In this latest RMB Manifesto, Canadian freshwater expert Robert Sandford takes readers to China and shares what it is like to deal with some of the most intractable freshwater problems in the world.

It all started out innocently enough: an airliner over the Pacific and a flight attendant passing out bottles of water. What those bottles represented, however, was the depth of China’s notorious bottled-water trade and the short-sightedness of the Government of Canada in declaring Canadian water an agricultural product that can be exported in billions of plastic bottles to China.

Part environmental manifesto, part travelogue and part diplomatic odyssey, Quenching the Dragon arms readers with vital new perspectives on global hydrology and sustainability in the context of how former and current world leaders frame the most pressing environmental issues of our time. Most tellingly this book points out the remarkable similarities between China and Canada with respect to human rights as they relate to the protection and management of our ever more precious water resources.

In spite of the dark undertones, this is also a work infused with hope, offering specific remedies that, if applied, will ensure that Canada doesn’t arrive at the water crisis that China and many other places in the world now face.

Robert William Sandford is the EPCOR Chair of the Canadian Partnership Initiative in support of the United Nations "Water for Life" Decade and also sits on the Advisory Committee for the prestigious Rosenberg International Forum on Water Policy. He is a director of the Western Watersheds Climate Research Collaborative, an associate of the Centre for Hydrology at the University of Saskatchewan and a fellow of the Biogeoscience Institute at the University of Calgary. As well, he sits on the advisory board of Living Lakes Canada and is co-chair of the Forum for Leadership on Water and a member of the Advisory Panel for the RBC Blue Water Project. In 2011 he was invited to be an advisor on water issues by the InterAction Council, a global public policy think tank composed of more than 20 former national leaders, including Jean Chrétien, Bill Clinton and Vicente Fox.

Robert is the author of some 20 books on the history, heritage and landscape of the Canadian Rockies, including Water, Weather and the Mountain West (RMB, 2007), The Weekender Effect: Hyperdevelopment in Mountain Towns (RMB, 2008), Restoring the Flow: Confronting the World's Water Woes (RMB, 2009), Ethical Water: Learning to Value What Matters Most (RMB, 2011), Cold Matters: The State and Fate of Canada’s Fresh Water (RMB, 2012), Saving Lake Winnipeg (RMB, 2013), Flood Forecast: Climate Risk and Resiliency in Canada (RMB, 2014), and Storm Warning: Water and Climate Security in a Changing World (RMB, 2015). He is also the co-author of The Columbia River Treaty: A Primer (RMB, 2015) and The Climate Nexus: Water, Food, Energy and Biodiversity (RMB, 2015). Robert lives in Canmore, Alberta.

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"Quenching the Dragon showcases Sandford’s ability to synthesize complex topics and compel others to action. This book is a welcome addition to the dialogue on global water sustainability and Canada’s role in a changing water world."

Ormsby Review

Quenching the Dragon showcases Sandford’s ability to synthesize complex topics and compel others to action. This book is a welcome addition to the dialogue on global water sustainability and Canada’s role in a changing water world.

BC Booklook