Background

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Water Consciousness is one of the first books from the AlterNet publishing program. The idea to create Water Consciousness initially evolved from our ongoing drumbeat of environmental news on water and from conversations with many people about the growing global water crisis. We realized that in addition to our coverage of news on this issue, many diverse creative and educational projects would need to be developed if we were going to address the water challenge and its fundamental connection to our survival. We hoped to create a book that would be one bold statement in that direction, hopefully joined by many others.

Almost simultaneously during these discussions on the water crisis came word of a powerful water exhibit that would be opening in the Fall of 2007 at the American Museum of Natural History, called Water: H20=Life. This powerful exhibition moved to the San Diego Natural History Museum as this book was being published and will keep traveling to many cities in the U.S. and abroad over the next ten years. In a short amount of time it has already come to symbolize the increasing seriousness of the effort to develop both awareness and solutions to a growing crisis. So we developed Water Consciousness to complement the fantastic elements of the Water: H20=Life exhibit. Thanks to Eleanor J. Sterling who was one of the masterminds of that exhibit, and a warm supporter and contributor of this book along with Erin Vintinner, and to the people at the San Diego Natural History Museum who are helping to see that the book and its voices find broad audiences.

From these initial conversations came generous support from the Panta Rhea Foundation. Enormous thanks goes to Hans Schoepflin, the foundation’s visionary founder and to Diana Cohn, the foundation’s executive director. We thank Hans and Diana for their wisdom, their unflinching commitment to address the global water crisis, and their organizing energy and strategic smarts. We also acknowledge the Compton Foundation with thanks to Edith Eddy and the Compton Board who worked with us to include the critical role of the arts as a central element to the book’s design. In addition, an anonymous donor also came through with a generous grant that helped the book become a reality.

The project was also a group effort at AlterNet. Our environmental editor Tara Lohan tackled the project with enthusiasm, becoming the book’s editor, recruiting the fabulous lineup of writers, and wrangled the photos, charts, graphs, and everything necessary to make this powerful book. She has done an extraordinary job. Other members of the AlterNet Books team gave stellar performances, especially Elijah Nella and Valrie Sanders who handled production and book printing. The book team also enjoyed key contributions from Liz Mullaney, Shelana deSilva, Heather Gehlert, and Patrick Hughes for fundraising, editing, and marketing. We also couldn’t have done it without many extra sets of eyes from our copy editors Robert Gomez and Suzi Steffen, proofer Debra Gates, and indexer Ken DellaPenta.

A very special thanks goes to Watershed Media—Dan Imhoff, Roberto Carra, and Timothy Rice—for the beautiful design that made the book come alive. We were also helped by a whole bunch of other folks—those at H20Conserve.org and especially Robin Madel who brought the innovative water calculator to print; John Dickerson for the generous use of his photos; and Tim Kingston of International Rivers who provided endless support with photos and information.

Of course there would be no book without the high quality writers and photographers whose work appears, many of whom went beyond the call of duty to help ensure that we produce a book that would make an impact, and one that we would all be proud of. Additional thanks to the American Prospect who loaned us some excellent content from their special issue on water.

Indeed this project has taken a whole community of committed people of various backgrounds and it is no surprise. Our water crisis will challenge all of us to come together—scientists, artists, and activists—to solve one of the world’s most pressing problems. We’ve already begun the collaboration, now let’s keep going.

—Don Hazen, Executive Editor, AlterNet

About the Water Consciousness Project
The Water Consciousness project is made possible by the generous support of the following funders:
Panta Rhea Foundation
Compton Foundation
Anonymous Grant

About AlterNet
AlterNet is an award-winning news magazine and online community that creates original journalism and amplifies the best of hundreds of other independent media sources. AlterNet’s aim is to inspire action and advocacy on the environment, human rights and civil liberties, social justice, media, health care issues, and more. Since its inception in 1998, AlterNet.org has grown dramatically to keep pace with the public demand for independent news. We provide free online content to millions of readers, serving as a reliable filter, keeping our vast audience well-informed and engaged, helping them to navigate a culture of information overload and providing an alternative to the commercial media onslaught. Our aim is to stimulate, inform, and instigate.

About AlterNet Books
AlterNet Books was created to give our readers a deeper and more insightful analysis of the issues that matter.

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