NCSE Releases Report on Water for a Sustainable and Secure Future

Water is at the root of many of society's most pressing concerns - from human health to food production to economic prosperity to environmental protection. In some cases, we lack fundamental scientific information upon which to make informed water policy decisions. In other cases, water policies are inconsistent with basic tenets of water science. A new report from the National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) provides recommendations for closing the gap between water science and water policy.

Water for a Sustainable and Secure Future: A Report of the 4th National Conference on Science Policy and the Environment explores science-based strategies for achieving water sustainability. NCSE's unique conference attracted more than 800 scientists, policymakers, business executives and civil society representatives from 46 states and 14 countries. The participants worked together to craft recommendations about the role of science in achieving sustainable relationships among water, people and the environment.

In his opening keynote address, William K. Reilly, former Administrator of the U.S. EPA, stressed the need to modify U.S. water policies that have become remnants of a bygone era. He emphasized the need to engage scientists in making environmental policies and setting environmental priorities. Reilly urged scientists to avoid becoming "truants from the policy process."

Bruce Babbitt, former Secretary of the Interior, noted that there is no absolute shortage of water in most areas of the United States, but water is often delivered vastly below cost and used inefficiently. Klaus Toepfer, Under Secretary General of the United Nations, recommended progressive pricing - charging more per unit the more water is used - to ensure that people can afford enough water to live healthfully and still provide incentives for efficient use.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jared Diamond offered a cautionary example of the results of poor environmental management practices as he delivered the John H. Chafee Memorial Lecture on Science and Environment, Lessons from Environmental Collapses of Past Societies. Drawing upon his natural science research to understand why some environments are more fragile than others, Diamond explained how inadvertent environmental degradation led to the demise of the isolated civilization on Easter Island in the South Pacific.

The complete text of the conference report, Water for a Sustainable and Secure Future, is available at the NCSE conference website at www.NCSEonline.org/ncseconference. A second report containing Jared Diamond's lecture, Lessons from Environmental Collapses of Past Societies, is also available online at www.NCSEonline.org.