Sustainable Water Resources Management presents the most current thinking on the environmental, social, and political dimensions of sustainably managing the water supply at local, regional, or basin levels.
Water deficiency in many arid and semi-arid regions in Southern Europe is becoming a major constraint for economic welfare and sustainable regional development. These regions are characterised by high spatial and temporal imbalances of water demand and supply, seasonal water uses, inadequate water resources and poor institutional water management. The aim of this book is to formulate appropriate strategies and guidelines for water management necessary for the formulation and implementation of integrated sustainable management of water resources. Lessons are learned from various case studies, which examine competing water use patterns, compare governance structures and how these have evolved in response to scarcity, and structural and non-structural instruments to address water deficiency. Water Management in Arid and Semi-Arid Regions will appeal to policymakers in relevant countries as well as to scholars and researchers of environmental studies and economics.
The research project CuveWaters developed and implemented adapted technologies and accompanying measures to support the national process towards an Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). The aim is to give people in the Cuvelai-Etosha Basin reliable access to clean water over the long term, thus enhancing their livelihood and health, and to create job opportunities. IWRM relies on solutions that use various sources, types and qualities of water for different purposes. CuveWaters implemented pilot plants for rain- and floodwater harvesting, groundwater desalination, as well as facilities for sanitation and water reuse. Technical components of the project were framed by societal and scientific components. Integrated Water Resources Management in Water-scarce Regions provides a comprehensive view on the complexity and interconnectedness of findings and conclusions regarding the principle strategic approach within the CuveWaters project’s concept. The book aims to present the work of technical, social and natural scientists but also of media professionals: It gives thematically focussed details on the three technology-based solutions which go beyond mere technical considerations and embed this into the overarching process towards IWRM in Namibia. Finally, it critically addresses lessons learnt and limits of projects in the context of research for implementation. This book is of great value to experts, professionals and also students and academics in the areas of water management, technology development and implementation and transdisciplinary science.
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.
Better water management will be crucial if we are to meet many of the key challenges of this century - feeding the worlds growing population and reducing poverty, meeting water and sanitation needs, protecting vital ecosystems, all while adapting to climate change. The approach known as Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is widely recognized as the best way forward, but is poorly understood, even within the water sector. Since a core IWRM principle is that good water management must involve the water users, the understanding and involvement of other sectors is critical for success. There is thus an urgent need for practical guidance, for both water and development professionals, based on real world examples, rather than theoretical constructs. That is what this book provides. Using case studies, the book illustrates how better water management, guided by the IWRM approach, has helped to meet a wide range of sustainable development goals. It does this by considering practical examples, looking at how IWRM has contributed, at different scales, from very local, village-level experiences to reforms at national level and beyond to cases involving trans-boundary river basins. Using these on-the-ground experiences, from both developed and developing countries in five continents, the book provides candid and practical lessons for policy-makers, donors, and water and development practitioners worldwide, looking at how IWRM principles were applied, what worked, and, equally important, what didn‘t work, and why. Published with the Global Water Partnership
This open access textbook provides a concise introduction to economic approaches and mathematical methods for the study of water allocation and distribution problems. Written in an accessible and straightforward style, it discusses and analyzes central issues in integrated water resource management, water tariffs, water markets, and transboundary water management. By illustrating the interplay between the hydrological cycle and the rules and institutions that govern today’s water allocation policies, the authors develop a modern perspective on water management. Moreover, the book presents an in-depth assessment of the political and ethical dimensions of water management and its institutional embeddedness, by discussing distribution issues and issues of the enforceability of human rights in managing water resources. Given its scope, the book will appeal to advanced undergraduate and graduate students of economics and engineering, as well as practitioners in the water sector, seeking a deeper understanding of economic approaches to the study of water management.
Water Resources in the Mediterranean Region summarizes and collates scientific developments around water resources in the Mediterranean socio-economic environment through a multidisciplinary framework synthesizing hydrology, hydrogeology, climate, bioclimatology, economics, and geography. As such, it provides essential information for any reader looking to learn more about the Mediterranean which is experiencing the impact of climate change and concurrent complex issues of anthropogenic effects, especially in agriculture and other resource uses.Water Resources in the Mediterranean Region covers different challenges in the issue of the evolution of water resources in the Mediterranean. It is intended for PhD students, research scientists, and managers interested in new solutions and approaches for water management and in the forecast of future water dynamics.
This book is open access under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license. This revised, updated textbook presents a systems approach to the planning, management, and operation of water resources infrastructure in the environment. Previously published in 2005 by UNESCO and Deltares (Delft Hydraulics at the time), this new edition, written again with contributions from Jery R. Stedinger, Jozef P. M. Dijkman, and Monique T. Villars, is aimed equally at students and professionals. It introduces readers to the concept of viewing issues involving water resources as a system of multiple interacting components and scales. It offers guidelines for initiating and carrying out water resource system planning and management projects. It introduces alternative optimization, simulation, and statistical methods useful for project identification, design, siting, operation and evaluation and for studying post-planning issues. The authors cover both basin-wide and urban water issues and present ways of identifying and evaluating alternatives for addressing multiple-purpose and multi-objective water quantity and quality management challenges. Reinforced with cases studies, exercises, and media supplements throughout, the text is ideal for upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses in water resource planning and management as well as for practicing planners and engineers in the field.
Water resources play an essential role in all aspects of human life and activities. All living organisms need water for survival. Due to increased demand for water, appropriate water resources management should be established. This book covers various aspects of water resources management, including their use for different purposes and impacts of natural factors and anthropogenic pressures on water resources. Climate changes affect water resources, causing floods and droughts. All human activities such as water supply, irrigation, navigation, hydropower, tourism and recreation use water resources. The natural and anthropogenic impacts cause a decline in water quantity and the degradation of water quality. Water resources are especially important in protected areas and management of them in these areas is a specific challenge. Adequate water resources management should address all water related issues, to establish an institutional and legal framework, as well as the cooperation of all relevant actors in this field at national and international level. Water reuse, such as wastewater management is also an important challenge. This book provides some models and methods which are used for water resources estimation, their vulnerability and exposure to natural and anthropogenic influences. Taking into account various aspects of water related topics, application of diverse models and methods in different geographical areas, the book Water Resources Management: Methods, Applications and Challenges could help policy and decision makers as well as other stakeholders in finding the solutions of some water related problems.
This book reviews the concept, contemporary research efforts and the implementation of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). The IWRM concept was established as an international guiding water management paradigm in the early 1990ies and has become a vital approach to solving the problems associated with the topic of water. The book summarizes fourteen comprehensive IWRM research projects with worldwide coverage and analyses their motivations, settings, approaches and implementation of results. Aiming to be an up-to-date interdisciplinary scientific reference, this book provides a comprehensive theoretical and empirical analysis of contemporary IWRM research, examples of science based implementations and a synthesis of the lessons learnt. It concludes with some major future challenges, the solving of which will further strengthen the IWRM concept.