Energy and Environment Program

Water, Development, and U.S. Policy

A Silent Tsunami: The Urgent Need for Clean Water and Sanitation notes that ”for lack of clean water and sanitation, as many poor people are dying each month as perished during the Southeast Asian tsunami.” Based on a 2005 dialogue sponsored by the Aspen Institute’s Program on Energy, the Environment, and the Economy and the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions at Duke University, this report provides a series of recommendations on this challenge for governments, businesses, and other organizations. Co-chairs William K. Reilly and Harriett C. Babbitt highlight the urgency of the challenge and the array of public and private initiatives to tackle it.  A letter from the co-chairs to the organizers of the March, 2006, Fourth World Water Forum in Mexico City is also included.

Full Report    (180 K)

Table of contents    (7K)

Foreword   (21K)

Recommendations in Brief    (14K)

"A Silent Tsunami," Report of the Co-chairs    (108K)

Letter to Organizers, Fourth World Water Forum    (25K)

Participants and additional information    (24K)