Managing Water Resources in a Time of Global Change - 9780415777780

Mountains are critically important to the water cycle and are also very sensitive to mismanagement of water resources and are affected by human interventions such as increased demand for water, pollution, and anthropogenic climate change that can have impacts on quality and quantity both upstream and downstream. The purpose of this book, according to editors Garrido (economics, Technical U. of Madrid, Spain) and Dinar (environmental economics, U. of California at Riverside, US), is to address mountain water resources in the holistic way that they suggest is absent from much of the literature, addressing both scientific background and policy context, as well as the integrated water systems of mountains, valleys, and flood plains. Chapters review subjects such as the loss of glacier runoff contributions to the water catchment of the Saskatchewan River basins, changes in rainfall distribution in the Middle East, and the multiple human and natural factors impacting the Alps as the water reservoir of the Rhône River, upland water management issues, including; water management, land-use planning, and economic development in Tunisia; lessons of water management from Jordan; the incorporation of ecosystem benefits of water into water management assessments, the views of practitioners and stakeholders in water management, and the impacts of large dams on upland water management. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)