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WATER RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT

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The book provides a critical and thoroughly referenced introduction to water resource availability and management. The authors highlight the importance of the stewardship of the water environment and ... give a balanced treatment of the role of social and political priorities in the allocation of water. This is an ideal text for fi rst and second degree courses.’ J A [Tony] Allan Professor at King’s College London and the School of Oriental and African Studies, London. ‘The authors provide valuable perspectives on the increasingly complex business of managing water. This book will serve both as a valuable reference to practitioners and students in water related disciplines as well as a guide to those from other fields who need to understand how water and its management impact on their worlds.’ Mike Muller Visiting Professor at the Wits University Graduate School of Public and Development Management, Johannesburg. Since the start of the twenty-first century there has been an unprecedented focus upon water as a key factor in the future of both society and environment. Water management lies at the heart of strategies of development to which has been added the hazard of climate change. Water Resources and Development, provides a stimulating interdisciplinary introduction to the role of water resources in shaping opportunities and constraints for development. The book begins by charting the evolution of approaches to water management. It identifies an emerging polarization in the late twentieth century between ‘technical’ and ‘social’ strategies. In the past decade these two axes of policy debate have been further intersected by discussion of the scale at which management decisions should be made: the relative effectiveness of ‘global’ and ‘local’ governance of water. A variety of case studies elaborate this analytical framework, exemplifying four key development challenges: economic growth, poverty reduction, competition and conflict over water, and adaptation to climate change. Current ‘best practice’ for water management is examined, addressing strategies of water-supply augmentation, the ecological implications of intensified use and strategies of demand management guided by economic or political principles. It is argued that defining ‘successful’ water management and best practice requires first the establishment of development goals and the implicit trade-offs between water consumption and conservation. This engaging and insightful text offers a unique interdisciplinary analysis by integrating scientific, engineering, social and political perspectives. This is an essential text for courses on development studies, geography, earth sciences and the environment. [Show More]

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