The Water People

The Water People PDF

Author: Joe Simpson

Publisher:

Published: 1993

Total Pages: 239

ISBN-13: 9780349103495

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

A mixture of adventure story and mysticism, featuring two young men who go climbing in the Himalayas near the source of the sacred Ganges, searching for the meaning of life and death through water. Joe Simpson is the author of the mountaineering book, Touching the Void.

Water for People, Water for Life

Water for People, Water for Life PDF

Author: World Water Assessment Programme (United Nations)

Publisher: Unesco

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 608

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The world's freshwater resources are coming under growing pressure through such environmental hazards as human waste, urbanization, industrialization, and pesticides. The problems are exacerbated through drought in many parts of the world. The improvement of the water quality itself and access to it have been major concerns for politicians and development agencies for over a decade. First officially formulated at the Rio Earth Summit of 1992, they have been restated or expanded since then. The UN Millennium Declaration of 2000 transformed general guidelines into specific targets. The international community pledged "to halve by 2015 the proportion of people who are unable to reach, or to afford, safe drinking water" and "to stop the unsustainable exploitation of water resources, by developing water management strategies at the regional, national and local levels, which promote both equitable access and adequate supplies." Thus, ten years after Rio it is time to take stock. Based on the collective inputs of 23 United Nations agencies and convention secretariats, this Report offers a global overview of the state of the world's freshwater resources. It is part of an on-going assessment process to develop policies and help with their implementation as well as to measure any progress towards achieving sustainable use of water resources. Generously illustrated with more than 25 full-color global maps and numerous figures, the report reviews progress and trends and presents seven pilot case studies of river basins representing various social, economic and environmental settings: Lake Titicaca (Bolivia, Peru); Senegal river basin (Senegal, Mali, Mauritania, Guinea); Seine Normandy (France); Lake Peipsi/Chudskoe (Estonia, Russia); Ruhuna basin (Sri Lanka); Greater Tokyo region (Japan); and Chao Phraya (Thailand). It assesses progress in 11 challenge areas, including health, food, environment, shared water resources, cities, industry, energy, risk management, knowledge, valuing water and governance. Proposing methodologies and indicators for measuring sustainability, it lays the foundations for regular, system-wide monitoring and reporting by the UN, together with the development of standardized methodologies and data. With its comprehensive maps, glossary, references and coverage of a broad range of themes and examples of real-world river basins, the UN World Water Development Report will no doubt prove to be a most valuable reference work. Visit the United Nation's Water Portal for more information on the report and on the International Year of Freshwater 2003.

Rivers for Life

Rivers for Life PDF

Author: Sandra Postel

Publisher: Island Press

Published: 2012-06-22

Total Pages: 265

ISBN-13: 1597267805

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The conventional approach to river protection has focused on water quality and maintaining some "minimum" flow that was thought necessary to ensure the viability of a river. In recent years, however, scientific research has underscored the idea that the ecological health of a river system depends not on a minimum amount of water at any one time but on the naturally variable quantity and timing of flows throughout the year. In Rivers for Life, leading water experts Sandra Postel and Brian Richter explain why restoring and preserving more natural river flows are key to sustaining freshwater biodiversity and healthy river systems, and describe innovative policies, scientific approaches, and management reforms for achieving those goals. Sandra Postel and Brian Richter: explain the value of healthy rivers to human and ecosystem health; describe the ecological processes that support river ecosystems and how they have been disrupted by dams, diversions, and other alterations; consider the scientific basis for determining how much water a river needs; examine new management paradigms focused on restoring flow patterns and sustaining ecological health; assess the policy options available for managing rivers and other freshwater systems; explore building blocks for better river governance. Sandra Postel and Brian Richter offer case studies of river management from the United States (the San Pedro, Green, and Missouri), Australia (the Brisbane), and South Africa (the Sabie), along with numerous examples of new and innovative policy approaches that are being implemented in those and other countries. Rivers for Life presents a global perspective on the challenges of managing water for people and nature, with a concise yet comprehensive overview of the relevant science, policy, and management issues. It presents exciting and inspirational information for anyone concerned with water policy, planning and management, river conservation, freshwater biodiversity, or related topics.

People of the Blue Water

People of the Blue Water PDF

Author: Flora Gregg Iliff

Publisher:

Published: 1954

Total Pages: 316

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

List of illustrations [photographs]: "Small boys of the Truxton Canyon Training School -- A group of our older boys at Truxton -- Baskets woven by the Walapai and Havasupai women -- Tent in which peyote cult services were held -- Walapai school children -- An old Walapai woman carrying her water jars -- A packtrain on the trail from Hilltop into the Havasu canyon -- Two stone pillars in which the protective god-spirit of the Havasupai lived -- Manakadja -- Old Ute -- winter scene showing our cottage -- Havasupai woman preparing to bake bread -- Framework of Havasupai sweat lodge -- Havasupai signs and symbosl painted on a rock surface -- The country of the Walapai and Havasupai Indians [map] -- Policeman Vesnor -- Some Havasupai children have an uninhibited watermelon feast -- Mooney Falls -- Ladder into Mooney Falls Gorge -- The old basket weaver's home -- Havasupai mother carrying her baby in a burden basket -- Havasupai woman bearing load of alfalfa -- Mescal trimmed for the roasting pit -- Havasupai homes of today."

