Download or read book Dams and Development written by World Commission on Dams and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-05-13 with total page 834 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By the year 2000, the world had built more than 45,000 large dams to irrigate crops, generate power, control floods in wet times and store water in dry times. Yet, in the last century, large dams also disrupted the ecology of half the world's rivers, displaced tens of millions of people from their homes and left nations burdened with debt. Their impacts have inevitably generated growing controversy and conflicts. Resolving their role in meeting water and energy needs is vital for the future and illustrates the complex development challenges that face our societies. The Report of the World Commission on Dams: - is the product of an unprecedented global public policy effort to bring governments, the private sector and civil society together in one process - provides the first comprehensive global and independent review of the performance and impacts of dams - presents a new framework for water and energy resources development - develops an agenda of seven strategic priorities with corresponding criteria and guidelines for future decision-making. Challenging our assumptions, the Commission sets before us the hard, rigorous and clear-eyed evidence of exactly why nations decide to build dams and how dams can affect human, plant and animal life, for better or for worse. Dams and Development: A New Framework for Decision-Making is vital reading on the future of dams as well as the changing development context where new voices, choices and options leave little room for a business-as-usual scenario.
Download or read book River Basin Development and Human Rights in Eastern Africa A Policy Crossroads written by Claudia J. Carr and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-01-05 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is open access under a CC BY-NC 2.5 license. This book offers a devastating look at deeply flawed development processes driven by international finance, African governments and the global consulting industry. It examines major river basin development underway in the semi-arid borderlands of Ethiopia, Kenya and South Sudan and its disastrous human rights consequences for a half-million indigenous people. The volume traces the historical origins of Gibe III megadam construction along the Omo River in Ethiopia—in turn, enabling irrigation for commercial-scale agricultural development and causing radical reduction of downstream Omo and (Kenya's) Lake Turkana waters. Presenting case studies of indigenous Dasanech and northernmost Turkana livelihood systems and Gibe III linked impacts on them, the author predicts agropastoral and fishing economic collapse, region-wide hunger with exposure to disease epidemics, irreversible natural resource destruction and cross-border interethnic armed conflict spilling into South Sudan. The book identifies fundamental failings of government and development bank impact assessments, including their distortion or omission of mandated transboundary assessment, cumulative effects of the Gibe III dam and its linked Ethiopia-Kenya energy transmission 'highway' project, key hydrologic and human ecological characteristics, major earthquake threat in the dam region and widespread expropriation and political repression. Violations of internationally recognized human rights, especially by the Ethiopian government but also the Kenyan government, are extensive and on the increase—with collaboration by the development banks, in breach of their own internal operational procedures. A policy crossroads has now emerged. The author presents the alternative to the present looming catastrophe—consideration of development suspension in order to undertake genuinely independent transboundary assessment and a plan for continued development action within a human rights framework—forging a sustainable future for the indigenous peoples now directly threatened and for their respective eastern Africa states. Claudia Carr’s book is a treasure of detailed information gathered over many years concerning river basin development of the Omo River in Ethiopia and its impact on the peoples of the lower Omo Basin and the Lake Turkana region in Kenya. It contains numerous maps, charts, and photographs not previously available to the public. The book is highly critical of the environmental and human rights implications of the Omo River hydropower projects on both the local ethnic communities in Ethiopia and on the downstream Turkana in Kenya. David Shinn Former Ambassador to Ethiopia and to Burkina Faso Adjust Professor of International Affairs, The George Washington University, Washington D.C.
Download or read book Management of River Basins and Dams written by M.J. Tumbare and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2021-04-30 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Zambezi river basin is the fourth largest river basin in Africa and drains a total of some 1350.000 square km. The basin drains eight countries: Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The river flows over the famous Victoria Falls into the third largest artificial lake in the world: Lake Kariba. The Zambezi Basin is rich in natural resources and has a large hydro-power potential. This volume contains 37 papers which have been published in international journals, or presented at international conferences by the Zambezi River Authority staff. The topics covered include: Dam Safety, Rehabilitation and Maintenance, Environment and Health, Hydrology, Limnology, Information Systems, Water Resource Management, Hydropower Development and Socio-Economic Issues.
