Sustainable Development: The Power of Water to Ease Poverty and Ehnance Ecology

The Earth’s thirsty and burgeoning human population is confronted today with the reality of an unchanging freshwater supply-a disparity that grows worse each year. Global water usages have increased six fold during the last century, and policymakers and politicians have met this increasing demand by building larger dams. Can these megadams solve chronic water shortages, poverty, and future food security? Proponents have argued that bigger dams are better; they increase irrigation opportunit...