The Golden Age of Water is Over

Rotary and Water Cleanliness and Stewardship by

Charles Fishman

I was in Charleston, South Carolina, to talk about water, and a university faculty member there explained how dramatically life has changed in the past few years in that beautiful waterfront city.  As recently as the early 2000s, she said, Charleston had experienced a few flooding events a year — eight or 10. Not even one a month.  But in the past few years, Charleston has annually had 40 to 50 intrusive flood events. The flooding is so common and so disruptive, the woman explained, that she and her husband had to plan their lives around it. You don’t have to imagine the future of water: It’s here. It’s happening right now, all around us.

That’s the most obvious lesson from the flooding in Charleston, a single problem in a single U.S. city: The flooding is not devastating, but it is sudden, it’s new, it’s relentless, it’s hugely disruptive, and it’s not going away. When it comes to water, we aren’t ready for what’s happening to us right now. So we certainly aren’t ready for the future.

The most important principle for adapting to the new world of water is this: Water does not respond to wishful thinking. Water problems don’t get better on their own. Just the opposite: The longer you wait to tackle a water problem of any kind, from a leak in the ceiling of your living room to a sea-level rise in your city, the harder, and the more expensive, that problem is to solve.

The golden age is over. Water isn’t going to be invisible anymore. The future of water is now.  What is your club doing to address the water quality in your community?  Can it be a club project?

(Note these are excerpts from his much longer article.)

Charles Fishman is a frequent contributor to Rotary. His most recent book is One Giant Leap: The Impossible Mission That Flew Us to the Moon. He is also the author of the bestselling The Big Thirst: The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water.

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Qualification Quotes!!!

"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination."
Andrew Lang

"He had delusions of adequacy."
Walter Kerr

"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire."
Winston Churchill

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The Rev. William P. "Bill" McLemore, Editor

Assistant Club Secretary

Please address corrections or additions to:

wmclemore37@gmail.com

706-957-2447

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