Water in Plain Sight: Hope for a Thirsty World Paperback – Import, 1 August 2019

A must read to truly understand the negative effects of conventional methods have had on our weather, soil, watr, air to all life on Earth.

Judith's work in her new book, Water In Plain Sight - Hope For A Thirsty Planet, and her previous book, Cows Save The Planet, bring us a huge message of hope as we are faced with climate change, drought, floods, wildfire, food insecurity and poor nutrition.Judith talks about how we are used to thinking about drought as a lack of rainfall, but we ignore the effects of land and soil degradation on the soil’s ability to hold onto rainfall. When we talk about climate change we focus on greenhouse gasses such as carbon dioxide and methane, but water has the bigger ability to absorb heat. When we start to investigate the water cycle, we quickly become aware of how inextricably linked this is with the carbon cycle.Our standard agricultural practices, involving tilling the land, planting single species in huge fields and adding artificial chemical fertilizers, release the carbon from the soil, leaving it to hang out in our atmosphere, adding to the problems of climate change. In destroying the soil's structure, they destroy the amazing ecosystem that works to support plants, to hold carbon in the soil and to create healthy, nutrient dense food crops.In the book, Judith visits with people all over the world and tells us how each of them are changing the way they interact with the land to increase the carbon content of the soil. In doing so, they increase the water holding capacity of the soil, they grow plants that are more robust and nourishing, and those plants in turn create a cooler environment that is not only more comfortable to live in, they deter wildfire, attract more rain, creating this virtuous cycle that gives us refreshing hope in this war against climate change.

This is an insightfully written book about rediscovering where water is found on our planet. Yet again, we need to learn how to look, learn and understand far more about the interrelationship between soil, groundwater, plants, and animals and how they each affect on the other.It also draws out the close relationship between grassland/forests and climate.Water and climate are intimately linked. This book is another 'must read' if we are to more fully understand how to appreciate what is happening across the ecosystems on Earth....and how we can, surprisingly quickly, make changes for good.

When I first decided to get the book, the reviews and briefs had focused my attention on Water availability and shortages. Only after getting into the book did I realize how crucial is the information it provides in TWO OTHER critical areas: Climate change; and Agricultural Sustainability - for the “Developing World” AND the “Developed” world.The material in this book is VERY important, as the material recently in “the general press” about problems in those three (3) areas seems totally unaware of and MIS-directed in it's ‘technical approach’ to some of the most important background …in all three areas, and especially the interrelationships between factors in each area !!Ms. Schwartz makes a very interesting – and challenging – statement, to the effect that our world has never contained more, or less, water than it does at present. The “problems” we are having are because of LACK OF understanding, or major misunderstanding, about water's relationship with our soils …and especially how our recent “industrial agricultural” approaches jeopardize both our water supplies and our food sustainability, as well as our climate.I truly believe that the problems in these areas WILL NOT be solved unless many more people become informed, and understand the material this book provides.And yet it’s not some long, burdensome tome ...only 224 pages, and readily understandable. I highly recommend this book to anyone concerned about any or all of those three (3) issues above.

Water is essential to life and human communities, yet our species exercises little wisdom in managing this critical resource. Judith Schwartz describes the many ways in which water flows through our planet and the many ways people all over the world are learning and practicing better water management practices, from slowing the flow of water, to reintroducing beavers, capturing rainwater, dew, and condensation, or enriching soil biology and introducing regenerative grazing to improve water retention.This book puts climate change in a larger perspective in which fossil fuel emissions are only a piece. Human activity, incomplete understanding of complex systems, and lack of management of natural resources have created a serious unbalance in water cycle and soil biology. This means that a better understanding of the role of biology in regulating carbon and water cycles and a broader implementation of practices that "work with nature" to restore natural balance can make a huge different in our future. The empowering insight of this book is that many of these practices can be implemented locally and don't solely rely on the action of government and powerful economic forces.