Download or read book Making the Most of the Water We Have written by David B. Brooks and published by Earthscan. This book was released on 2009 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the last century water policies relied on the construction of massive infrastructure in the form of dams, pipelines, and complex centralized treatment plants to meet human demands. These facilities brought tremendous benefits, but they also had serious and often unanticipated social, economic and environmental costs. Demand for water is one of the major challenges of the current century, but past approaches are no longer sufficient.
Download or read book Interest Groups Water Politics and Governance written by Richard Meissner and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-07-08 with total page 90 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book investigates the role interest groups have played over the years to influence the governments of Lesotho and South Africa, the World Bank and project implementation authorities in changing some policy aspects of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP). Some of the issues being agitated by the interest groups are the resettlement of villagers where some of the dams for the projects are being constructed. The author argues that interest groups and individuals have the ability to influence the above-mentioned institutions and to such an extent that water politics and governance is not the domain of state institutions only.
Download or read book Water is Life written by Anne Hellum and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2015-10-19 with total page 641 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book approached water and sanitation as an African gender and human rights issue. Empirical case studies from Kenya, Malawi, South Africa and Zimbabwe show how coexisting international, national and local regulations of water and sanitation respond to the ways in which different groups of rural and urban women gain access to water for personal, domestic and livelihood purposes. The authors, who are lawyers, sociologists, political scientists and anthropologists, explore how women cope in contexts where they lack secure rights, and participation in water governance institutions, formal and informal. The research shows how women - as producers of family food - rely on water from multiple sources that are governed by community based norms and institutions which recognise the right to water for livelihood. How these common pool water resources - due to protection gaps in both international and national law - are threatened by large-scale development and commercialisation initiatives, facilitated through national permit systems, is a key concern. The studies demonstrate that existing water governance structures lack mechanisms which make them accountable to poor and vulnerable water users on the ground, most importantly women. The findings thus underscore the need to intensify measures to hold states accountable, not just in water services provision, but in assuring the basic human right to clean drinking water and sanitation; and also to protect water for livelihoods.
Download or read book South Africa s water governance hydraulic mission 1912 2008 in a WEF Nexus context written by Johann W.N. Tempelhoff and published by AOSIS. This book was released on 2018-12-01 with total page 658 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Geologists, physicists and ecologists currently promote the idea of a post-Holocene epoch – the Anthropocene. As a result of constant innovation and modernisation in the fields of engineering, natural science, management studies and environmental studies there has been a growing awareness of the intrinsic interaction between humankind and the environment. Humankind has become part of the environmental dynamics, to the extent that they are literally able to change ecosystems. Nowhere is the impact more evident than in the anthropogenic engagement with the hydrosphere – from the smallest pool of water to the earth’s atmosphere. Comprehensive infrastructure development in water and sanitation, the growing trend to seek additional resources in the form of groundwater, desalinated seawater, and recycled wastewater, as well as special attention being given to capturing and preserving rainwater, bear evidence of a timely response to climate change, population growth and rapid development in many water-stressed regions of the world. The purpose of the book is to provide a historical overview of the manner in which South Africa’s water resources have been governed from a time when the Union of South Africa was formed, in 1910, up to 2008, a time of a growing global awareness of the potential impact that climate change may have on water resources in a key region of southern Africa, notable for increasing levels of aridity and more erratic rainfall patterns. This focus on the history of water affairs in South Africa makes it possible for scholars to comprehend the contemporary transitions made in the country’s water governance system since the establishment in 2014 of the Department of Water and Sanitation. The focus is on the Water–Energy–Food nexus, a strategy which holistically contemplates the governance and use of water from the perspective of the interconnection between water, energy and food as resources.
Download or read book Water Accounting written by Jayne M. Godfrey and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2012 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This groundbreaking book examines the role that water accounting can play in resolving economic, environmental and social issues. One of the most pressing global issues of the 21st century is the scarcity of water to ensure economic, environmental and social sustainability. In addressing the issue through policy and management, access to high quality information is critically important. But water scarcity has many implications, and it is possible that different reporting approaches, generally called water accounting systems, can be appropriate to addressing them. In this key book, international experts respond to the question: what role can water accounting play in resolving economic, social and environmental issues at individual, organizational, industry, national and international levels? They explore how various forms of water accounting are utilized and the issues that they address. Academics and postgraduate students interested in water scarcity and accounting will find this book invaluable. Policymakers in all areas relating to water as well as environmentalists, water industry managers and water lawyers will find plenty of important insights in this essential resource.
