![Zócalo Public Square (Audio) show](https://d3dthqtvwic6y7.cloudfront.net/podcast-covers/000/052/402/small/zocalo-public-square-audio.jpg)
Summary: Oil may make more headlines, but water is the world’s most indispensable resource, and a dwindling one. Water’s scarcity spawns war, epidemic diseases and the collapse of states across parts of Africa and Asia; its faltering supplies imperil the rise of China and India. What should we do about water? Journalist Steven Solomon, author of Water: The Epic Struggle for Wealth, Power, and Civilization, visits Zócalo to trace the history of water from ancient times to our dawning age of scarcity.