Navigating the New Normal: Policy Solutions for a Post Coronavirus Future
Winning the Water Wars by Steven Greenhut
Longtime journalist and R Street Institute western region director Steven Greenhut writes in his new book Winning the Water Wars that California can end its decades-long battles over water and meet the needs of its current and future population by promoting abundance rather than managing scarcity.
Greenhut writes, “the goal of this book is to highlight the core problem: a state water policy that is more focused on boosting fish populations and which uses water availability as a means to limit growth and force changes in the way we live.”
Noting that state water policy is intertwined with the history of California, Greenhut provides readers with a rich history, geography and background information to guide readers through how we arrived at our current predicament— accompanied by dozens of beautiful photos of California’s rivers, lakes, streams, and water infrastructure installations, many taken by the author himself.
He then explores many of the different ideas for creating more water supply, including increasing surface storage capacity, building desalination plants, and expanding wastewater recycling. Finally, he outlines policy reform ideas to responsibly shape California’s water future, including free-market ideas to improve water supply such as a more accurate water-pricing system that would facilitate water transfers and trading. The book also features a foreword written by Steve Forbes.
