The book provides an overview on national policies and regulations related to water resource management in the Middle East and North African countries (MENA), where water scarcity problems are critical. The physical/natural constraints, socio-economic and political circumstances make the MENA region a sort of ‘laboratory’ for natural resource management and particularly water management. The book provides a good comparison on how neighboring countries with quite similar natural constraints and cultures are addressing water problems in different ways. It enlightens water resource specialists on successful experiences around the region and show cases the reforms undertaken in the water sector to meet the challenges posed by urbanization, food security, water pollution and climate change. The book constitutes nine chapters, seven of them with content from the main MENA countries. It starts with an introductory chapter that provides background information on the region’s water resources with descriptive statistics and historical developments of the water sector. It ends with a chapter that summarizes the policy implications and main conclusions on the way forward for sustainable management of water in MENA countries.

This book introduces a comprehensive understanding in the use of space techniques in natural hazards and risk management in the MENA Region. The book is based on different case-studies from 25 MENA countries, and will be useful in highlighting the issues from all aspects. In recent years the number of natural hazard events has increased in the MENA Region. This is exacerbated by the changing climate and extreme climate events, as well as a large increase in the population in this area. Disastrous events occur on a yearly basis characterized by a vulnerability of physical processes. Floods, earthquakes, and mass movement result in severe damage to property and livelihoods, and have devastating effects upon the environment. These events cause severe financial losses, which on an annual basis, can exceed millions of dollars. The predication, assessment and monitoring approaches remain inadequate in managing these hazards and in mitigating their impacts, but with the development of space techniques and geo-information systems, these situations can now be better managed. The miscellany of satellite images, with different spatial and temporal resolutions, enable the detection of terrain features and provide indications of potential natural risks. This book will of interest to stakeholders, including field experts, academics, researchers and decision makers.

Global Groundwater: Source, Scarcity, Sustainability, Security, and Solutions presents a compilation of compelling insights into groundwater scenarios within all groundwater-stressed regions across the world. Thematic sub-sections include groundwater studies on sources, scarcity, sustainability, security, and solutions. The chapters in these sub-sections provide unique knowledge on groundwater for scientists, planners, and policymakers, and are written by leading global experts and researchers. Global Groundwater: Source, Scarcity, Sustainability, Security, and Solutions provides a unique, unparalleled opportunity to integrate the knowledge on groundwater, ranging from availability to pollution, nation-level groundwater management to transboundary aquifer governance, and global-scale review to local-scale case-studies. - Provides interdisciplinary content that bridges the knowledge from groundwater sources to solutions and sustainability, from science to policy, from technology to clean water and food - Includes global and regional reviews and case studies, building a bridge between broad reviews of groundwater-related issues by domain experts as well as detailed case studies by researchers - Identifies pathways for transforming knowledge to policy and governance of groundwater security and sustainability

In Mateo-Sagasta, Javier; Al-Hamdi, M.; AbuZeid, K. (Eds.). Water reuse in the Middle East and North Africa: a sourcebook. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI).

This book addresses groundwater governance, a subject internationally recognized as crucial and topical for enhancing and safeguarding the benefits of groundwater and groundwater-dependent ecosystems to humanity, while ensuring water and food security under global change. The multiple and complex dimensions of groundwater governance are captured in 28 chapters, written by a team of leading experts from different parts of the world and with a variety of relevant professional backgrounds. The book aims to describe the state-of-the-art and latest developments regarding each of the themes addressed, paying attention to the wide variation of conditions observed around the globe. The book consists of four parts. The first part sets the stage by defining groundwater governance, exploring its emergence and evolution, framing it through a socio-ecological lens and describing groundwater policy and planning approaches. The second part discusses selected key aspects of groundwater governance. The third part zooms in on the increasingly important linkages between groundwater and other resources or sectors, and between local groundwater systems and phenomena or actions at the international or even global level. The fourth part, finally, presents a number of interesting case studies that illustrate contemporary practice in groundwater governance. In one volume, this highly accessible text not only familiarizes water professionals, decision-makers and local stakeholders with groundwater governance, but also provides them with ideas and inspiration for improving groundwater governance in their own environment.

This text is written by a number of authors from different countries and disciplines, affording the reader an invaluable and unbiased perspective on the subject of intensive groundwater development. Based on information gathered from the experience of many countries over the last decades, the text aims to present a clear discussion on the conventional hydrogeological aspects of intensive groundwater use, along with the ecological, legal, institutional, economic and social challenges. Divided into two main sections, the first group of authors put forward the positive and negative aspects of intensive groundwater use, whilst a second group provide an overview of the situation specific countries face as a consequence of this phenomenon. Fully revised and up-to-date, Groundwater Intensive Use makes a significant number of discoveries in a subject area that is topical in today's climate.

This book is a hard copy of the editorial and all the papers in a Special Issue of the peer-reviewed open access journal ‘Water’ on the theme ‘Managed Aquifer Recharge for Water Resilience’. Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) is the purposeful recharge of water to aquifers for subsequent recovery or environmental benefit. MAR is increasingly used to make water supplies resilient to drought, climate change and deteriorating water quality, and to protect ecosystems from declining groundwater levels. Global MAR has grown exponentially to 10 cu.km/year and will increase ten-fold within a few decades. Well informed hydrogeologists, engineers and water quality scientists are needed to ensure that this investment is effective in meeting increasingly pressing needs. This compilation contains lessons from many examples of existing projects, including several national and continental summaries. It also addresses the elements essential for identifying and advancing projects such as mapping aquifer suitability and opportunities, policy matters, operational issues, and some innovations in MAR methods and monitoring. This collection exemplifies the state of progress in the science and practice of MAR and is intended to be useful, at least to water managers, water utilities, agricultural water users and urban planners, to facilitate water resilience through new MAR projects.