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The dramatic story of the Bushmen of the Kalahari is a cautionary tale about water in the twenty-first centuryand offers unexpected solutions for our time."We don't govern water. Water governs us," writes James G. Workman. I nHeart of Dryness, he chronicles the memorable saga of the famed Bushmen of the Kalahariremnants of one of the world's most successful civilizations, today at the exact epicenter of Africa's droughtin their widely publicized recent battle with the government of Botswana, in the process of exploring the larger story of what many feel has become the primary resource battleground of the twenty-first century: the supply of water.The Bushmen's story could well prefigure our own. In the United States, even the most upbeat optimists concede we now face an unprecedented water crisis. Reservoirs behind large dams on the Colorado River, which serve thirty million in many states, will be dry in thirteen years. Southeastern drought recently cut Tennessee Valley Authority hydropower in half, exposed Lake Okeechobee's floor, dried up thousands of acres of Georgia's crops, and left Atlanta with sixty days of water. Cities east and west are drying up. As reservoirs and aquifers fail, officials ration water, neighbors snitch on one another, corporations move in, and states fight states to control shared rivers.Each year, around the world, inadequate water kills more humans than AIDS, malaria, and all wars combined. Global leaders pray for rain. Bushmen tap more pragmatic solutions. James G . Workman illuminates the present and coming tensions we will all face over water and shows how, from the remoteness of the Kalahari, an ancient and resilient people is showing the world a viable path through the encroaching Dry Age.

James G. Workman began his career as a journalist in Washington, D.C., for the New Republic, Washington Monthly, Utne Reader, Orion, and other publications. H e was a speechwriter in the Clinton administration, working closely with Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, and steering the “dambuster” campaign to tear down river-killing dams. He helped edit and launch the report of the World Commission on Dams, and spent two years filing monthly dispatches on water scarcity in Africa, work which formed the basis of a National Public Radio show and documentary. He is now a water consultant to politicians, businesses, aid agencies, development institutions, and conservation organizations on four continents. He lives with his wife and children in San Francisco.

Introduction: To the Heart of the Matter	p. 1
Collision
Kalahari Rivals	p. 15
Crossing the Threshold	p. 24
Intransigent Eve	p. 32
The Desiccation of Eden	p. 39
Besieged and Besieger	p. 46
Adaptation
The Rule of Water	p. 55
Dispersal	p. 64
Forage or Farm?	p. 68
Quest for Meat	p. 76
Survival of the Driest	p. 90
Competition
Water for Elephants Only	p. 103
The Paradox of Bling	p. 111
Constriction
Oriented Against the Sun	p. 125
Cradling Every Drop	p. 133
The Reckoning	p. 139
Negotiation
Haggling over the Source of All Life	p. 145
Human Rights, Water Wrongs	p. 157
Confrontation
Primal Instincts and the Realpolitik of Water	p. 171
Intimations of Genocide	p. 179
Escalation of Terrorist Activity	p. 186
Elimination
An Open Heart	p. 201
Release	p. 217
Resolution
The Verdict	p. 225
The End of the Beginning	p. 234
Epilogue: What Would Bushmen Do?	p. 239
Notes	p. 249
Bibliography	p. 287
Acknowledgments	p. 303
Index	p. 309
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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Heart of Dryness How the Last Bushmen Can Help Us Endure the Coming Age of Permanent Drought

0802715583

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