We need to track the world's water like we track the weather

Michael Lewis has a talent for telling stories about complex systems through the people who define them. This essential 2018 book focuses on the US Department of Energy, the US Department of Agriculture and NOAA. Lewis brings this story to life by asking what is at stake today, when the people given control over government have no idea or interest in how it works. The sections on NOAA and weather forecasting are particularly timely.

It’s estimated that we use more than 70 percent of our water to grow food, yet irrigation is not the first thing most people think about when they think about water. Changing that perception is a critical step towards understanding our water past and securing our water future. In this outstanding 1999 book, Sandra Postel ties together this sweeping narrative to show why we need to double our water productivity to continue feeding the world — and her message only grows in importance every day.

Although weather forecasting made major advancements in the 1950s, the idea of warning the public to seek shelter from a tornado was still controversial in 1957. It was feared that any mistakes would discredit meteorology as a science and make it impossible to restore public trust. Mike Smith’s story of how that fear was overcome reveals that the cultural resources and institutional practices we need to tackle greater water uncertainty already exist.

This incredible article details how Rob Bilott, a corporate defense attorney, brought PFOA (a PFAS compound) to national attention through a landmark case against DuPont. Without Bilott, it’s hard to say if or when the public would have been made aware of this public health threat or the extensive efforts to conceal it.

Sharon Lerner’s ongoing work on PFAS and public health is outstanding, brave and essential reading. From DuPont, 3M and the US Military, to the emerging practice of importing these pollutants for disposal into the US (where they aren’t regulated), she takes an unflinching look at the depth of a problem that will not go away until we demand greater accountability.

A deceptively simple but enduring essay by Donella Meadows on how systems work and how to identify those places where a small change can make a big difference. It covers a range of topics, from the environment, public policy and markets to legal systems and monetary systems. Although it’s commonly cited by technologists for its insights on how data and information flows are powerful leverage points, it also does an incredible job showing how transcending paradigms by reexamining our goals and belief systems provides far more leverage.

Elinor Ostrom spent her entire career as an economist empirically disproving every assumption in Garret Hardin’s widely read 1968 essay, "The Tragedy of the Commons," and it won her the Nobel Prize in 2009. Many people today believe that increased demand for water is only going to lead humanity to ruin the 21st century, which is why her work has never been more important. Centralized government regulation and free markets are not the only options we have, and her close examination of successful resource management efforts provides a powerful methodology for how to build the diverse institutions that will secure our water future.