For centuries, we have disrupted the natural water cycle in an effort to control water for our own prosperity. Every year, recovery from droughts and floods costs billions of dollars, and we spend billions more on irrigation, dams, sanitation plants, and other feats of engineering.

We have reached a tipping point: massive engineering is not only harming the environment, but unravelling social and political stability. What if the answer was not control of the water cycle, but replenishment?

Sandra Postel takes readers around the world to explore water projects that work with, rather than against, nature’s rhythms.

* Includes reference to Australian case studies and information.