Download or read book Riverine Ecosystem Management written by Stefan Schmutz and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-05-08 with total page 562 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This open access book surveys the frontier of scientific river research and provides examples to guide management towards a sustainable future of riverine ecosystems. Principal structures and functions of the biogeosphere of rivers are explained; key threats are identified, and effective solutions for restoration and mitigation are provided. Rivers are among the most threatened ecosystems of the world. They increasingly suffer from pollution, water abstraction, river channelisation and damming. Fundamental knowledge of ecosystem structure and function is necessary to understand how human acitivities interfere with natural processes and which interventions are feasible to rectify this. Modern water legislation strives for sustainable water resource management and protection of important habitats and species. However, decision makers would benefit from more profound understanding of ecosystem degradation processes and of innovative methodologies and tools for efficient mitigation and restoration. The book provides best-practice examples of sustainable river management from on-site studies, European-wide analyses and case studies from other parts of the world. This book will be of interest to researchers in the field of aquatic ecology, river system functioning, conservation and restoration, to postgraduate students, to institutions involved in water management, and to water related industries.
Download or read book Colorado River Basin Water Management written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2007-06-30 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recent studies of past climate and streamflow conditions have broadened understanding of long-term water availability in the Colorado River, revealing many periods when streamflow was lower than at any time in the past 100 years of recorded flows. That information, along with two important trends-a rapid increase in urban populations in the West and significant climate warming in the region-will require that water managers prepare for possible reductions in water supplies that cannot be fully averted through traditional means. Colorado River Basin Water Management assesses existing scientific information, including temperature and streamflow records, tree-ring based reconstructions, and climate model projections, and how it relates to Colorado River water supplies and demands, water management, and drought preparedness. The book concludes that successful adjustments to new conditions will entail strong and sustained cooperation among the seven Colorado River basin states and recommends conducting a comprehensive basinwide study of urban water practices that can be used to help improve planning for future droughts and water shortages.
Download or read book Environmental Flow Assessment written by John G. Williams and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2019-06-10 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides critiques of current practices for environmental flow assessment and shows how they can be improved, using case studies. In Environmental Flow Assessment: Methods and Applications, four leading experts critique methods used to manage flows in regulated streams and rivers to balance environmental (instream) and out-of-stream uses of water. Intended for managers as well as practitioners, the book dissects the shortcomings of commonly used approaches, and offers practical advice for selecting and implementing better ones. The authors argue that methods for environmental flow assessment (EFA) can be defensible as well as practicable only if they squarely address uncertainty, and provide guidance for doing so. Introductory chapters describe the scientific and social reasons that EFA is hard, and provide a brief history. Because management of regulated streams starts with understanding freshwater ecosystems, Environmental Flow Assessment: Methods and Applications includes chapters on flow and organisms in streams. The following chapters assess standard and emerging methods, how they should be tested, and how they should (or should not) be applied. The book concludes with practical recommendations for implementing environmental flow assessment. Describes historical and recent trends in environmental flow assessment Directly addresses practical difficulties with applying a scientifically informed approach in contentious circumstances Serves as an effective introduction to the relevant literature, with many references to articles in related scientific fields Pays close attention to statistical issues such as sampling, estimation of statistical uncertainty, and model selection Includes recommendations for methods and approaches Examines how methods have been tested in the past and shows how they should be tested today and in the future Environmental Flow Assessment: Methods and Applications is an excellent book for biologists and specialists in allied fields such as engineering, ecology, fluvial geomorphology, environmental planning, landscape architecture, along with river managers and decision makers.
Download or read book Land Water and Development written by Malcolm Newson and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2002-09-11 with total page 460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a fully revised and expanded second edition of Malcolm Newson's acclaimed book. Exploring in greater depth the meaning of sustainability in river basin development this new edition: * highlights the rapid evolution of practical concepts since the Rio Earth Summit * features new illustrations and case studies from Australia, South Africa and Israel * makes the ecosystem model more explicit throughout * strengthens coverage of the linkages between land and water management.
Download or read book New Strategies for America s Watersheds written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1999-04-28 with total page 333 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Emergence of a toxic organism like pfisteria in tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay has focused public attention on potential hazards in our water. More importantly, it has reminded us of the importance of the entire watershed to the health of any body of water and how political boundaries complicate watershed management. New Strategies for America's Watersheds provides a timely and comprehensive look at the rise of "watershed thinking" among scientists and policymakers and recommends ways to steer the nation toward improved watershed management. The volume defines important terms, identifies fundamental issues, and explores reasons why now is the time to bring watersheds to the forefront of ecosystem management. In a discussion of scale and scope, the committee examines how to expand the watershed from a topographic unit to a framework for integrating natural, social, and economic perspectives as they share the same geographic space. The volume discusses: Regional variations in climate, topography, demographics, institutions, land use, culture, and law. Roles and interaction of federal, state, and local agencies. Availability or lack of pertinent data. Options for financing. The committee identifies critical points in watershed planning to ensure appropriate stakeholder involvement and integration of science, policy, and environmental ethics.
Download or read book Managing the Columbia River written by National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on Water Resources Management, Instream Flows, and Salmon Survival in the Columbia River Basin and published by National Academy Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).
