Tibetan Plateau, Himalayas at lower edge of the photo, 2008
Source: NASA Earth Observatory
1. China, Tibet, and Asia's Rivers. An op-ed piece in the right-wing Washington Post last Monday gives a fascinating spin on Tibet as the water tower of Asia (in a manner even more dramatic than the Massif Central, is called the water tower of France). Most of southern Asia's major rivers have their origins in Chinese controlled Tibet, and China could claim much of that water for its own use. Should large scale diversions of Tibetian water for use in arid Northern China take place, then downstream users in nations including nuclear armed India and Pakistan could suffer great harm. The op ed piece was written by a researcher at the Indian Institute for Defense Studies and gives a hint of India's take on the issue.
2. Colorado River and Boulder Dam: A book review by the historian of California Kevin Starr in today's Washington Post Book World praises a new book on the construction of Boulder (Hoover) Dam and the evolution of water policy in the lower Colorado River basin. Starr's review is worth a read, and I am looking forward to reading the book itself in the near future. The book is Hiltzik, Michael. 2010. Colossus: On the Building of the Hoover Dam. Free Press ISBN 978146532163.
3.Water as a subject has led to a huge number of publications, including many journals. In addition articles on water topics are widespread in journals in fields as disparate as medicine, geography, environmental economics, civil engineering, and architecture. No single individual could possible hope to keep up with all of the literature. The task is especially difficult for interested laypersons. Much of the journal literature is couched in what seems to be impenetrable jargon, and if the field is engineering or economics the articles tend to be salted with complicated equations. That said, a few journals are written in an accessible way, and recently I have discovered two worth mentioning:
Water Alternatives describes itself as an interdisciplinary journal on water, politics and development and its current issue examines the topic of large dams, like Boulder Dam, a major topic as several immense dams have recently been completed or are on the drawing boards including the Three Gorges Dam in China, which will be the world's largest when completed.
Journal of Contemporary Water Research and Education published by the Universities Council on Water Resources covers water topics from many perspectives and is readable by any intelligent adult. It may be necessary to have a subscription for the most recent issues, but older issues are available gratis online. As it happens, the lead article in the most recent issue is about drought and water supply on the Colorado River!
Also online is the journal Water, somewhat more technical but worthwhile for those with a serious interest and some scientific background.
