Globalization of Water is a first-of-its-kind review of the critical relationship between globalization and sustainable water management. It explores the impact of international trade on local water depletion and pollution and identifies “water dependent” nations. Examines the critical link between water management and international trade, considering how local water depletion and pollution are often closely tied to the structure of the global economy Offers a consumer-based indicator of each nation’s water use: the water footprint Questions whether trade can enhance global water use efficiency, or whether it simply shifts the environmental burden to a distant location Highlights the hidden link between national consumption and the use of water resources across the globe, identifying the threats facing ‘water dependent’ countries worldwide Provides a state-of-the-art review and in-depth data source for a new field of knowledge

Globalization has significantly redefined the nature of governance in the water sector. Non-state actors—multilateral and transnational donor agencies and corporations, non-government organizations, markets, and civil society at large—are assuming a bigger role in public policy-making for water resource management. New discourses on neoliberalism, integrated water resource management (IWRM), public–private partnerships, privatization, and gender equity have come to influence water governance. Drawing upon detailed case studies from India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan, this volume shows the implications of these new global paradigms for water allocation and management practices, institutions and governance structures in South Asia. It suggests that, despite claims to the contrary, they have done little to further human well-being, reduce gender disparity, or improve accountability and transparency in the system. Steering away from blueprint approaches, it argues for a more nuanced and contextual understanding of water management challenges, based on local knowledge and initiatives. This book will be useful to those interested in political economy and water governance, natural resource management, environmental studies, development studies, and public administration, as well as to water professionals, policy-makers and civil society activists.

The river basin is no longer the appropriate spatial unit for analysing water problems. With increasing trade between nations and continents, water is more and more often used to produce goods that are exported. This book analyses this issue for the first time on a global scale. It addresses questions such as: Is the import of water in virtual form � in the form of imported commodities � a solution to water scarce countries? What threats are there in countries becoming �water dependent�? Can international trade be a tool to enhance global water use efficiency, or is it a means of shifting the environment burden to a distant location? The book shows the water footprint of nations, a consumer based indicator of water use which can be used as a tool to understand the impacts of local consumption on global water resources and the dependency of any country on external water resources.

In recent years, a greater level of integration of the world economy and an opening of national markets to trade has impacted virtually all areas of society. The process of globalization has the potential to generate long-term benefits for developing countries, including enhanced technology and knowledge transfers and new fina- ing options supporting agricultural and economic development. However, risks of political and economic instability, increased inequality, and losses in agricultural income and production for countries that subsidize their agricultural and other e- nomic sectors threaten to offset potential benefits. Globalization can also have a profound impact on the water sector – in terms of allocation and use of water – and thus on food security as well. Other global change processes, particularly climate change, are also likely to have far-reaching impacts on water and food security, and societies around the world. To discuss these issues in-depth, the International Food Policy Research Institute, the Third World Centre for Water Management, Mexico, and the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE), Costa Rica, held a three-day International Conference on “Globalization and Trade: Implications for Water and Food Security,” at CATIE’s Turrialba, Costa Rica, headquarters under the auspices of the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food in 2005. The workshop set out to identify the major risks and emerging issues facing developing countries related to global economic and environmental change impacts on water and food security.

This book is about crime and passion, life and death, lofty goals and squalid realities. It is a book about water. Global disparities in health and access to water are two major threats to world stability. As international contracts and corporate agreements divert water from small communities to supply larger cities, from households to supply agribusiness, conflicts sharpen among local communities, national governments, and international agencies over the basic resources to support human life. In this book, leading anthropologists illuminate the global political inequities and resource management techniques that cause children to die and adults to sicken. Designed for use by policymakers as well as researchers and students, the essays present complex realities in clear, accessible terms.

Virtual water trade increased with globalisation. However, this trade does not always flow in such direction, that water abundant regions supply water scarce regions with water intense products. Often the opposite happens and depletive water trade intensifies causing water scarcity. This work focuses on the Water-Energy-Soil-Trade-Nexus with each element seen as a materialisation of discourses. Two cases illustrate specific parts of the Nexus, firstly, the close relationship of market liberalisation, foreign direct investment and virtual water trade is represented with Viet Nam’s Doi Moi policy and rapid economic growth. Secondly, the water-energy dimension linkages are drawn by following the case of hydraulic fracturing from the U.S. to Australia’s gas drills embedded in a global perspective. This work helps to understand especially cases, where virtual water trade dries out water resources in already vulnerable areas.

Globalized Water presents a compilation of voices that forms a unique scientific exploration of contemporary water management models and governance issues. The book describes the water paradox—how a local resource has become a global product—and the implications of this in how we identify challenges and make policy in the water sector. Over the last 20 years, the foundations of local and national water systems have been rocked by a wave of changes. The authors in this book, experts in a wide range of disciplines, address the resulting debates and issues: water as a commodity and patrimony, technological rent, liberalization and privatization, the continuing evolution of water management and policy at the European level, decision making and stakeholder participation, conflict and consensus, and the inevitable growth of counterpowers at the local and international levels, promoted by the advocates of sustainable development. The selected case studies are from Europe (primarily France but also Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Portugal), Latin America (Argentina, Bolivia), the United States, Lebanon, and India. From this diverse collection of comparative perspectives and research methods, Globalized Water seeks to advance interdisciplinary research, contributing to a new and dynamic role for social sciences and governance on water.

An influential report that looks at the risks and benefits of water privatization, and sets out principles for protecting the public interest.

Using the latest mapping techniques, J.A.A. Jones, Chair of the IGU Commission for Water Sustainability, examines water availability, the impact of climate change and the problems created for water management worldwide as well as possible solutions. Water Sustainability: A Global Perspective is one of the first textbook to meld the physical and human aspects affecting the world's water resources. Part One outlines the challenges and investigates the human factors: population growth; urbanization and pollution; the commercialization of water, including globalization and privatization; and the impacts of war, terrorism and the credit crunch. Part Two examines the physical aspects: the restless water cycle, the impact of past and future climate change and the problems change and unreliability create for water management. Part Three discusses current and future solutions including improved efficiency and water treatment systems, desalination, weather modification and rainwater harvesting, and improved legal and administrative frameworks. Jones concludes by asking how far technical and financial innovations can overcome the limitations of climatic resources and examining the human and environmental costs involved in such developments. This book is the ideal text for any student of water sustainability whether approaching the subject from the point of view of international relations, geography or environmental management.