The Central Arizona Project canal is one of the state's most important assets, serving a region where four out of five Arizonans live and providing irrigation water for cities, farms, and tribes. Photo © J. Carl Ganter / Circle of Blue
Global water narrative has American roots

How did water become considered a resource? What values guide its management?

Circle of Blue reporter Brett Walton spoke with Dr. Jeremy Schmidt, lecturer in geography at the University of Durham, about his new book, Water: Abundance, Scarcity, and Security in the Age of Humanity. Schmidt argues that the dominant global water narrative — of abundance leading to scarcity and now concerns about security — developed from early 20th century American ideas.


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Brett writes about agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and the politics and economics of water in the United States. He also writes the Federal Water Tap, Circle of Blue’s weekly digest of U.S. government water news. He is the winner of two Society of Environmental Journalists reporting awards, one of the top honors in American environmental journalism: first place for explanatory reporting for a series on septic system pollution in the United States(2016) and third place for beat reporting in a small market (2014). He received the Sierra Club's Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Brett lives in Seattle, where he hikes the mountains and bakes pies. Contact Brett Walton