CONCLUSION - The Ripple Effect: The Fate of Freshwater in the Twenty-First Century - page 302

supposes that man should use whatever methods will achieve his ultimate goal in the
most efficient way.
Applying this ethos to water, Gleick reasons that the Hard Path, as practiced by the
Water Buffaloes, treats water problems as simple engineering questions: How do we ex-
tract more water from the environment as quickly as possible? How do we remove water
from rivers and lakes and aquifers and move it farther and farther away, to make deserts
bloom? This approach does not take into account how we move water (by building giant
salmon-killing dams and pumps), what the environmental effect might be (silt buildup,
depleted supplies, destruction of wildlife), or how we use it (to supply thirsty crops, golf
courses, or housing developments in the desert).
“In engineering school, I was taught how to design a dam on a virgin river to build
a reservoir that will meet the needs of one hundred thousand people,” Gleick said. “But
I was never taught to think about how those people actually usethe water. Now we are
changing the nature of our economy, and we are becoming more efficient. This is good
news: it means we can do better.”
The Hard Path worked well, initially, to provide water supplies that built the nation.
But now it is widely recognized that large dams are expensive, inefficient, and environ-
mentally destructive. The Water Buffalo ethos is becoming obsolete. As global warm-
ing and demographic shifts change the way water is managed, experts are searching for
ways to build smaller, cheaper, less intrusive means of supplying water. Seemingly small
efficiencies, such as low-flush toilets and low-flow showerheads in homes, and relatively
modest infrastructure projects, such as drip-irrigated farming, underground waterb-
anking, and toilet-to-tap sewage recycling, can save more water, and money, than new
dams can provide.
“Maybe I'm naive, but I believe we can conserve more and more. We just need to
think harder about it,” said Gleick.
CHARTING THE WATERS
Everything we do, we could do with less water.
—Peter Gleick,
the Pacific Institute, 2009
Looking back at the major questions examined in this topic—water quality (pollution),
water quantity (drought and flood), and how we manage water today and in the future
(infrastructure and governance)—lessons have emerged that will help people make in-