This text brings together all aspects of water use to look at water policy formation from technical, economic and political points of view. The author argues that separate perspectives must be considered simultaneously if policies are to be developed to protect the resource for future generations.

Were water considered an industry, it would be one of the largest in the United States, surely the most capital-intensive, and the most closely regulated by Congress. Yet as Peter Rogers argues in this scientifically-grounded assessment, it would also be one of the least coherent areas of public policy. Rogers brings together all aspects of water use to look at policy formation from technical, economic and political points of view. He shows why these separate perspectives must be considered simultaneously if intelligent policies are to be developed to protect this indispensible resource for present and future generations.