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In March of 1999, London's Financial Times published an editorial by ITT Industries. In the editorial, we wrote that "One-fifth of the world's population has no access to safe drinking water and half of all people have poor water sanitation." We concluded, "It is time for the world's political, scientific and business leaders not only to take notice of this pending catastrophe, but to stand up and take action." This book is part of ITT Industries' efforts to do just that. Within its pages you will hear from a wide range of environmental journalists, scientists, water experts and economists. Each sees the water issue from a different perspective. They offer different opinions. In this book, we do not endorse any particular opinion, nor try to find a consensus among them. But in one significant way, the voices do ring in unison. Each voice, in its own way, is saying that the earth's water resources can no longer be taken for granted. Water is an issue that cannot be ignored, if we want the world to sail safely through the century ahead. This book will soon appear on the worldwide web, where it will grow with additional writings from water experts, politicians, journalists and others around the world. We think the global perspective is critical. As this book demonstrates, water is not just a local or regional problem. It is global, and calls for solutions on a global scale. |