Download or read book Comprehensive River Basin Development written by Barbara A. Miller and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1998-01-01 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in the United States represents one of the few successful examples of comprehensive river basin development. Established to guide the development of the resources within the Tennessee River Basin, TVA operates a wide variety of water, power, economic development, and environmental programs within the region. This report presents an overview of TVA's growth and development, its institutions, and its operational programs.
Download or read book Water for the Environment written by Avril Horne and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2017-08-16 with total page 760 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Water for the Environment: From Policy and Science to Implementation and Management provides a holistic view of environmental water management, offering clear links across disciplines that allow water managers to face mounting challenges. The book highlights current challenges and potential solutions, helping define the future direction for environmental water management. In addition, it includes a significant review of current literature and state of knowledge, providing a one-stop resource for environmental water managers. - Presents a multidisciplinary approach that allows water managers to make connections across related disciplines, such as hydrology, ecology, law, and economics - Links science to practice for environmental flow researchers and those that implement and manage environmental water on a daily basis - Includes case studies to demonstrate key points and address implementation issues
Download or read book Integrated River Basin Governance written by Bruce Hooper and published by IWA Publishing. This book was released on 2005-08-31 with total page 317 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Water Conservation Reuse and Recycling written by Academy of Sciences of the Islamic Republic of Iran and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2005-03-01 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Multiple Stressors in River Ecosystems written by Sergi Sabater and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2018-08-30 with total page 406 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Multiple Stressors in River Ecosystems: Status, Impacts and Prospects for the Future provides a comprehensive and current overview on the topic as written by leading river scientists who discuss the relevance of co-occurring stressors for river ecosystems. River ecosystems are subject to multiple stressors that threaten their ecological status and the ecosystem services they provide. This book updates the reader's knowledge on the response and management of river ecosystems to multi-stress situations occurring under global change. Detailing the risk for biodiversity and functioning in a case-study approach, it provides insight into methodological issues, also including the socioeconomic implications. - Presents a case study approach and geographic description on the relevance of multiple stressors on river ecosystems in different biomes - Gives a uniquely integrated perspective on different stressors, including their interactions and joint effects, as opposed to the traditional one-by-one approach - Compiles state-of-the-art methods and technologies in monitoring, modeling and analyzing river ecosystems under multiple stress conditions
Download or read book The Future of Large Dams written by Thayer Ted Scudder and published by Earthscan. This book was released on 2012 with total page 407 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Viewed by some as symbols of progress and by others as inherently flawed, large dams remain one of the most contentious development issues on Earth. Building on the work of the now defunct World Commission on Dams, Thayer Scudder wades into the debate with unprecedented authority.Employing the Commission's Seven Strategic priorities, Scudder charts the 'middle way' forward by examining the impacts of large dams on ecosystems, societies and political economies. He also analyses the structure of the decision-making process for water resource development and tackles the highly contentious issue of dam-induced resettlement, illuminated by a statistical analysis of 50 cases.
Download or read book Development Trajectories of River Basins written by François Molle and published by IWMI. This book was released on 2003 with total page 42 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The development of societies is shaped to a large extent by their resources base, notably water resources. Access to and control of water depend primarily on the available technology and engineering feats, such as river-diversion structures, canals, dams and dikes. As growing human pressure on water resources brings actual water use closer to potential ceilings, supply-augmentation options get scarcer, and societies, therefore, usually respond by adopting conservation measures and by reallocating water towards more beneficial uses.
Download or read book The River Basin in History and Law written by Ludwik A. Teclaff and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fresh water is one of man's most vital needs. The distribution of water within river basins has a direct bearing on the organization of water resources development to meet this ever-expanding need. River basins, despite their very great diversity in other respects, have one physical characteristic in common: each is a more or less self-contained unit within whose bounds all the surface and part or all of the ground waters form an interconnected, interdependent system. This inter dependence has such far-reaching implications - for pollution and flood control, apportionment of supply, relations between upstream and downstream riparians, to mention only a few examples - that the river basin has become almost universally accepted (within the past 20 or 30 years at least) as the unit of optimal water resources de velopment. Professor Teclaff's work (which was originally submitted to the New York University School of Law as a doctoral dissertation) is the first fully developed response to the important resolution passed by the International Law Association at its New York meeting in I958 recognizing the legal nature of the international river basin. His study quite properly, therefore, poses the question whether the adoption of the river basin unit is a temporary phenomenon, reflecting the current stage of technology and of administrative, economic, and legal thought on water resources development, or whether the de terminative influence of the river basin's physical unity which has always operated in the past will continue to operate in the future.
