Rivers have always been worshipped in India, and yet they are in a deplorable state today. The Ganga, regarded as holy and formally declared as the national river, and the Yamuna, the river of Indiaas capital, are mortally sick. Many other rivers in the country are declining or dying. It is difficult to find living, healthy rivers, and even the few that exist are under threat of decline. Heavy pollution is a major cause of this situation, but there are also other factors, such as excessive abstractions or diversions of waters, and violence to their physical components such as the river-bed, banks, floodplains, and so on. Underlying such abuses is a poor understanding of what constitutes a river. This book goes into the present condition of several Indian rivers, their various states of decline or health, and the factors that have had an effect on their well-being. It explores also the deeply flawed attitudes and approaches towards rivers and towards the environment in general. The chapters by diverse authors make a plea for a proper understanding of our rivers in all their complexity, for a healthy relationship with them, and for a radical re-examination of what constitutes true development. This compilation is important as a detailed river-wise account of the situation, and serves as an aid to understanding what has gone wrong (or right in a few cases) and what needs to be done in order to restore our rivers to vibrant health. "

In Bangladesh, the chars within the river channels are an important part of its landscape. However, these land masses continue to remain isolated, deprived of services, and pockets of poverty in the country. The char dwellers are vulnerable to natural hazards like flood and erosion. In addition to these hazards, the coastal chars are faced with the imminent problem of widespread inundation due to sea level rise resulting from climate change. Within this context, the book Living on the Edge: Char Dwellers in Bangladesh has brought together valuable scholarship on the diverse issues relating to the chars and the communities living in there. This comprehensive collection, with contribution of experts on the subject from across the globe, provides an understanding of the problems faced by the char dwellers and also comes up with policy prescriptions for ensuring overall welfare of char communities in the country.

"Will you love her, honor her, and cherish her for as long as you both shall live?" Tommy assented to this question not once, not twice, but three times. And each time, he stood before the same woman! Follow his story as he journeys from the Dead River swamp of South Georgia through the muddy waters of a sin-filled life as a rebellious teen, a disrespectful son, an arrogant US Marine, an unfaithful husband, and an absent father until, in desperation and on realizing his need for more than human help, he cried out to God! You will be inspired as his story unfolds. Just as the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well received a drink of Jesus's living water, changing everything for her, so it was for Tommy Poole. A life of sin being overcome by God's abundant, amazing grace and love and then the incredible joy of experiencing human forgiveness that comes after, which could only be the fruit of the Savior's example, all lead to a life of service in ministry for his Redeemer! Tommy journals how the voyage from this life's dead river to living water is possible for everyone! Comments from Pastor Gary Moyer, VP for Administration/Executive Secretary of the Caroline Conference "If you need encouragement that God is able to turn your life around for the better, you need to read this book. This is one of those easy, compelling reads I found hard to put down. I've known Tommy for years but never knew the whole, amazing story. Wow!" Comments from Thomas T. Hardy, Director and Speaker of the Layman's Guidepost, LLC. "What an amazing testimony! Absolutely amazing! I love the river/ water allegory and how it remains consistent throughout the book. The opening scene at the kitchen table is incredibly powerful! It drew me in immediately! Your early years were so intensely challenging with so many distinctive experiences. This story is something a lot of people will not be able to put down once they get started. It is almost like a movie! "Your raw honesty is very earthly and real, making your references to the spiritual concepts more voracious for the consumption of the reader. I love it! The impelling motives you give the reader at the end of most chapters kept me wanting more. Yet the horrors of the alcoholic demon that overshadowed your life gave me great insight about and empathy for your struggle, Pastor! "This is good stuff! Both interesting and spiritually compelling, this book grips the reader from the outset with scenes of gritty, fallen humanity inspired and transformed by the living waters cascading from the throne of God! The reader is invited to relive the journey of a man caught in the throes of the fallen nature, being miraculously lifted up by the hands of Jesus Christ from His cross. "Thank you so much for allowing me the privilege of reviewing this book! It has been a personal blessing to me in my faith walk, and I am sure that it will be a blessing to every soul who reads it."

Aldo Leopold, father of the "land ethic," once said, "The time has come for science to busy itself with the earth itself. The first step is to reconstruct a sample of what we had to begin with." The concept he expressedâ€"restorationâ€"is defined in this comprehensive new volume that examines the prospects for repairing the damage society has done to the nation's aquatic resources: lakes, rivers and streams, and wetlands. Restoration of Aquatic Ecosystems outlines a national strategy for aquatic restoration, with practical recommendations, and features case studies of aquatic restoration activities around the country. The committee examines: Key concepts and techniques used in restoration. Common factors in successful restoration efforts. Threats to the health of the nation's aquatic ecosystems. Approaches to evaluation before, during, and after a restoration project. The emerging specialties of restoration and landscape ecology.

This book addresses the various factors affecting fluvial systems, the processes governing them, system responses arising from human-nature interventions, and geospatial and geo-ecological modeling to understand system behaviour better and restore degraded ecosystems around the globe. Thanks to their hydrological and agro-ecological advantages, humans have settled along riverbanks since the dawn of civilization. Thus, the ancient "ecumene" (settlements) were located near major rivers worldwide. This legacy of river-based civilizations continues to this day in many forms. However, in the course of the 'Anthropocene' era, countless fluvial systems have been altered by human interventions in the form of large-scale dams and barrages, changes in land use and land cover, road-stream crossings, mining of sand and gravel, mushrooming of brickfield, expansion of modern agriculture, industrial growth, and urbanization. Thus, the present-day development pattern threatens fluvial systems, especially riverine morphology and ecosystems. In brief, human-induced morphological changes, water pollution, eutrophication, and related damages to aquatic organisms are the major threats to fluvial systems. Thus, maintaining the 'environmental flow' of the world's major rivers to preserve the proper functioning of riverine ecosystems and promote sustainable development is a global challenge.

