Bringing together the analysis of a diverse team of social scientists, this book proposes a new approach to environmental problems. Cutting through the fragmented perspectives on water crises, it seeks to shift the analytic perspectives on water policy by looking at the social logics behind environmental issues. Most importantly, it analyzes the dynamic influences on water management, as well as the social and institutional forces that orient water and conservation policies. The first work of its kind, The Field of Water Policy: Power and Scarcity in the American Southwest brings the tools of Pierre Bourdieu’s field sociology to bear on a moment of environmental crisis, with a study of the logics of water policy in the American Southwest, a region that allows us to see the contest over the management of scarce resources in a context of lasting drought. As such, it will appeal to scholars in the social and political sciences with interests in the environment and the management of natural resources.

This book examines some of the successes and failures of actual implementation of modern water policy options in the light of the principles and concepts which have emerged from the Rio Earth Summit, the Dublin Statement and other international consensus. The book attempts to share real practical experience at all levels: local, regional, national and international, emphasising the co-operation between different professions and sectors that must take place to ensure adequate supplies of fresh water in future.

Network models for analysing public policy have become widely used in recent years. This volume, originally published in 1995, assesses the network idea by applying a common perspective on network analysis to the constellations involved in water policy formation and implementation in England and Wales, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, the USA and at the level of the EU. Water policy – addressing basic human needs for the supply of adequate surface and groundwater as well as for the maintenance and improvement of water quality, is an increasingly salient subject. Each case covered in this volume treats the issues of water policy network composition and structure, and determinants of network characteristics, as well as documenting the influence of the networks on policy developments towards more network openness, emulation of business behaviour nd less domination by traditional professional groups such as engineers. Essays by the editors provide a common analytical perspective and offer both explicitly-comparative conclusions and evidence-based assessments of the strengths and limitations of the network perspective.

As a low-lying delta region with a high population density, the Netherlands has long focused on the prevention of flooding catastrophes and the reclamation of valuable land. The evolution of Dutch water governance, beginning with the creation of local 'water boards' in the Middle Ages and growing into a complex infrastructure of polders, dams, and controlled waterways offers a compelling study of pitfalls and successes within one of the worlds most challenging regions for water management. Water Policy in the Netherlands traces the arc of water governance in the country, from technological innovations to prevent wide-scale flooding, to strategies focused primarily on improving water quality, to an integral water management approach which brings together perspectives from economics, hydrology, ecology, water law, and water technology. The contributions in this book demonstrate how both the technical and social sciences must play key roles in crafting policy in the face of serious environmental challenges including climate change, sea level rise, and increasing soil subsidence. Innovative themes explored in the work include: how economic models and pricing structures might improve efficiency in the distribution of water resources, how the competing uses for water-including for recreation, arable agriculture, fisheries, and natural preservation-create demands on both the quantity and quality of water resources, and how public participation, cogovernance, and the balance of public and private interests will be necessary to meet the goals of the EUs Water Framework Directive. This resource serves as both an invaluable case study and as a text to develop the analytical tool of integral water management for students, policy-makers, and NGO professionals in developed and developing regions.

This authoritative Encyclopedia provides an innovative approach to theory, reviews, applications and examples relevant to the basic concepts of water science and water management issues in order to facilitate better interdisciplinary cooperation.

In Transboundary Water Cooperation in Europe, Götz Reichert analyzes the multidimensional regime for the protection and management of European transboundary freshwater resources that is composed of international water law, the water law of the European Union, and domestic water legislation. Accordingly, qualitative and quantitative aspects regarding surface waters and groundwater are to be managed in an integrated manner to achieve “good water status” of rivers, lakes and aquifers. To this end, “international river basin management plans” provided for by the EU Water Framework Directive are developed by international river commissions for Europe’s major transboundary river basins. Götz Reichert analyzes the various dimensions of the regime including their legal interlinkages and considers the question of whether it is successful in achieving its ambitious goals.

Though the modern Spanish State was formed in the mid Fifteenth Century, historical records show that water works, statues, and the utilization of water dates back to centuries BC. As a semi-arid country, the effort to control, store and assure water supplies to cities and fields is present in numerous historical and political landmarks.Water polic