Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) aims at finding practical and sustainable solutions to water resource issues. Research and practice have shown that innovative methods and tools are not sufficient to implement IWRM - the concept needs to also be integrated in prevailing management paradigms and institutions. Water governance science addresses this human dimension by focusing on the a...

Switzerland provides an example of successful management of water infrastructure and water resources that was accomplished largely without integration across sectors. Limitations in this approach have become apparent; decisions that were formerly based only on technical and economic feasibility must now incorporate broader objectives such as ecological impact. In addition, current and emerging ...

Human uses of freshwater resources are increasing rapidly as the world population rises. As this happens, less water is left to support aquatic and associated ecosystems. To minimize future human water shortages and undesirable environmental impacts, more equitable sharing of water resources between society and nature is required. This will require physical quantities and social values to be pl...

There is a historical association between wetlands and infectious disease that has led to the modification of wetlands to prevent disease. At the same time there has been the development of water resources projects that increase the risk of disease. The demand for more water development projects and the increased pressure to make natural wetlands economically beneficial creates the need for an ...

The prediction of hydrological dynamics is an important issue in the scientific community of hydrologists and modellers and essential for integrated water resources decision support. However, the utilization of hydrological models in regions with no or a limited amount of measured data is restricted. Remote sensing techniques provide the means to derive such information, e.g. land cover or soil...

The efficient control of water usage is one of the core goals of the strictest water resources management system in China. Therefore, the objective and reasonable evaluation of the effects of implementing this system is crucial. Based on the natural and social water cycle theories and the mechanism of the influence of agricultural, industrial, domestic and ecological water utilization, this pap...

This paper reviews the importance of African lakes and their management challenges. African inland lakes contribute significantly to food security, livelihoods and national economies through direct exploitation of fisheries, water resources for irrigation and hydropower generation. Because of these key contributions, the ecosystem services provided are under significant stress mainly owing to h...

The Eastern Mediterranean Region of the WHO is the poorest region in the world in water resources as a Region and per capita. This paper summarizes existing practices and constraints regarding wastewater treatment and reuse in the Region and describes the health impact of inappropriate practices. Appropriate treatment for agricultural use from the health point of view, and the health regulation...

There has been very limited research on water use efficiency for soil conservation (WUE-SC) in typical water scarce regions such as the lower Heihe River Basin, where there is serious wind erosion and the soil conservation service plays a key role in guaranteeing the ecological safety of Northern China. The soil conservation service, which was represented by the soil conservation amount (SC), w...