David B. Brooks

David B. Brooks (born 1934) is a researcher and writer on water conservation, energy policy, and natural-resource management. Educated in geology and economics, he became the founding director of Canada’s Office of Energy Conservation. His career also included work with the International Development Research Centre and the International Institute for Sustainable Development, alongside advisory roles with environmental organizations.

With Oliver M. Brandes and Stephen Gurman, Brooks edited Making the Most of the Water We Have (2009), subtitled The Soft Path Approach to Water Management. The volume explores how water planning can begin with ecological requirements and meet human needs through conservation, efficient technology, and changes in governance. It connects the water soft-path approach to practical planning and examines its economic and political feasibility. The publisher identifies Brooks as a founder of Friends of the Earth Canada and a former freshwater adviser to the organization.

Brooks was a longstanding adviser to the University of Victoria’s POLIS Water Sustainability Project. His work included transboundary water management, particularly in Israel and Palestine, and collaboration with EcoPeace and researcher Julie Trottier. In a 2023 POLIS interview, he announced his retirement at the end of May that year, while reflecting on decades of work linking research, policy, and water sustainability.