This book describes the water security challenges with focus on water scarcity and quality in our rapidly changing world. Achieving water security is essential to promoting economic and social development, as well as resource sustainability and ecosystem integrity. Questions of water security are central to recent global agreements such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. The thematic areas discussed here support the SDGs, with special attention to Goal 6 (“Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation”). The book is a collection of studies from engineering, social and environmental disciplines and aims at giving a balanced overview of the current , complex discourse on water scarcity and quality. It offers a source of inspiration and information for researchers, policymakers, planners, and practitioners concerning the further development of concepts, approaches, and methodologies for promoting water secure societies.

As water availability, management and conservation become global challenges, there is now wide consensus that historical knowledge can provide crucial information to address present crises, offering unique opportunities to appreciate the solutions and mechanisms societies have developed over time to deal with water in all its forms, from rainfall to groundwater. This unique collection explores how ancient water systems relate to present ideas of resilience and sustainability and can inform future strategy. Through an investigation of historic water management systems, along with the responses to, and impact of, various water-driven catastrophes, contributors to this volume present tenable solutions for the long-term use of water resources in different parts of the world. The discussion is not limited to issues of the past, seeking instead to address the resonance and legacy of water histories in the present and future. Water and Society from Ancient Times to the Present speaks to an archaeological and non-archaeological scholarly audience and will be a useful primary reference text for researchers and graduate students from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds including archaeology, anthropology, history, ecology, geography, geology, architecture and development studies.

This book describes the water security challenges with focus on water scarcity and quality in our rapidly changing world. Achieving water security is essential to promoting economic and social development, as well as resource sustainability and ecosystem integrity. Questions of water security are central to recent global agreements such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. The thematic areas discussed here support the SDGs, with special attention to Goal 6 ("Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation"). The book is a collection of studies from engineering, social and environmental disciplines and aims at giving a balanced overview of the current , complex discourse on water scarcity and quality. It offers a source of inspiration and information for researchers, policymakers, planners, and practitioners concerning the further development of concepts, approaches, and methodologies for promoting water secure societies.

The purpose of this book is to present an overview of the latest research, policy, practitioner, academic and international thinking on water security—an issue that, like water governance a few years ago, has developed much policy awareness and momentum with a wide range of stakeholders. As a concept it is open to multiple interpretations, and the authors here set out the various approaches to the topic from different perspectives. Key themes addressed include: Water security as a foreign policy issue The interconnected variables of water, food, and human security Dimensions other than military and international relations concerns around water security Water security theory and methods, tools and audits. The book is loosely based on a masters level degree plus a short professional course on water security both given at the University of East Anglia, delivered by international authorities on their subjects. It should serve as an introductory textbook as well as be of value to professionals, NGOs, and policy-makers.

Spanning millennia and continents, a revealing history that “tackles the most important story of our time: our relationship with water in a world of looming scarcity” (Kelly McEvers, NPR Host). "Far more than a biography of its nominal subject ... The book stands as a compelling history of civilization itself." —The Wall Street Journal Book Review Writing with authority and brio, Giulio Boc­caletti—honorary research associate at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, Univer­sity of Oxford—shrewdly combines environmental and social history, beginning with the earliest civ­ilizations of sedentary farmers on the banks of the Nile, the Tigris, and the Euphrates Rivers. Even as he describes how these societies were made possible by sea-level changes from the last glacial melt, he incisively examines how this type of farming led to irrigation and multiple cropping, which, in turn, led to a population explosion and labor specialization. We see with clarity how irrigation’s structure informed social structure (inventions such as the calendar sprung from agricultural necessity); how in ancient Greece, the communal ownership of wells laid the groundwork for democracy; how the Greek and Roman experiences with water security resulted in systems of taxation; and how the modern world as we know it began with a legal framework for the development of water infrastructure. Extraordinary for its monumental scope and piercing insightfulness, Water: A Biography richly enlarges our understanding of our relationship to—and fundamental reliance on—the most elemental substance on earth.

