Water Quality Management under Conditions of Scarcity: Israel as a Case Study focuses on the problems of water quality management under circumstances of severe water resource scarcity, particularly in Israel. This book examines how Israel's engineers and scientists deal with the development and management of its limited water resources. Comprised of 13 chapters, this book starts with an overview of the interrelationships between man's well-being and the water environment. This text then explores the goal of water quality control in protecting human health and well-being from exposure to toxic chemicals and detrimental pathogenic microorganisms. Other chapters discuss the development of science, technology, and administrative practice dealing with water quality control, including hygiene, environmental health, sanitation, sanitary engineering, ecology, and environmental protection. The final chapter deals with the concept of hierarchical and selective water use. Biologists, engineers, chemists, agronomists, public health officers, and water resources authorities will find this book extremely useful.

This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Water Governance, Stakeholder Engagement, and Sustainable Water Resources Management" that was published in Water

This volume comprises the proceedings of the First International Rehovot Conference on Modem Agriculture and the Environment, held at the Rehovot Campus of the Faculty of Agriculture, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, 2-6 October 1994. The conference, first in a series intended to be convened in Rehovot at 4-5 year intervals to address various aspects of the interaction of agriculture and the environment, was initiated, organised and carried out under the auspices of the Faculty of Agriculture, the leading academic institution in agricultural and environmental studies in Israel. It featured four keynote addresses, 39 invited lectures, 40 submitted papers, and 62 posters. Of these, 51 articles, written by 122 contributing authors from 14 countries, were selected by the editors to be presented in this book. All through the twentieth century, and especially ever since the advent of the Green Revolution, modem agriCUlture has been striving to feed and clothe the ever increasing multitudes of the human species through improved technology, relying heavily on tremendous inputs of fertilisers, pesticides, and various other agrochemicals. Undoubtedly, this has been a great blessing to mankind, and enormous strides have indeed been made in the never-ending struggle against starvation, but these have been achieved at a very steep price of increased environmental deterioration. In fact, modem agriculture has become one of the major factors contributing to the degradation of the world's fragile biosphere.

It is simply structured but covers the major topics in detail Well reviewed in the field

During 1978-1982 the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) was responsible for a research project on Environmental Quality Control and Management. The project was begun under the direction of Professor O. F. Vasiliev (from the Institute of Hydrodynamics of the Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences) and was subsequently led by myself. This review is very much a re'fiection of that IIASA project. The major themes of the IIASA project were: (i) research into the methodological aspects of modeling river and lake sys tems [some of the principal results of this research appear in M. B. Beck and G. van Straten (eds. ) (1983), Uncertainty and Forecasting of Water Quality (Springer, Berlin (West)), and in K. Fedra (1983), Environmental Modeling Under Uncertainty: Monte Carlo Simulation (IIASA Research Report RR-83-28)]; (ii) case studies in the application of mathematical models to lake eutrophi cation control [results of which are summarized in L. Somlyody, S. Hero dek, and J. Fischer (eds. ) (1983), Eutrophication of Shallow Lakes: Model ing and Management (The Lake Balaton Case Study) (IIASA Collaborative Proceedings CP-83-S3), and in K. Fedra (1983), A Modular Approach to Comprehensive System Simulation: A Case Study of Lakes and Watersheds (in W. K. Lauenroth, G. V. Skogerboe, and M. Flug (eds. ), Analysis of Ecological Systems: State-of-the-Art in Ecological Modelling, pp. 195-204. Elsevier, Amsterdam)]; iv (iii) a policy study of operational water qua,lity management [M. B. Beck (1981), Operational Water Quality Management: Beyond Planning and Design (IIASA Executive Report ER-7)].

The report aims to provide a conceptual framework to address food security under conditions of water scarcity in agriculture. It has been prepared by a team of FAO staff and consultants in the framework of the project "Coping with water scarcity - the role of agriculture", and has been discussed at an Expert Consultation meeting organized in FAO, Rome, during the period 14-16 December 2009 on the same subject. It was subsequently edited and revised, taking account of discussions in the Expert Consultation and materials presented to the meeting. The purpose of the Expert Consultation was to assist FAO to better design its water scarcity programme. In particular, the experts were requested to provide recommendations on the range of technical and policy options and associated principles that FAO should promote as part of an agricultural response to water scarcity in member countries. The document offers views on the conceptual framework on which FAO's water scarcity programme should be based, proposes a set of definitions associated with the concept of water scarcity, and indicates the main principles on which FAO should base its action in support to its member countries. At the meeting, experts were requested to review the draft document and provide feedback and recommendations for its finalization. Issues that were addressed in discussions included: 3⁄4 Water scarcity: agreement on key definitions. 3⁄4 The conceptualisation of water scarcity in ways that are meaningful for policy development and decision-making. 3⁄4 The quantification of water scarcity. . 3⁄4 Policy and technical response options available to ensure food security in conditions of water scarcity. . 3⁄4 Criteria and principles that should be used to establish priorities for action in response to water scarcity in agriculture and ensure effective and efficient water scarcity coping strategies.

Uncharted Waters: The New Economics of Water Scarcity

This Book includes selected papers that has been published in the Water journal Special Issue (SI) on Water Supply and Water Scarcity. Moreover, an overview of the SI is included. The papers selected for publication in the SI include review and research papers on water history, on water management issues under water scarcity regimes, on rainwater harvesting, on water quality and degradation, and on climatic variability impacts on water resources. Overall, the issue identify and highlight the main challenges in water sector, and particularly in management and protection of water resources and in use of alternative (non-conventional) water resources, especially in areas with demographic change and climate vulnerability in order to achieve sustainable and secure water supply. Furthermore, general guidelines and possible solutions for an improved and sophisticated water management system are proposed and discussed, such as the adoption of advanced technological solutions and practices that improve water-use efficiency and the use of alternative water resources, to address the growing environmental and health issues and to reduce the emerging conflicts among water users.

The end of the Cold War has opened up the arena for increased attention to other lines of conflict, both in Europe and globally. Environmental disruption - by no means a new phenomenon - is a chief beneficiary of the shift in priorities in the public debate. The Scientific and Environmental Affairs Division of NATO has moved with the times and has defined environmental security as one of the priority areas for its cooperation with Central and Eastern Europe and countries of the former Soviet Union. Research on these issues is now thus very much a collaborative effort across former lines of division in Europe. The Introduction by Sverre Stub sets the tone: Our Future - Common, or None at All. The book reveals the very real risks associated with environmental degradation, whether of the land, waters or the oceans, and charts out previous disputes and points to the very real danger of violent conflict associated with the drying up of natural resources. The book ends with a section on Responses, which seeks to provide answers to the threats discussed in the preceding sections.

Water Security in the Middle East explores the extent and nature of water security problems in transboundary water systems in the Middle East. This collection of essays discusses the political and scientific contexts and the limitations of cooperation in water security. The contributors argue that while conflicts over transboundary water systems in the Middle East do occur, they tend not to be violent nor have they ever been the primary cause of a war in this region. The authors place water disputes in larger political, historical and scientific contexts and discuss how the humanities and social sciences could contribute more towards this understanding. They also contend that international sharing of scientific and technological advances can significantly increase access to water and improve water quality. While scientific advances can and should increase adaptability to changing environmental conditions, especially climate change, national institutional reform and the strengthening of joint commissions are vital. The contributors indicate ways in which transboundary cooperation may move from simple and intermittent coordination to sophisticated, adaptive and equitable modes of water management.