“Wonderfully written…Mr. Owen writes about water, but in these polarized times the lessons he shares spill into other arenas. The world of water rights and wrongs along the Colorado River offers hope for other problems.” —Wall Street Journal An eye-opening account of where our water comes from and where it all goes. The Colorado River is an essential resource for a surprisingly large part of the United States, and every gallon that flows down it is owned or claimed by someone. David Owen traces all that water from the Colorado’s headwaters to its parched terminus, once a verdant wetland but now a million-acre desert. He takes readers on an adventure downriver, along a labyrinth of waterways, reservoirs, power plants, farms, fracking sites, ghost towns, and RV parks, to the spot near the U.S.–Mexico border where the river runs dry. Water problems in the western United States can seem tantalizingly easy to solve: just turn off the fountains at the Bellagio, stop selling hay to China, ban golf, cut down the almond trees, and kill all the lawyers. But a closer look reveals a vast man-made ecosystem that is far more complex and more interesting than the headlines let on. The story Owen tells in Where the Water Goes is crucial to our future: how a patchwork of engineering marvels, byzantine legal agreements, aging infrastructure, and neighborly cooperation enables life to flourish in the desert—and the disastrous consequences we face when any part of this tenuous system fails.

Rivers are a vital component of ecology-the earth's hydrological cycle depends on them. However, across the world, rivers are under stress and even in crisis. With rising populations, the demand for river water is increasing. Many rivers fail to reach the sea because of excessive withdrawal of water, and many other rivers are heading toward the same fate. Conflicts over river water are increasing, and climate change is making matters worse. River policies pursued so far are often aggravating these challenges rather than solving them. Yet, sustainable development requires healthy rivers. Urgent change in the approach and policies toward rivers is therefore required. In this book, Nazrul Islam points to the ways in which river policies need to change to ensure sustainable development. He offers a new conceptual framework, using such concepts as the Commercial and Cordon approaches to rivers and their opposite, the Ecological and Open approaches. He shows that while the former generally work against sustainability, the latter are conducive to sustainable development. The book illustrates this reality by drawing upon worldwide experience regarding rivers. Going forward, river policies therefore should be based on Ecological and Open approaches. Islam argues further that the use of the new conceptual framework offered in this book can help to connect the river related discussion of experts with that of activists. It can thus help to move the discussion of river policies from the narrow confines of experts to the wider arena of the public, who should have a greater role in formulation of river policies in order to safeguard public interests and ensure sustainability. The book serves as a valuable guide for those interested in learning about river policy changes necessary to promote sustainable development.

This book provides a unique opportunity to integrate the knowledge on regional-scale riverine reviews to local-scale case-studies, ranging from availability to pollution, national-level river management to transboundary governance. It is an unparalleled attempt to build the bridge between the science of rivers and its history and socio-politics, thus articulating the due credence of rivers from ancient civilizations to modern human societies. The chapters in this book are organized by the sub-sections of i) Hydrology, ii) Hydrosocial and iii) Hydro-heritage, thus providing a unique knowledge on the river studies for historians, scientists, planners, social scientists and policymakers, and are written by leading experts and researchers from across the globe.

Managing Urban Rivers: From Planning to Practice captures the different facets of river management required for integrating rivers within the development landscape of cities in a sustainable manner. Sections cover the entire spectrum of urban river management, from planning to actual on-the-ground implementation, providing a one-stop destination for knowledge on urban river management. Edited by a team of four experts with practical experience in this domain, the different chapters of the book are authored by eminent scholars and practitioners with expertise in specific areas of urban river management. Urban rivers and their management is a hot topic as governments across the world are focusing on this aspect, especially since it has direct implications for SDG target 6.6, which aims to "protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes. - Presents practical, global case studies in almost every chapter - Provides recommendations for best practices, based on lessons from different successful case studies, as well as the expert insights of the authors - Features contributions from global experts for a unique and specialized approach to the topic of urban rivers

Sustainability and the Rights of Nature in Practice is the much-needed complementary volume to Sustainability and the Rights of Nature: An Introduction (CRC Press, May 2017). The first book laid out the international precursors for the Rights of Nature doctrine and described the changes required to create a Rights of Nature framework that supports Nature in a sustainable relationship rather than as an exploited resource. This follow-up work provides practitioners from diverse cultures around the world an opportunity to describe their own projects, successes, and challenges in moving toward a legal personhood for Nature. It includes contributions from Nepal, New Zealand, Canadian Native American cultures, Kiribati, the United States and Scotland, amongst others, by practitioners working on projects that can be integrated into a Rights of Nature framework. The authors also tackle required changes to shift the paradigm, such as thinking of Nature in a sacred manner, reorienting Nature’s rights and human rights, the conceptualization of restoration, and the removal of large-scale energy infrastructure. Curated by experts in the field, this expansive collection of papers will prove invaluable to a wide array of policymakers and administrators, environmental advocates and conservation groups, tribal land managers, and communities seeking to create or maintain a sustainable relationship with Nature. Features: Addresses existing projects that are successfully implementing a Rights of Nature legal framework, including the difference it makes in practice Presents the voices of practitioners not often recognized who are working in innovative ways towards sustainability and the need to grant a voice to Nature in human decision-making Explores new ideas from the insights of a diverse range of cultures on how to grant legal personhood to Nature, restrain damaging human activity, create true sustainability, and glimpse how a Rights of Nature paradigm can work in different societies Details the potential pitfalls to Rights of Nature governance and land use decisions from people doing the work, as well as their solutions Discusses the basic human needs for shelter, food, and community in entirely new ways: in relationship with Nature, rather than in conquest of it