Bates, Sarah F., et al. 1993. Searching Out the Headwaters: Change and Rediscovery in Western Water Policy. Covelo, CA: Island Press. A thorough analysis of western water use and the outmoded rules that govern it.

Der Spiegel. (May/June) 1993. "The Drying Game," Utne Reader 57:74. Describes how, as water becomes scarcer, global tensions could reach the boiling point.

Dziegielewske, B., and D. D. Baumann. (November) 1992. "Tapping Alternatives: The Benefits of Managing Urban Water Demands," Environment 34, no. 9:6. By 2010, southern California may have enough water to fulfill only 70 percent of its needs. The authors discuss demand-management as a solution to water scarcity.

Homer-Dixon, T. F., et al. (February) 1993. "Environmental Change and Violent Conflict," Scientific American 268, no. 2:38. Examines the potential for armed conflict over diminishing environmental resources, especially fresh water.

Hulme, M., and M. Kelly. (July/August) 1993. "Exploring the Links between Desertification and Climate Change," Environment 35, no. 6:4. Describes desert spreading and climatic cycles as well as the effects of long-range drought on people's lives.

Leopold, L. B. 1990. "Ethos, Equity and Water Resource," Environment 32, 2:16. A useful review of water resources and management by a distinguished hydrologist.

Lewis, J. 1991. "The Ogallala Aquifer, an Underground Sea," EPA Journal 16, 6:42. A good description of the history of and possible solutions to overuse of this imperiled resource.

Mincher, P. (November/December) 1993. "The Philippine Energy Crisis," The Ecologist 23, no. 6:228. Hydroelectric dams in badly deforested watersheds are silting up and causing an energy crisis. Local groups are calling for small-scale renewable-energy projects and energy conservation, but the government is pressing ahead with more mammoth projects.

Parfit, M. (November) 1993. "Sharing the wealth of water," National Geographic 184, no. 5A:20. The lead article in a special issue on water. Beautiful pictures.

Pearce, F. 1991. "Building a Disaster: The Monumental Folly of India's Tehri Dam," Ecologist 21, 3:123. If completed, the Tehri dam will be the largest in Asia. Its location in an earthquake-prone valley could be an ecological and social disaster.

Quammen, D. (March) 1990. "A Long River with a Long History," Audubon, 68. A grand description of the Rio Grande and how it shapes the ecology and culture of the southwest.

Reisner, M., and S. F. Bates. 1990. Overtapped Oasis: Reform or Revolution for Western Water. Covelo, CA: Island Press. A stinging rebuke of business as usual in western water use.

Rowell, G. (November/December) 1993. "Flowing Free," Audubon 95, no. 6:68. California's Tuolumne, which John Muir fought to protect, is one of the premier whitewater rivers in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Hydroelectric and irrigation projects have taken most of its water, but the remaining free-flowing sections are now part of the Wild and Scenic River System. Spectacular photographs.

Sears, P. B. 1991. Deserts on the March. Covelo, CA: Island Press. A reissue of the classic 1935 study of human-caused desertification around the world.

Stegner, W. 1954. Beyond the Hundredth Meridian: John Wesley Powell and the Second Opening of the West. Cambridge, MA: The Riverside Press. A classic history by the dean of western writers about the role of water in western settlement and politics.

Tolba, M. K., et al. 1992. The World Environment 1972-1992. London: Chapman & Hall. An excellent summary and analysis of the world situation from the perspective of the United Nations Environment Program.

Tuan, Yi-Fu. 1968. The Hydrologic Cycle and The Wisdom of God: A Theme in Geoteleology. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. A historic and cultural review of attitudes toward nature with special emphasis on the hydrologic cycle.

Wilkinson, C. F. 1993. Crossing the Next Meridian. Covelo, CA: Island Press. A primer on land, water, and the future of the American West.

World Bank. 1992. World Development Report 1992. Oxford: Oxford University Press. A useful compilation of data and policy analysis.

World Resources Institute. 1992. World Resources 1992-93. Oxford: Oxford University Press. An excellent data set on world resources and sustainable development.