Reconnecting People and Water

Reconnecting People and Water PDF

Author: Liz Sharp

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-05-18

Total Pages: 412

ISBN-13: 1317916395

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Water management in industrialised western countries has long been seen as a technical process associated with pipes, drains and bureaucracies. This technical model of water management is now being questioned. This book examines the nature of contemporary water management and the prospects for and barriers to different forms of engagement with the public. In particular, it shows how historical and social scientific understandings develop and question current water management norms in relation to water in the landscape, water in the home and the hidden management of water beneath our streets and behind our walls. It is shown that the four-fold challenges of climate change, urbanisation, changing environmental standards and fiscal accountability mean that we can no longer rely on unseen technical fixes to erase the threats of pollution, water shortages and floods. Such concerns offer two prompts for public engagement and participation. First, on a purely instrumental level, public engagement can complement, or offer an obvious alternative to, technical fixes. Second, public engagement may provide a route to find new ways of addressing water and related challenges. The author offers a unique social science perspective on many of the socio-technical issues facing the management of water in urban settings in developed countries, where urban is interpreted broadly to include all areas served by piped water. Drawing on historical context and an extensive review of the published literature, as well as the author's own empirical studies, the work prompts broader discussions about how we manage water in contemporary society. It is invaluable for students and professionals in water resource management and planning.

Fish Out of Water

Fish Out of Water PDF

Author: Kikanza Nuri-Robins

Publisher: Corwin Press

Published: 2016-04-07

Total Pages: 196

ISBN-13: 150634125X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

What do you do when you’re the one who doesn’t fit in? “Fish Out of Water” are those who don’t fit in the mainstream culture, often due to sexual orientation, gender identity, ableness, income level, or ethnicity. This book focuses on adaptation strategies for Fish Out of Water, as well as those who work with them. Included are: Tools of code-switching—an important survival mechanism for managing the dynamics of difference Compelling portraits of those who have learned to survive and thrive in schools and other organizations Strategies for working with children who are targeted because they are different

Addressing Water Security in the People’s Republic of China

Addressing Water Security in the People’s Republic of China PDF

Author: Asian Development Bank

Publisher: Asian Development Bank

Published: 2016-10-01

Total Pages: 87

ISBN-13: 9292575740

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Although accounting for about 20% of the global population, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is endowed with only 7% of the world’s water resources. The country faces severe water scarcity, high levels of urbanization and population growth, and climate change. For the PRC’s continuing development, it must protect and develop its freshwater resources. This publication provides recommended policy initiatives to ensure the PRC’s 13th Five-Year Plan (2016–2020) contributes to significant improvements in national water security, particularly in extreme water-scarce provinces. Some actions proposed for increased water security are better water resources management, more cross-sector planning, deeper reform of the water pricing system, and creation of water markets.

Blue Future

Blue Future PDF

Author: Maude Barlow

Publisher: New Press, The

Published: 2014-01-07

Total Pages: 338

ISBN-13: 1595589473

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

In her bestselling books Blue Gold and Blue Covenant, world-renowned water activist Maude Barlow exposed the battle for ownership of our dwindling water supply and the emergence of an international, grassroots-led movement to reclaim water as a public good. Since then, the United Nations has recognized access to water as a basic human right—but there is still much work to be done to stem this growing crisis. In this major new book, Barlow draws on her extensive experience and insight to lay out a set of key principles that show the way forward to what she calls a “water-secure and water-just world.” Not only does she reveal the powerful players even now impeding the recognition of the human right to water, she argues that water must not become a commodity to be bought and sold on the open market. Focusing on solutions, she includes stories of struggle and resistance from marginalized communities, as well as government policies that work for both people and the planet. At a time when climate change has moved to the top of the national agenda and when the stage is being set for unprecedented drought, mass starvation, and the migration of millions of refugees in search of water, Blue Future is an urgent call to preserve our most valuable resource for generations to come.

Forests, Water and People in the Humid Tropics

Forests, Water and People in the Humid Tropics PDF

Author: M. Bonell

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 960

ISBN-13: 9780521829533

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Forests, Water and People in the Humid Tropics is the most comprehensive review available of the hydrological and physiological functioning of tropical rain forests, the environmental impacts of their disturbance and conversion to other land uses, and optimum strategies for managing them. The book brings together leading specialists in such diverse fields as tropical anthropology and human geography, environmental economics, climatology and meteorology, hydrology, geomorphology, plant and aquatic ecology, forestry and conservation agronomy. The editors have supplemented the individual contributions with invaluable overviews of the main sections and provide key pointers for future research. Specialists will find authenticated detail in chapters written by experts on a whole range of people-water-land use issues, managers and practitioners will learn more about the implications of ongoing and planned forest conversion, while scientists and students will appreciate a unique review of the literature.