Considers S. 21, to establish a Federal cabinet level Water Resources Council and a joint Federal-state River Basin Commissions to coordinate interstate and intrastate federally funded projects.
This technical paper presents three case studies of inland fisheries in the context of a multiple-use of land and water resources in the humid tropics of Asia. Two of the three river basins are situated on islands, i.e. the Agno in the Philippines and the Mahaweli in Sri Lanka; one is on mainland Asia, i.e. the Nam Pong Basin in Thailand. Although the river basins have a number of features in common, such as, for example, their size, forest cover and population density, they differ in a number of other environmental aspects and changes induced by the development taking place in their basins. Inland fisheries in all three catchments is represented both by capture and culture components with reservoir fisheries gaining in importance. The studies have shown that while the major constraint to the riverine fisheries has been identified as being the high level of transported sediments originating from eroding lands and mine waste discharge (the Agno Basin), in the reservoirs of Nam Pong and Mahaweli basins it has been the high fishing pressure, in one case non-regulated (Nam Pong), which has caused deterioration of fish stocks. Another constraint in force until recently was of a social (religious) character (Mahaweli Basin). The three studies have shown that in most situations inland fisheries can successfully develop under conditions of the multiple use of the resource.
Integrated River Basin Governance - Learning from International Experience is designed to help practitioners implement integrated approaches to river basin management (IRBM). It aims to help the coming generation of senior university students learn how to design IRBM and it provides current researchers and the broader water community with a resource on river basin management. Drawing on both past and present river basin and valley scale catchment management examples from around the world, the book develops an integration framework for river basin management. Grounded in the theory and literature of natural resources management and planning, the thrust of the book is to assist policy and planning, rather than extend knowledge of hydrology, biophysical modelling or aquatic ecology. Providing a classification of river basin organizations and their use, the book also covers fundamental issues related to implementation: decision-making. institutions and organizations. information management. participation and awareness. legal and economic issues. integration and coordination processes. building human capacity. Integrated River Basin Governance focuses on the social, economic, organizational and institutional arrangements of river basin management. Methods are outlined for implementing strategic and regional approaches to river basin management, noting the importance of context and other key elements which have been shown to impede success. The book includes a range of tools for river basin governance methods, derived from real life experiences in both developed and developing countries. The successes and failures of river basin management are discussed, and lessons learned from both are presented. The ebook for this title is available to download for free on the WaterWiki.
Considers legislation to provide for the coordinated planning of water and related resources through a Federal Water Resources Council and river basin commissions, and to provide aid to the states in preparing water plans.