River Basin Trajectories Societies, Environments and Development

About this book

Mainstream views of water resource development focus on conventional concepts of supply and demand and often conceive of river basin development as a linear and rational process of harnessing nature and developing water for human use. However, human-environment interactions are more complex and the way societies respond to water challenges is shaped by a number of cultural, environmental, economic and political factors.

Using river basin case studies in a variety of contexts, this book provides an overview of how societies have gradually developed their water resources and furthers our understanding of how such resources can be managed successfully or unsuccessfully. Discussing how and why particular options are selected, and why a particular course of events eventually prevails, the book stresses the importance of context and a multidisciplinary approach in moving towards sustainable and equitable development.

Contents

1. Conceptual and Substantive Introduction
2. The Jordan River Basin, Jordan
3. The Olifant River Basin, South Africa
4. The Lerma-Chapala River Basin, Mexico
5. The Chao Phraya River Basin, Thailand
6. The Yellow River Basin, China
7. The Merguellil River Basin, Tunisia
8. The Ruaha/Rufiji River Basin, Tanzania
9. The Zayandeh Rud Basin, Iran
10. The Bhavani River Basin, India
11. The Pungwe and Save River Basins, Zimbabwe and Mozambique
12. The Murray-Darling River Basin, Australia
13. Synthesis: Human-environment Interactions in a River Basin Context

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