Water in the Modern Era

Abstract

This chapter looks at the use of water in the modern economy, focusing on the period from the 1900s to the present day. Throughout human history, economic progress has been linked with increased water appropriation, control, and use. The global spread of industrialization from the 1900s onward further cemented this association. As a consequence, in today's economies, institutions, incentives, and innovations are geared toward finding and exploiting more freshwater resources. The result is an emerging global water crisis, which is predominantly a crisis of inadequate and poor water management. In the modern era, the global model for economic development has been the United States, and subsequently, many countries emulated the US approach to harnessing its water resources. Thus, how water management evolved in the US and other economies during the modern era has set the stage for today's water paradox.