The water crisis in China and California, already severe, is sure to grow worse. Drought, population growth, urbanization, pollution, and inadequate infrastructure have brought water systems to the breaking point in China and California (and much of the US West). Now global warming promises to exacerbate the crisis, causing rising sea levels, more severe floods and droughts, the melting of the glaciers in the Tibetan plateau, and a host of other challenges.

What are the dimensions of the crisis in California and China today? What are the most promising technology and policy measures to boost water supplies and reduce demand? How can California and China collaborate to address common challenges? These are some of the critical issues our distinguished panel will address.

Speakers:

Saleem Ali is visiting fellow at Brookings Institution's Doha Center and Professor of Environmental Planning and Asian studies at the University of Vermont. His research focuses on the causes and consequences of environmental conflicts and how ecological factors can promote peace. His most recent book is Treasures of the Earth: Need, Greed, and a Sustainable Future (Yale, 2009).

Heather Cooley is a Senior Research Associate with the Pacific Institute's Water Program. Her research addresses the connections between water and energy, sustainable water use and management, and the hydrologic impacts of climate change. Ms. Cooley holds a B.S. in Molecular Environmental Biology and an M.S. in Energy and Resources, both from U.C. Berkeley.

Richard Drobnick (moderator) is the director of the Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) at the USC Marshall School of Business. He is also Managing Director of the APRU World Institute (www.apru.org/awi), the research subsidiary of an association of 42 leading Pacific Rim universities, and Visiting Professor of Global Studies at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore.

This program is made possible by the generous support of our sponsors: UCLA Anderson School Center for International Business Education & Research, USC Marshall School Center for International Business Education & Research, and Pacific Gas & Electric Company.