Modern Groundwater Exploration: Discovering New Water Resources in Consolidated Rocks Using Innovative Hydrogeologic Concepts, Exploration, Drilling, Aquifer Testing, and Management Methods. R. A. Bisson and J. H. Lehr, eds. 2004. John Wiley and Sons, New York. 309 pp. $74.95 cloth.

Worldwide, a myriad of reasons prevent adequate water supplies: lack of exploration or employment of modern techniques, bureaucratic and political dysfunctions, poverty, and war. Over one billion people currently lack access to clean water. What will happen as the population increases by adding two billion people over the next forty years (based on current projections)? Locating sustainable reserves of potable groundwater is essential to the survival of all life on earth. Although many books are available that discuss the plight and consequences of water shortages, it's refreshing to find a technically optimistic book that describes success stories for greatly increasing water supplies.