Download or read book The Evolution of the Law and Politics of Water written by Joseph W. Dellapenna and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2009-04-21 with total page 414 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: According to a famous Talmudic story (Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Shabbat: 31a), a gentile once approached Rabbi Hillel and asked to be taught the entire Torah while standing on one foot. Hillel replied, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself. That is the entire Torah. The rest is simply an explanation. Go and learn it!’ In much the same way, Jewish law can be described in one word—Torah. All the rest is simply an explanation. The Torah, also known as the Bible, the five books of Moses, and the Pentateuch, was written over 3,000 years ago. Since then, Jewish law has developed various interpretations and applications of the Torah, interpretations of those interpre- tions, and so on. Jewish law contains civil dictates as well as religious protocol. Problems that arose in the framework of religious life and problems surrounding civil relationships both found solutions in the same legal source—the Torah and the Halacha, the Jewish legal interpretations and rulings. This chapter on water law in the Jewish tradition provides insight into Jewish law and custom in general, and rules related to the protection of water sources in particular. One should not look, however, to find a written code of Jewish law, as there is none.
Download or read book Water Resources Planning and Management written by R. Quentin Grafton and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2011-02-17 with total page 801 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Water is an increasingly critical issue at the forefront of global policy change, management and planning. There are growing concerns about water as a renewable resource, its availability for a wide range of users, aquatic ecosystem health, and global issues relating to climate change, water security, water trading and water ethics. This handbook provides the most comprehensive reference ever published on water resource issues. It brings together multiple disciplines to understand and help resolve problems of water quality and scarcity from a global perspective. Its case studies and 'foundation' chapters will be greatly valued by students, researchers and professionals involved in water resources, hydrology, governance and public policy, law, economics, geography and environmental studies.
Download or read book Water and Climate Change written by Trevor Letcher and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2022-07-03 with total page 482 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Water and Climate Change: Sustainable Development, Politics and Social Issues focuses on climate change and global warming, sustainable development and social and political issues surrounding water. Throughout the book, global contributors provide an outlook on the possible future of the world if climate issues continue to increase. In this regard, readers will become fully aware of the dangers of climate change and global warming. To counterbalance, the book also provides an outlook to the possible future of the world if changes are made and emissions are reduced. Water shortages and water pollution are real and are beginning to affect the lives of every one of us on the planet. We are rapidly reaching a point of no return. If we do nothing about water shortages and water pollution, many of the catastrophes mentioned in this book will come to pass. As such, this reference is a must-read resource for environmental scientists and engineers, water resource experts, agriculturalists, social scientists, earth scientists, geographers and decision-makers in government and water management. - Covers a wide spectrum of topics related to water usage as discussed by world authorities, all experts in their own field - Includes references and further reading at the end of each chapter, giving the reader all the very latest thinking and information on each topic - Provides case studies that follow a consistent template, presenting the reader with easy to find, real-life examples
Download or read book Transforming Water Management in South Africa written by Barbara Schreiner and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2011-12-10 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the early set of reforms that South Africa embarked on after emerging from apartheid was in the water sector, following a remarkable, consultative process. The policy and legal reforms were comprehensive and covered almost all aspects of water management including revolutionary changes in defining and allocating rights to water, radical reforms in water management and supply institutions, the introduction of the protection of environmental flows, and major shifts in charging for water use and in the provision of free basic water. Over ten years of implementation of these policy and legislative changes mean that valuable lessons have already been learned and useful experiences gained in the challenge of effective water resources management and water services provision in a middle income country.
Download or read book Poverty and Water written by David Hemson and published by Zed Books Ltd.. This book was released on 2013-07-18 with total page 174 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rarely has such a contentious and complex issue emerged in twenty-first century development as that of water. In this book, co-editors David Hemson, Kassin Kulindwa, Haakon Lein, and Adolfo Mascarenhas use a global spread of case studies to illustrate that water is not simply an issue of physical scarcity, but rather a complex and politically-driven issue with profound future implications, both in the developing world and outside it. The book argues that for the international community to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, governments must step in to protect the rights of the poor. Here, the links between poverty and access to clean water are explored with an eye to political reform that can end the exploitative policies of big business and help to shape a more equitable world for all.
Download or read book The World s Water 1998 1999 written by Peter H. Gleick and published by Island Press. This book was released on 1998-09 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The quality and availability of fresh water is of critical importance to human and ecosystem health. The World's Water 1998-1999 is a comprehensive reference on worldwide freshwater resources and the political, economic, scientific, and technological issues associated with them. It provides both detailed analysis of the most significant trends and events and the most up-to-date data available on water resources and their use. Chapters examine: access to basic water requirements for drinking and sanitation hydropower and dam construction water law water and conflict water and global climate change international water institutions and activities. The book features more than fifty charts, tables, and maps that present the most current data on a range of factors including: the availability and use of water; numbers of threatened and endangered aquatic species, dam and desalination capacity worldwide; trends in several devastating water-borne diseases; changes by region in global precipitation patterns since 1900; and much more. To be published on a biennial basis, The World's Water will be an essential reference for water resources specialists with both government agencies and nongovernmental organizations, resource economists, planners, public policy and public administration experts, environmental lawyers, students and anyone concerned with water issues.