This book explores the historical relationships between human communities and water. Bringing together for the first time key texts from across the literature, it discusses how the past has shaped our contemporary challenges with equitable access to clean and ample water supplies. The book is organized into chapters that explore thematic issues in water history, including “Water and Civilizations,” Water and Health,” “Water and Equity” and “Water and Sustainability”. Each chapter is introduced by a critical overview of the theme, followed by four primary and secondary readings that discuss critical nodes in the historical and contemporary development of each chapter theme. “Further readings” at the end of each chapter invite the reader to further explore the dynamics of each theme. The foundational premise of the book is that in order to comprehend the complexity of global water challenges, we need to understand the history of cultural forces that have shaped our water practices. These historical patterns shape the range of choices available to us as we formulate responses to water challenges. The book will be a valuable resource to all students interested in understanding the challenges of water use today.

Water has always been a source of risks and opportunities in the Middle East and North Africa. Yet rapidly changing socioeconomic, political, and environmental conditions make water security a different, and more urgent, challenge than ever before. This report shows that achieving water security means much more than coping with water scarcity. It means managing water resources in a sustainable, efficient, and equitable way. It also involves delivering water services reliably and affordably, to reinforce relationships between service providers and water users and contribute to a renewed social contract. Water security also entails mitigating water-related risks such as floods and droughts. Water security is an urgent target, but it is also a target within reach. A host of potential solutions to the region’s water management challenges exist. To make these solutions work, clear incentives are needed to change the way water is managed, conserved, and allocated. To make these solutions work, countries in the region will also need to better engage water users, civil society, and youth. The failure of policies to address water challenges can have severe impacts on people’s well-being and political stability. The strategic question for the region is whether countries will act with foresight and resolve to strengthen water security, or whether they will wait to react to the inevitable disruptions of water crises.

Society's greatest use of water is in food production, which makes farmers central to global environmental management. Current food value chains, however, do not enable farmers to both feed a growing population and steward natural resources. Through a carefully curated collection of articles written by water and food system scientists and professionals, including farmers, this Oxford Handbook considers the interconnected issues of real water in the environment and "virtual water" in food value chains, and investigates society's influence on both. This perspective highlights considerable challenges for food security and environmental stewardship in the context of ongoing global change. The book discusses these issues by region and by selected commodities, emphasizing innovation needed for the food system to meet future challenges.

Encompassing papers form the 2019 Water and Society Conference, this book is a collection of latest trans-disciplinary research on issues related to the nature of water, and its use and exploitation by society. This book demonstrates the need to bridge the gap between specialists in physical sciences, biology, environmental sciences and health. Over the centuries, civilisations have relied on the availability of clean and inexpensive water. This can no longer be taken for granted as the need for water continues to increase due to the pressure from growing global population demanding higher living standards. Agriculture and industry, major users of water, are at the same time those that contribute to its contamination. Water distribution networks in urban areas, as well as soiled water collection systems, present serious problems in response to a growing population as well as the need to maintain ageing infrastructures.Many technologically feasible solutions, such as desalination or pumping systems are energy demanding but, as costs rise, the techniques currently developed may need to be re-assessed. The research contained in this book addresses the interaction between water and energy systems.The socio-political implications of a world short of clean, easily available water are enormous. It will lead to realignments in international politics and the emergence of new centres of power in the world.The following list covers some of the subjects included in this book: Water resources management; Agribusiness; Water as a human right; Water quality; Water resources contamination; Sanitation and health; Water and disaster management; Policy and legislation; Future water demands; Irrigation and water management; Management of catchments; Groundwater management and conservation.

Water risks, including the lack of access to fresh water for personal and industrial use, droughts, floods, and water contamination, are problems that are not new, yet, they are amplifying in the face of climate change, population growth, and rapid economic development. Properly identifying, measuring, and managing these risks as well as taking advantage of related mitigation opportunities is essential for the future well-being of firms across various industries, investors who invest in these firms, local and federal governments, and ultimately our society as a whole. This edited book sheds light on this topic by examining the unique measurement and modelling challenges associated with either the scarcity or overabundance of water and their interaction with finance and society. Specifically, it explores approaches to assess and operationalize water risk, examines the vulnerability of institutions and markets, and discusses strategies for risk mitigation.