By Maude Barlow (McClelland & Stewart, 2009). What will our world look like in only 20 years? The second book in her Blue Trilogy, legendary water advocate Barlow illustrates a future where pipelines siphon water until there is nothing left but desert, industry continues to expropriate water with complete disregard for local citizens, and many die for lack of clean water. This book will open your eyes to a future we must avoid, beginning now.

By Maude Barlow (House of Anansi Press Inc., 2013). The final book in Maude Barlow's trilogy on the global water crisis, in which she uses four powerful principles to argue for a solution to create a water-secure world.

By Marc Reisner (Penguin USA, 1986). Basis for a critically-acclaimed PBS television series. Named by Modern Library in 2003 as one of the 100 best non-fiction books in the 20th Century.

By Charles Wilkinson (Island Press, 1992). The book has been described as a "lyrical conservation classic", and its author, a Colorado law professor, as "the poet of western water laws".

by Chris Wood, Ralph Pentland (Greystone Books, 2013). In water-rich Canada we assume we have an unlimited supply of tap water safe for consumption, but that is not necessarily the case. Wood and Pentland expose a detailed history of water mismanagement and lack of government action to safeguard our precious resource. Includes an idea for a charter that will hold government accountable for protecting water.

By Walter H. Adey, Karen Loveland (Academic Press, 1998). "This unique, respected book brings together the diverse modeling efforts of two decades of research in the Smithsonian Marine Systems Laboratory, integrating the fields of ecology and aquarium science to give readers a better understanding of simulated ecosystem function and ecological food webs."

By Brian Fagan (Bloomsbury Press, 2011). Attitudes toward water come full circle: ancient civilizations were dependent on its source for growth and considered it sacred, until we began to take it for granted in a time of perceived plenty; now, perhaps we need to adopt our ancestors' appreciation in an era of approaching scarcity as population demands overwhelm fresh water supplies.

By E.C Pielou (University of Chicago Press, 1998). A scientist and naturalist talks about the everyday workings of water.

By B.C. Wolverton, John D. Wolverton (Wolverton Environmental Services, 2001). Despite the devastating and demanding effects of increasing population and industrialization on the world's finite water supply, Nature has amazing abilities to cleanse itself. As well, there is a developing partnership between nature's cleansing powers and man's ingenuity to create environmentally friendly, cost effective and less energy intensive water treatments. Case histories, from NASA laboratory studies to operational municipal and industrial wastewater treatment systems, "provide compelling evidence that engineered farming of wastewater can ensure the safety of our water supply for us and future generations".

Marine scientists conclude that the ocean is absorbing warming and CO2 at a much faster rate than expected; decreased oxygen levels, overfishing and pollution have severely compromised its ability to act as the Earth's "buffer".

By Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins and L. Hunter Lovins (Rocky Mountain Institute, 1999). Providing water for the world needn't be a matter of governments pouring endless cash into depleting the resource and downgrading the environment - "making the same mistakes with water that they did with energy". Nor do we have to "turn lawns into cactus farms". This book is full of documented success stories and ideas for making better use of less water: farmers watering as-needed with drip irrigation, alternatives to "foolish" toilets, growing fish to enrich agricultural water, smaller-scale water treatment and The Living Machine.

By Sandra Postel (W.W. Norton, 1999). Look for other books by Postel, a member of the Global Water Policy Project, and author of papers published by the Worldwatch Institute.

By Jan Reid, editor (University of Texas Press, 2004). The life and troubled times of the fabled river, which in 2001 didn't reach its destination, the Gulf of Mexico, "because of drought, irrigation demands and invasive plant species".

By Sandra Postel and Brian Richter (Island Press, 2003). Why restoring and preserving natural river flows are essential to sustain freshwater biodiversity and healthy river systems. Promotes the adoption of innovative policies and a scientific approach, offering management methods to revive riparian resources.

By Wendy J. Pabich (Sasquatch Books, 2012). The author documents her challenge to reduce her personal water footprint, delivering humourous anecdotes along the way as she succeds through trial and error.

By Clive Finlayson (Oxford University Press, 2014). Biologist and palaeontologist puts forth an evolution theory based on the idea that homo sapiens' spread around the world was driven by climate change and access to fresh water.

By Elizabeth C. Economy (Cornell University Press, 2004). Deforestation has turned a quarter of the country into desert... dams are changing rivers and communities... new mines pour toxic waste into rivers: China arguably opts for short-term growth at the expense of the environment.

By Sim Van Der Ryn and Wendell Berry (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2000). A favorite of the back-to-the-land movement, this book provides "an informative and irreverent look at how people have dealt with human wastes over the centuries". Practical advice on designs to reduce water consumption and avoid expensive treatment systems, as well as homeowner plans for dry toilets, compost privies, and greywater systems. Looks at the history and philosophy of turning organic wastes into a rich humus.

by Peter Gleick (Island Press, 2000) An attempt to explore, understand and solve some of the most critical water issues of the day, including the looming water crisis, global warming, water-related international conflicts and privatization of water. Advocates re-thinking how we use water. Author of earlier Water in Crisis: A Guide to the World's Fresh Water Resources (Oxford University Press, 1993) and biennial World's Water reports.

By John Clague and Bob Turner (Tricouni Press, Gordon Soules, 2003). Although based on southwestern British Columbia, this clear, well-illustrated and non-technical book offers useful information for everyone on floods, rivers, aquifers and water flow.

By Robert Jerome Glennon (Island Press, 2002). Law professor points out how groundwater being pumped from aquifers generates profits but is drying up lakes, rivers, and wetlands, especially in southern and northeastern States.

By Vandana Shiva (Southend Press, 2002). Prominent international environmental activist, Dr. Shiva is Director of the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology (see ActionLinks). Focusing on India, but with global relevance, she argues against water privatizaton and river diversions, and proposes means to battle water scarcity, including efficient water harvesting and water-prudent farming."

By Stanley Greenberg, introduction by Matthew Gandy (Princeton Architectural Press, 2003). Photographic tour of machinery, architecture, and natural features of New York City's water system, which delivers 1.3 billion gallons of water a day to 9 million people through a vast network of reservoirs, tunnels, aqueducts, and controlled lakes.

Bernadette McDonald & Douglas Jehl, editors (National Geographic, 2003). An articulate wake-up call: well-known authors and scientists offer their own takes on how to avert disaster in meeting the challenge of diminishing water resources. Included: water ownership, water and the world's food, river use conflicts, desalting the sea.