“Chance favors the prepared mind,” Louis Pasteur said, and so it was with this book. I have always had a special fascination with water and have spent a lot of time in, on, and around it. But I didn’t think of writing a book about H2O until the day Julia Child and I shared a bottle of water at lunch. We were collaborating on her memoir, My Life in France, and she explained how the French consider spring water a healthy “digestive” and enjoy its mineral terroir, while Americans consider bottled water a refreshing “beverage” and prefer it without any taste. Later, her niece’s husband, Bob Moran, a hydrogeologist, told us that water supplies are under growing pressure around the world, and that H2O will be the defining resource of this century. Suddenly, water seemed all-important, and without realizing it, I had launched into writing this book.
Water is a vast subject and I had a steep learning curve. I am grateful to the experts who guided me through the four sections of this book: Dr. Robert Hirsch of the USGS, Dr. Robert Moran, Professor Robert Bea of UC Berkeley, and Dr. Peter Gleick of the Pacific Institute. All four were generous with their time and knowledge and were excellent company.
I owe deep gratitude to the many scientists, engineers, activists, and citizens who told me their stories and patiently answered my questions: the Angara family, Sister Francis Gerard Kress, Sebastian Pirozzi, Basil Seggos, Tim Gray, Dave Gibbs, Judy Treml, James Pynn, Dr. Ettore Zuccato, Dr. Vicki Blazer, Carole Morison, Jeff Kelble, Earl Greene, Mike Markus and Gina DePinto, Ted Dowey, Dr. Richard Seager, Mike Prather, Pat Mulroy, Dean Baker, Lester Snow, Frank Gehrke, Ambassador Jan Eliasson, Dr. Malcolm Bowman, Dr. Douglas Hill, Jimmy Delery, Jeff Hart, T. Boone Pickens, Jim Wilfong, Kim Jeffery, Alice Waters, Drew Nieporent, Clark Wolf, Tim LaPorte, John Shively, Carol Ann Woody, Bobby Andrew, Bob Waldrop, Bella Hammond, Herb Guenther, Walt Winrow, Peter MacLaggan, and Tom Cooper.
At Scribner, Nan Graham and Paul Whitlatch were incisive editors who showed great forbearance and made large and small suggestions that greatly enhanced this work. Tina Bennett was invaluable: a sharp literary agent with great editorial instincts, who helped me craft the book proposal, acted as a sounding board, and encouraged me to keep paddling when the river seemed long. My thanks also to Bill Patrick, who helped trim and focus a manuscript that had grown overburdened.
I greatly appreciate the advice of Matthew Snyder at CAA, and am indebted to my friends Carol Baum and David Helpern. I thank Diane Weyermann, Jonathan King, and Ricky Strauss at Participant Media, and Jessica Yu and Elise Pearlstine for their support.
I want to thank the editors on the New York Times editorial page, who ran two pieces I wrote—“There Will Be Floods” (about levees) and “An Oil Spill Grows in Brooklyn” (Newtown Creek). These editorials helped focus my reporting and led to useful feedback from readers.
I interviewed over fifty people for this book, and am grateful to those who were generous with their time but ultimately did not appear in these pages, or did so only fleetingly. I learned much from Brad Udall, Emily Lloyd, Susan Leal, Marilyn Gelber, Meisha Hunter, Chick Donoghue, Dr. Harry Browne, Terry Spragg, Geoffrey Y. Parker, Rick Halford, John Branson, Bruno Bowles, Amy Kenyon, Ken Jaffe, Neal Drawas, Jim Stevens, Bruce Nevins, David Daniel, Ahad Afridi, Walter Robb, Peter Thum, Jonathan Greenblatt, Kimball Chen, Arthur von Weisenberger, Professor Anders Nilsson, Professor Richard J. Saykally, and Judy Maben at the Water Education Foundation.
For moral support, housing, meals, and stimulating conversation, I thank Hector and Erica Prud’homme, Emily Prud’homme, Michael Pollan, Bill McKibben, John Seabrook, Corby Kummer, Henry Labalme, Phila Cousins, Heidi Nitze, Jill and John Walsh, Dana Burke, Dan Fitzgerald, Brian Thomas, Elise Pettus, David Schwab, Curtis Cravens, Bill Shebar, Bill Robens, Tim O’Brien, Luis Jaramillo, Diego Miralles, Mark Friedman, and Caroline and Alexandra Paul.
Writing this book took me across the country and sank me deep into my computer. I was away from my family for extended periods, and I know my absence was difficult for them. I would not have been able to write this book without the support, good humor, and excellent questions of my wife, Sarah, and my children, Hector and Sophia. Thank you.