Download or read book Exploring Sustainability Science written by Michael Burns and published by AFRICAN SUN MeDIA. This book was released on 2008-08-01 with total page 629 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Southern Africa is well-blessed with a diverse and vibrant human population and a wealth of natural capital. The key challenge for sustainable development is to grow society's capacity to use this natural capital to meet the needs of the region's human population, especially the poor, in ways that sustain environmental life-support systems. Collaborating across disciplines, the authors explore the underpinning principles and the potential of sustainability science in a number of case studies.
Download or read book Intersectoral Management on River Basins written by Charles L. Abernethy and published by IWMI. This book was released on 2001 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There are four papers focusing on the special recent experience of South Africa, as it replaces former inequitable water laws with a new one tq reflect its major pOlitical reorientation, and at the same time takes this opportunity of change to bring in several other principles of modern thinking about water, with a focus on participation by stakeholders, on the river-basin as management unit, on financial principles such as "users pay" and "polluters pay;' and on the potential role of access to water in addressing social issues such as poverty and gender discrimination. Conflict / Social aspects / Gender / Water law / Institutional constraints / Financing / Investment / Water scarcity / Water users' associations / Privatization / User charges / Water allocation / Political aspects / Water use efficiency / Water policy / Developing countries / Agricultural development / Poverty / Watercourses / River basins / Water management
Download or read book Water Resources of Arid Areas written by D. Stephenson and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2004-08-15 with total page 535 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With Africa's water resources constantly threatened by an increasing population and the resultant rise in water demand, together with the stresses of water use for various activities, desertification, climate change, and other interventions in the water cycle by man, it is vital that the water resources in arid and semi-arid regions are developed a
Download or read book Revisiting Integrated Water Resources Management written by Cecilia Tortajada and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-10-02 with total page 395 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book includes seventeen excellent researched and documented papers that reflect the diversity of thought, ideas and experiences related to IWRM. They draw from an extensive, inclusive and geographically representative range of theoretical propositions and practical examples. These include the implementation status of the IWRM concept at local, basin, regional and national levels; its appropriateness for the twenty-first century; main implementation gaps from the institutional, legal, policy, governance, management and technical viewpoints; the likelihood that IWRM’s entrenchment in laws, regulations and policies has led to smoother implementation and the reasons why that has been the case; reflexions on whether the attention given to IWRM is pushing other alternatives to the policy periphery; and the new conceptual constructions that can be put forward for discussion in the international arena. For the development and water communities it is imperative to debate and reach towards more illustrative conclusions regarding whether the promotion of the IWRM concept and its actual implementation status have been beneficial for development and how the notion could evolve to achieve this end. In-depth objective and constructive discussions, arguments, proposals and ideas are put forward for analysis by all interested parties. The book has the objective of fostering scholarly exchange, encouraging intellectual debate and promoting the advancement of knowledge and understanding of IWRM as a concept, as a goal per se and as a strategy towards development goals. This book was published as a special issue of the International Journal of Water Resources Development.
Download or read book Improved Hydrological Understanding of a Semi Arid Subtropical Transboundary Basin Using Multiple Techniques The Incomati River Basin written by Saraiva Okello and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2019-05-13 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study aims at improving the hydrological process understanding of the semi-arid and transboundary Incomati river basin to enable better water management. Comprehensive statistical and trend analysis of rainfall and streamflow were conducted, and the Indicators of Hydrological Alteration tool was deployed to describe the streamflow regime and trends over time. Land use and land cover change, particularly the conversion of natural vegetation into forest plantation, the expansion of irrigated agriculture and the flow regulation due to dam operation were identified as critical drivers of flow regime alteration. Hydrograph separation using long-term hydrochemical data at seasonal scale, and hydrochemical and isotope data at event scale were performed to quantify runoff components. A novel methodology to calibrate recursive digital filters using routinely collected water quality data was developed and tested in the catchment. This method allows for estimation of daily baseflow from readily available daily streamflow data. Dominant runoff generation zones were mapped using the Height Above Nearest Drainage approach. The hydrological model STREAM was then employed, informed by the runoff generation zones mapping and the process understanding gained in the catchment, as well as remote sensing data. The study provides the basis for better operational water management in the catchment.
Download or read book Greening the South African Economy written by Mark Swilling and published by Juta and Company (Pty) Ltd. This book was released on 2016-02-23 with total page 496 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The depletion of South Africa’s (and in some cases the world’s) natural resources and the degradation of environmental sinks (including the atmosphere, lakes and rivers, and land) are continuing at such a rate that natural resource prices are climbing and many critical ecosystem services that underpin human welfare are increasingly threatened. The concept of the ‘green economy’ has gained increasing traction in South African policy discourses over the past few years. However, in much of this discourse it is viewed in a piecemeal way as one part or sector of the economy (e.g. an industrial sector dealing with manufacture and installation of renewable energy technologies and energy-efficient equipment and appliances). In the view of the authors, ‘greening the South African economy’ requires an application of sustainability principles and practices across the full range of primary, secondary and tertiary sectors of the economy in an integrated manner. The aim of this book is therefore to apply principles of sustainability and ‘green economics’ to the entire South African socio-economic system and its major elements in an integrated and comprehensive manner.
