Land Use and Water Resources


Book Description




World Water Vision


Book Description

More than a billion people cannot get safe drinking water; half the world's population does not have adequate sanitation; within a generation over three billion will be suffering from water stress. This text analyzes the issues in this crisis of management and shows how water can be used effectively and productively. The key to sustainable water resources is an integrated approach. The authors assert that careful planning and concerted action can make the fundamental changes needed and that the implications of not dealing with the crisis are immense. The book comes with downloadable resources containing background research and scenarios.




Water Quality Management


Book Description

The global attention in recent years has focused primarily on water quantity and allocation issues. Water quality has received significantly less attention than water quantity. Commendable progress has been made by the developed world to control point sources of pollution, but commensurate progress in reducing non-point sources has not been made. In the third world countries both point and non-point sources of pollution are becoming increasingly a serious concern. Already, nearly all water bodies in such countries near and around urban centres have been severely polluted, with very high health and environmental costs. The book assesses the current status of water quality management in both developed and developing worlds, as well as analysing the effectiveness of economic instruments and legal and institutional frameworks to control water contamination. It outlines the importance of building up social and political awareness to reverse the trend of continuing water quality deterioration, which is likely to be a most challenging task in the coming years. This book was published as a special issue of International Journal of Water Resources Development.




Water Is...


Book Description

Part history, part science and part philosophy and spirituality, "Water Is..." combines personal journey with scientific discovery that explores water's many identities and ultimately our own. Written by internationally published author, teacher and limnologist Nina Munteanu.







The State of the World's Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture


Book Description

The State of the World's Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture is FAO's first flagship publication on the global status of land and water resources. It is an 'advocacy' report, to be published every three to five years, and targeted at senior level decision makers in agriculture as well as in other sectors. SOLAW is aimed at sensitizing its target audience on the status of land resources at global and regional levels and FAO's viewpoint on appropriate recommendations for policy formulation. SOLAW focuses on these key dimensions of analysis: (i) quantity, quality of land and water resources, (ii) the rate of use and sustainable management of these resources in the context of relevant socio-economic driving factors and concerns, including food security and poverty, and climate change. This is the first time that a global, baseline status report on land and water resources has been made. It is based on several global spatial databases (e.g. land suitability for agriculture, land use and management, land and water degradation and depletion) for which FAO is the world-recognized data source. Topical and emerging issues on land and water are dealt with in an integrated rather than sectoral manner. The implications of the status and trends are used to advocate remedial interventions which are tailored to major farming systems within different geographic regions.




Landscape Ecology in Theory and Practice


Book Description

An ideal text for students taking a course in landscape ecology. The book has been written by very well-known practitioners and pioneers in the new field of ecological analysis. Landscape ecology has emerged during the past two decades as a new and exciting level of ecological study. Environmental problems such as global climate change, land use change, habitat fragmentation and loss of biodiversity have required ecologists to expand their traditional spatial and temporal scales and the widespread availability of remote imagery, geographic information systems, and desk top computing has permitted the development of spatially explicit analyses. In this new text book this new field of landscape ecology is given the first fully integrated treatment suitable for the student. Throughout, the theoretical developments, modeling approaches and results, and empirical data are merged together, so as not to introduce barriers to the synthesis of the various approaches that constitute an effective ecological synthesis. The book also emphasizes selected topic areas in which landscape ecology has made the most contributions to our understanding of ecological processes, as well as identifying areas where its contributions have been limited. Each chapter features questions for discussion as well as recommended reading.




Water Resources Management and Sustainability


Book Description

Water is the elixir of life and is crucial for sustainable development. Earlier, it was considered to be a limitless or at least a fully renewable natural resource. During the past 20 years, however, there has been tremendous pressure on this precious natural resource mainly due to rapid urbanization, industrialization and the increase in the human population. Together, these have resulted in increasing demand for irrigation, industrial, and household purposes to meet supply-chain requirements. Keeping in mind the scarcity of available water resources in the near future and its impending threats, it has become imperative on the part of scientists in hydrology and allied disciplines such as geography, landscape planning, sustainability science etc. Regional planners and supply chain management experts also must be involved in studying the spatial and temporal nature of the growing demand for water and the future availability for its judicial use and sustainable management. A primary intent of the book is to provide comprehensive scientific knowledge base on water resource management and sustainability. It covers geo-engineering and scientific problems, case studies, and sustainable solutions in the water resources management domain. Additionally and of equal importance, the chapters of the book provide in-depth coverage on water resource vulnerability, water quality, wastewater treatment, application of remote sensing and geographical information systems hydrological modeling and harvesting, climate variability and runoff, sediment discharge and irrigation planning, community participation in water governance, internet of things and machine learning applications for sustainable water resources management. This practical, state-of-the-art reference book is a valuable resource for students, researchers, scientists, policymakers, spatio-temporal designers of water resource systems, various stake holders interested in hydro-climatology and sustainable water resources management.