“If you want to scare yourself silly, read Water Follies …. You’ll learn how America is irrigating itself to death … while sucking its groundwater aquifers dry.” Margaret Atwood, in the Toronto Globe & Mail.
“The wells of the American dream stand a good chance of running dry; and to read Glennon’s necessary book is to know that without water there will be no wine, no roses, nothing over Dorothy’s rainbow except a pillar of salt.” Lewis H. Lapham, former editor of Harper’s Magazine and founder and editor of Lapham’s Quarterly.
“In Unquenchable, the examples of what uses the most water … were shocking.” Jon Stewart, on The Daily Show.
” … a lively account of hydrology ….” Bill McKibben, in the New York Review of Books.
“Robert Glennon has the heart of an environmentalist and the head of an economist. He also has a very good sense of humor – or maybe the absurd – which is on fine display in his survey of the nation’s use and abuse of its vast but imperiled water resources…. Unquenchable is a significant event in the literature of water management.” Tracy Mehan III, in The Environmental Forum.
“Robert Glennon connects the dots between our water woes and climate change, energy, growth, the environment, and agriculture. He makes a compelling case that we need to rethink how we use this prized resource and provides a number of thought-provoking solutions.” then-Senator Mark Udall, Colorado.
“[Water Follies] is a book as rich in detail as it is devastating in its argument.” Douglas Jehl, in Scientific American.
” … an array of informative stories that should contribute to shaking us out of what Glennon calls ‘the unlimited human capacity to ignore reality.'” The Washington Post.
About Robert Glennon
Robert Glennon is one of the nation’s preeminent experts on water policy and law. The recipient of two National Science Foundation grants, Glennon serves as an advisor to governments, corporations, think tanks, law firms, and NGOs looking to solve serious challenges around water sustainability and planning.
Robert Glennon's Recent and Upcoming Talks
2024
September 3, 2024 – Halmar International – Executive Retreat, Brooklyn, New York
2023
October 25, 2023 – Tanner Forum on Social Ethics – Keynote Speech, Salt Lake (Utah) Community College
September 12, 2023 – Capital & Main and Renewable Resources Group (Virtual)
April 20, 2023 – UMass Boston (virtual)
2022
October 24, 2022 – Maricopa (Arizona) Community Colleges (virtual)
October 18, 2022 – Palouse Basin Water Summit, Pullman ,Washington
September 21, 2022- The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
May 19, 2022 – Next Generation Water Summit 2022, Santa Fe, New Mexico
April 12, 2022 – California Water Environment Association, Annual Conference, Sacramento, California
March 31, 2022 – Reilly GLOBES Program Speaker, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana
January 20, 2022 – Ft. Worth Lecture Foundation, Ft. Worth, Texas
2021
October 28, 2021 – International Facility Management Association, Kissimmee, Florida
October 4, 2021 – Chief Executives Organization, Global Leaders Forum, Washington, D.C.
September 27, 2021 – International Association of Plumbing & Mechanical Officials, Annual Education & Business Conference (virtual)
Commentaries
Uncategorized
Kari Lake’s water-policy mirage – Robert Glennon
Arizona Daily Star
April 22, 2024
Kari Lake’s recent op-ed in the Star set forth her platform for the “most urgent issue” facing Arizona and the South-west: water. I agree, which is why it’s so disappointing that she has so little to offer. Let’s unpack her…
April 22, 2024
Kari Lake’s recent op-ed in the Star set forth her platform for the “most urgent issue” facing Arizona and the South-west: water. I agree, which is why it’s so disappointing that she has so little to offer. Let’s unpack her…Uncategorized
Colorado River states bought time with a 3-year water conservation deal – now they need to think bigger – Robert Glennon
The Conversation
May 26, 2023
May 26, 2023
Arizona, California and Nevada have narrowly averted a regional water crisis by agreeing to reduce their use of Colorado River water over the next three years. This deal represents a temporary solution to a long-term crisis. Nonetheless, as a close observer of western water policy, I see it as an important win for the region.
Seven western states – Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California – and Mexico rely on water from the Colorado River for irrigation for 5.5 million acres and drinking water for 40 million people. Their shares are apportioned under a compact negotiated in 1922. We now know, thanks to tree-ring science, that its framers wildly overestimated how much water the river contained on a reliable basis. And climate change is making things worse.
Commentaries
Human actions created the Salton Sea, California’s largest lake – here’s how to save it from collapse, protecting wild birds and human health – Robert Glennon and Brent M. Haddad
The Conversation
January 10, 2023
The Salton Sea spreads across a remote valley in California’s lower Colorado Desert, 40 miles (65 kilometers) from the Mexican border. For birds migrating along the Pacific coast, it’s an avian Grand Central Station. In midwinter tens of thousands of snow…
January 10, 2023
The Salton Sea spreads across a remote valley in California’s lower Colorado Desert, 40 miles (65 kilometers) from the Mexican border. For birds migrating along the Pacific coast, it’s an avian Grand Central Station. In midwinter tens of thousands of snow…Contact
For questions about booking Robert Glennon for a speaking engagement, please see the Speaking page for more information. For other general inquiries, please use the form below. Or send mail to the address listed.
Robert Glennon
Regents Professor Emeritus and
Morris K. Udall Professor of Law & Public Policy Emeritus
James E. Rogers College of Law
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721-0176
[email protected]