In December 2002, a group of specialists on water resources from the United States and Iran met in Tunis, Tunisia, for an interacademy workshop on water resources management, conservation, and recycling. This was the fourth interacademy workshop on a variety of topics held in 2002, the first year of such workshops. Tunis was selected as the location for the workshop because the Tunisian experience in addressing water conservation issues was of interest to the participants from both the United States and Iran. This report includes the agenda for the workshop, all of the papers that were presented, and the list of site visits.
Water Conservation in the Era of Global Climate Change reviews key issues surrounding climate change and water resources. The book brings together experts from a variety of fields and perspectives, providing a comprehensive view on how climate change impacts water resources, how water pollution impacts climate change, and how to assess potential hazards and success stories on managing and addressing current issues in the field. Topics also include assessing policy impacts, innovative water reuse strategies, and information on impacts on fisheries and agriculture including food scarcity. This book is an excellent tool for researchers and professionals in Climate Change, Climate Services and Water Resources, and those trying to combat the impacts and issues related to Global and Planetary Change. - Covers a wide range of theoretical and practical issues related to how climate change impacts water resources and adaptation, with extended influence on agriculture, food and water security, policymaking, etc. - Reviews mathematical tools and simulations models on predicting potential hazards from climate change in such a way they can be useful to readers from a variety of levels of mathematical expertise - Examines the potential impacts on agriculture and drinking water quality - Includes case studies of successful management of water and pollutants that contribute to climate change
This book covers the full spectrum of water and environment conservation, offering management lessons, identifying the barriers to transformative change, and then presenting agendas and initiatives for sustainable global water and environment management. Water is a unique resource and is vital to human beings and ecosystems. At the same time, it is a driver of growth and development. However, in a changing world factors such as rapid population growth and urbanization are having an increasing impact on water and the environment, and managing critical water resources sustainably represents an unprecedented and urgent challenge. As such, the book describes innovative approaches that can be used to support the operationalization and delivery of sustainable water and environment management. ICSDWE 2019 is dedicated to sustainable water and environment, with a focus on the water resources management, wastewater treatment and environmental protection. Sharing current knowledge and recent developments, experiences and lessons learned, it stimulates discussion and reflection, to promote a paradigm shift toward sustainable water and environment management.
This book is the result of a joint research effort led by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and involving the Royal Scientific Society of Jordan, the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, and the Palestine Health Council. It discusses opportunities for enhancement of water supplies and avoidance of overexploitation of water resources in the Middle East. Based on the concept that ecosystem goods and services are essential to maintaining water quality and quantity, the book emphasizes conservation, improved use of current technologies, and water management approaches that are compatible with environmental quality.
Proper management of water resources can take many forms, and requires the knowledge and expertise to work at the intersection of mathematics, geology, biology, geography, meteorology, political science, and even psychology. This book provides an essential foundation in water management and development concepts and practices, dissecting complex topics into short, understandable explanations that spark true interest in the field. Approaching the study of water resources systematically, the discussion begins with historical perspective before moving on to physical processes, engineering, water chemistry, government regulation, environmental issues, global conflict, and more. Now in its fourth edition, this text provides the most current introduction to a field that is becoming ever more critical as climate change begins to threaten water supplies around the world. As geography, climate, population growth, and technology collide, effective resource management must include a comprehensive understanding of how these forces intermingle and come to life in the water so critical to us all.
This volume, a collection of seven essays by individuals prominent in the water resources field, commemorates the tenth anniversary of the Water Science and Technology Board. The essays cover a variety of current issues in the field, including intergenerational fairness and water resources, the relationship between policy and science for American rivers, changing values and perceptions in the hydrologic sciences, challenges to water resources decision making, and changing concepts of systems management. An overview of institutions in the field is also given.
Adverse impacts of climate change are evident in many regions of the world and are likely to get worse in the future. Ever increasing urbanisation is also adding to the magnitude of severity in regards to both quantity and quality. Urban water resources and components of water cycles are likely to be affected severely. To minimise consequences on world water resources, a sustainable water resources management strategy is inevitable. Water conservation in general is a salient part of sustainable water resources management. This book describes several water conservation and recycling options, practices, consequences and future implications showing case studies in different countries around the world. Among all the water recycling options, stormwater and greywater recycling is easily achievable. Initial chapters of the book deal with stormwater harvesting options through rainwater tanks in household scale; design optimisation, and water savings and reliability of such systems around different cities of the world. A review of traditional design practice and future efficient design methodology is also outlined. Also, a scientific approach for selecting an appropriate stormwater system at the authority/institutional level has been proposed. Later chapters describe public acceptance, reuse potentials and benefits of greywater recycling options. In addition, non-structural measures (water pricing and restrictions on water usage) of water conservation have been investigated through a case study. Moving downward, to look at water quality issues, impacts of land-use and land-cover changes on lake water conservation have been presented. Eventually, to be able achieve the final goal, real-life challenges in the transition towards adaptive water governance have been presented with a case study in the USA.
Sub-Saharan Africa, the poorest region worldwide, has only recently begun to fully address the issues of meeting the water needs of its rapidly growing population, to reduce the deepening poverty besetting the region and to accelerate economic growth. The Nile Basin, characterized by sharp spatial and temporal variations in water resources and including countries with different economies, social and political structures and capacities, illustrates the challenges of developing and managing the waters of the Nile River and its tributaries, lakes and wetlands equitably among its 10 riparian countries. Ethiopia, the major source of the Nile but one of the poorest countries in the Nile Basin, has recently begun to implement plans to harness more Nile water through hydroelectric and irrigation development both for national use and for transboundary development as part of the Nile Basin Initiative. The Ethiopian government and communities, by using different management approaches and resources, are trying to boost water, energy and food production, strengthen conservation efforts and mitigate potential repercussions of water resources development. These initiatives and programs have not been comprehensively examined. In this study, the editors address these and other issues surrounding water resources management in all economic and water sectors in Ethiopia within the setting of the Nile Basin, the first comprehensive treatment of this subject. The wide scope of this book is consistent with the tenets of integrated water resources management, which demand that all water uses be managed in an integrated fashion for optimum and sustainable benefits to all water users, both humans and ecosystems. This book reveals the impacts of various resource management approaches and practices in Ethiopia and the Nile Basin. Specifically, it examines how deforestation and prevailing land use practices have exacerbated soil aridity and flood events, why irrigated agriculture and hydropower development have caused floodplain degradation, livelihood hardships and water-related diseases, where industrial and agricultural development is increasingly polluting water resources, how household water supplies can be obtained through rainwater harvesting and the dependence on hydropower reduced through alternative energy sources and how misguided government policies have impeded efforts to deal with these and other challenges. Results reveal dynamic interrelationships between these processes and identify the human and environmental driving forces, which must be understood in effective integrated water resources management. Another unique contribution of this book is the examination of the role of government and communities in managing water resources in Ethiopia. Results show that the top-down approach used by the socialist Derg government in soil and water conservation and social programs exacerbated water problems and reduced community participation. Moreover, the failure of its economic program reduced agricultural production, increasing dependency on relief food and further impeding community initiatives in soil and water conservation activities. Many elements of central planning persist in spite of the decentralization drive by the current government, but there is evidence that integration of the top-down and bottom-up approaches to water resources management is necessary (and feasible) to strengthen and up-scale programs to the national level. The book identifies a number of customary water and soil management practices and institutions that may strengthen especially community-based rainwater harvesting, small-scale irrigation, reforestation, soil and water conservation and flood control efforts. This is an important book for researchers and students of resources management, rural development, hydrology and African studies.
