unlikely to Work AnywayPart III. Water in a Warming World12. Two-Thirds of Earth's Land Is on Pace to Lose Water as the Climate Warms—That's a Problem for People, Crops, and Forests13. Climate Change Is Making Ocean Waves More Powerful, Threatening to Erode Many Coastlines14. As Coastal Flooding Worsens, Some Cities Are Retreating from the Water15. Your Favorite Fishing Stream May Be at High Risk from Climate Change—Here's How to Tell16. Trees Are Dying of Thirst in the Western Drought—Here's What's Going On inside Their Veins17. California's Water Supplies Are in Trouble as Climate Change Worsens Natural Dry Spells, Especially in the Sierra Nevada18. For Flood-Prone Cities, Seawalls Raise as Many Questions as They Answer19. A 20-Foot Seawall Won't Save Miami—How Living Structures Can Help Protect the Coast and Keep the Paradise Vibe20. Sea Level Rise Is Killing Trees along the Atlantic Coast, Creating "Ghost Forests" That Are Visible from Space21. Climate Change Is Driving Rapid Shifts between High and Low Water Levels on the Great Lakes22. As Flood Risks Increase across the US, It's Time to Recognize the Limits of LeveesPart IV. The Lifeblood of Human Society23. For Native Americans, a River Is More Than a "Person"; It Is Also a Sacred Place24. Louisiana's Coastal Cultures Are Threatened by the Very Plans Meant to Save Their Wetlands and Barrier Islands25. Women Still Carry Most of the World's Water26. Coronavirus Spotlights the Link between Clean Water and Health27. Living near Water Can Be Beneficial to Your Mental Health—Here's How to Have More Blue Spaces in CitiesPart V. Preserving Our Oceans28. How Marine Protected Areas Help Safeguard the Ocean29. Where Does Plastic Pollution Go When It Enters the Ocean?30. Scientists Have Been Drilling into the Ocean Floor for 50 Years—Here's What They've Found So Far31. Blue Acceleration: Our Dash for Ocean Resources Mirrors What We've Already Done on Land32. Why Indigenous Knowledge Should Be an Essential Part of How We Govern the World's OceansContributorsIndex