Water Wars: A Story of People, Politics and Power
Water Wars: A Story of People, Politics and Power is a nonfiction book written by Honey Rand, Ph.D. The book focuses on the effect of a dispute over water supply in Tampa Bay, Florida, also known as the Water wars in Florida. It tells the inside story of the environmental, political and financial fight over water supply development and allocation.
| Author | Honey Rand |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Non-fiction |
| Published | 2003 (Xlibris) |
| Pages | |
| ISBN | 1-4134-0905-9 Search this book on  . |
Synopsis[edit]
Water Wars tells a story of the people, politics and power at play in a major and contentious policy issue—water allocation. This is the story of Tampa Bay but the fight for water is real across the U.S. and the world. Some experts now say that future wars will be fought over water. It will not be metaphorical. It’s already a factor in some conflicts. While this story is narrated in the first person by Honey Rand, the Director of Communication for the Southwest Florida Water Management District, the protagonists are a handful of water activists ranging from 30 to 60 years old who were variously impacted by water policy that failed to act when drought underscored overuse of the resource and devastated the environment.
Steve Monsees, a retired Army Green Beret Colonel, watched the hundred-acre lake in his front yard and a smaller one in his back yard disappear. At first, he didn’t worry; periodic droughts happen.
He trusted the government, so he went to both the regional water supplier—the West Coast Regional Water Supply Authority, now known as Tampa Bay Water—is made up of governments in Tampa Bay. It wholesales water to the member governments). He also approached the regional water regulator—the Water Management District—the government agency responsible for allocating water and protecting the environment.
He sought their experts and asked them. “What happened to my lakes?”
The answers were at best unsatisfying and at worst inconsistent.
As he began to dig into the specifics of rainfall and regional water allocation, he concluded that his lakes were impacted by pumping water from where he lived in Pasco County to coastal Pinellas County south and west of where he lived. In his mind, his lakes were drained so that people on the coast could irrigate their lush landscapes.
The more he learned, the angrier he became. Along the way, he met other angry people. Some were concerned about home values, some for the environment. The consequences for each were unique, but the cause was becoming clear: excessive water withdrawal from water wellfields in Central Pasco County was having dramatic environmental and economic consequence and the government wasn’t listening to them.
People had been going to the Water Management District meetings, pleading with the Governing Board to do something, to do anything, to pay attention to them.
Encouraged by people who had been trying to be heard for years and encouraged by some District staff that were trying to get their executives, senior staff and Governing Board to take steps to manage the issue that they identified, Steve Monsees decided to show them the consequences of their failure to act.
That presentation and the ensuing discussion kicked off a 3-year period of litigation and debate that pitted poor water-rich communities against wealthy water-poor communities and resulted in a billion-dollar investment to create water security, protect the environment and ensure that such a thing could never happen in Tampa Bay again.[1]
Reviews[edit]
Water Wars has been praised for providing "an accessible look at a complex issue in a way that the common reader can get their hooks into an issue that continues to have major impact today." A Carrollwood newspaper said that Rand does a good job avoiding the technical jargon that is often associated with discussions over water, instead focusing on "the colorful personalities and political intrigue that swirled around the debate."[2]
In an article written by The Ledger environmental writer Tom Palmer, he said that the book provides “an unusual window” into what was happening behind-the-scenes of the area conflict. While he jokes that Rand should apply for a job at the Suwanee River Water Management District and work on a sequel, Palmer did have some criticisms of the book. He said that the book would have been improved by adding more information about some of the players. That way, people who don’t know about the conflict won’t have to read so far into the book to figure out who is who. Palmer also said that dates should have been inserted to help readers with the chronology of events, as well as needing an index.[3]
Derek Dunn-Rankin, creator of the Sun Coast Media Group, dedicated a column to reviewing the book in the Charlotte Sun Herald. He calls the book “an insider’s view of the decision-making process at the independent state agency that makes the critical decisions on how our water resources are shared.” Dunn-Rankin said that everyone from environmental activists and developers to politicians and businessmen will find the book insightful as to who controls the water and who pays for it, and whoever thinks history tends to repeat itself will want to read this book. However, he was critical in his column saying that the text can be confusing at times when the full names of people are switched to informal first-name references. He also said that although the author’s "read on the character, style and motivations of the key players in the water wars is colored by her advocacy position during it,” Dunn-Rankin does say thought that Rand made an effort to be neutral and record varied motivations.”[4]
WaterWorld Magazine[5] wrote that Water Wars is “thought-provoking” and presents “an insider’s look at local ‘water wars’ and the people involved in them.” The article took a worldview to the issues presented in the book, saying how water supply and quality are issues in most coastal communities, and how the battle for control over water resources will “hound humanity forever.”[6]
The New Hampshire Sierra Club reviewed the book as a case study that is applied to such conflicts in the state, as well as a reflection on water wars everywhere. The reviewer is a state environmental program manager and watershed planner who calls Water Wars very informative but dry.[7]
Another review calls it a ‘bite-by-bite’ account of what Rand found out by working on water politics and one should read it as ‘the working out of inevitable problems caused by increasing demands on a diminishing resource.”[8]
Sources[edit]
- Rand, Honey. Water Wars: A Story of People, Politics, and Power. Xlibris. 2003. ISBN. 1-4134-0905-9.
References[edit]
- ↑ Rand, Honey. Water Wars: A Story of People, Politics, and Power. Xlibris. 2003.
- ↑ Napper, Robert. “’Water Wars’ touches on important subject”. Carrollwood Community News. 2 July 2004.
- ↑ Palmer, Tom. “Book Details Politics, Power of Water Wars.” The Ledger. 27 Aug 2003.
- ↑ Dunn-Rankin, Derek. “Water Wars, People, Politics and Power”. Charlotte Sun Herald. 31 Aug 2003.
- ↑ "Home". www.waterworld.com. Retrieved 2019-04-29.
- ↑ “New book discusses local battles for a limited resource”. WaterWorld. 1 Aug 2003.
- ↑ Susca, Paul. “’Water Wars’ a Dray Account of the Battle for Water”. New Hampshire Sierran. New Hampshire Sierra Club. n.d.
- ↑ Wild, Peter. “Book review: Water politics has gone to the dogs”. Water Resource Associates. 18 Nov 2003.
External Links[edit]
This article "Water Wars: A Story of People, Politics and Power" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Water Wars: A Story of People, Politics and Power. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
