America's Water Crisis Discussed at Utah State University

Robert Glennon will explain America’s water woes and offer a new approach to water conservation during his lecture “Unquenchable: America’s Water Crisis and What To Do About It,” Friday, Sept. 17, at 1:30 p.m. in the Utah State University Taggart Student Center auditorium. 

 

His lecture explores water problems across America. From Las Vegas casinos to agricultural crop production, Glennon reveals signs that our nation’s water supply is in danger of drying up.

Glennon is the author of Water Follies: Groundwater Pumping and the Fate of America’s Fresh Waters, published by Island Press in 2002. His new book, on which his lecture is based, Unquenchable: America’s Water Crisis and What To Do About It, was published in April 2009. Since then, he has been a guest on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Diane Rehm Show, C-SPAN2′s “Book TV” and National Public Radio shows in New York City, Chicago and Phoenix. Glennon is also an occasional blogger for the Huffington Post and has published articles in the Washington Post and Arizona Republic.

          

He is a Morris K. Udall professor of law and public policy at the University of Arizona, water policy advisor to Pima County, Arizona, and water code consultant for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

 

Janet Anderson, associate dean for the College of Agriculture, previously attended one of Glennon’s lectures and is excited to announce his visit to USU. 

           

“As a water attorney, Robert Glennon is well-versed about water issues and water ownership in the West,” Anderson said. “He provocatively portrays the ongoing problem and grasps the audience’s attention from start to finish.”

 

In his lecture, Glennon will dispel the common myths about the water crisis and use what he calls surreal and real solutions to give real-life examples of how America is trying to solve the problem. 

 

“Los Angeles gets barely three inches of rain a year more than Tucson,” he said. “Yet millions of southern Californians have lush, water-intensive landscapes. Surely the state can do better than that.”

 

He offers a variety of solutions to those who attend his lecture, ranging from encouraging conservation through the use of price signals to re-examining the role of toilets in our society. 

 

“Approximately one-third of indoor domestic water use is to flush toilets,” he said. “That’s six billion gallons per day, or two trillion gallons per year. Toilets waste water, energy and money, harm the environment and threaten human health.”

 

According to Chuck Gay, associate vice president for Cooperative Extension, Unquenchable: America’s Water Problem and What To Do About It, applies to all members of the community.

 

“Water quality and quantity impact the lives of everyone on earth,” Gay said. “Everyone’s quality of life is connected to this topic.”

 

Gay said Glennon’s expertise and experience in water law will help the audience realize the water issue in the Southwest. 

           

“It is anticipated that water will be the limiting resource in the near future for population growth, food production and industrial development,” Gay said. “Glennon understands this and speaks to these issues.”

 

Glennon’s lecture will be followed by a question-and-answer session and is open to the entire USU community free of charge. The lecture is funded by USU’s College of Agriculture, Utah Agricultural Experiment Station, Cooperative Extension and Sustainability Council.  

 

More about Robert Glennon is available at his website.