Peter Gleick’s book, When the Well Is Dry, changed the way I think about water and conflict. I have often taken comfort in the idea that water is so important that it gives people a reason to cooperate. Peter’s account of the history is a rather bracing reminder of how often we have managed the opposite.
Peter is a climate and water scientist and a co-founder of the Pacific Institute. He has spent decades studying where water-related violence occurs, why it occurs, and how to prevent it. In this live conversation, we work through water as a trigger, a weapon, and a casualty of conflict, from ancient Mesopotamia to the Colorado River, the Indus, and the vulnerability of modern water systems.
We also get into a distinction that matters: two rising curves do not prove that climate change caused a rise in conflict. Peter is careful about the evidence, and equally clear about the work ahead. For the entrepreneurs among us, his closing challenge is worth sitting with. Better technology matters, but so do institutions, financing, maintenance, and a clear idea of what we are trying to accomplish.
Please enjoy my conversation with Peter Gleick.
Peter Gleick is a co-founder, President Emeritus and Senior Fellow of the Pacific Institute. A climate and water scientist by training, he joins Tom Ferguson to explore the history of water and conflict and the choices that can move us toward cooperation and peace.
Recorded live on October 15, 2026.
In this conversation
Understanding water conflict: how Peter’s scientific training and interest in history inform his work on preventing violence over water.
Trigger, weapon and casualty: three ways water intersects with conflict, illustrated by ancient Mesopotamia and Leonardo da Vinci’s plans for the Arno River.
Lessons from the Colorado: why infrastructure alone cannot resolve a river’s overallocated water rights and competing political demands.
Climate and conflict: what rising drought, flood and conflict trends tell us, and why two rising curves do not establish causation.
Protecting civilian water: attacks on water infrastructure, the protections in international law and the difficulty of enforcing them.
Sharing rivers: the Indus Waters Treaty, downstream vulnerability and the importance of agreements between countries.
Infrastructure under pressure: cybersecurity risks for water utilities and the vulnerability of large, centralized desalination plants.
Forecasts and stories: the possibilities and limits of anticipating conflict, and how stories help explain its causes and motivate action.
Advice for water entrepreneurs: technology is not enough without better institutions, financing and maintenance, and a clear understanding of what we are trying to accomplish.
Links and further reading
Chapters
00:00:00.000 Introduction
00:02:28.000 Peter’s Scientific Roots
00:05:56.000 Water and Human History
00:07:53.000 Writing the Book
00:09:57.000 Trigger, Weapon and Casualty
00:15:17.000 The Colorado River
00:19:50.000 Climate and Conflict
00:24:17.000 Protecting Civilian Water
00:28:37.000 Sharing the Indus
00:33:44.000 Cybersecurity and Water Resilience
00:37:46.000 The Vulnerability of Desalination
00:40:16.000 Predicting Water Conflict
00:43:25.000 Water and Storytelling
00:46:39.000 Building Beyond Technology
00:49:35.000 Closing Advice for Water Entrepreneurs
