Today the world is facing a greater water crisis than ever. Droughts of lesser magnitude are resulting in greater impact. Even in years with normal precipitation, water shortages have become widespread in both developing and developed nations, in humid as well as arid climates. When faced with severe drought, governments become eager to act. Unfort

This volume includes over 30 chapters, written by experts from around the world. It examines the environmental aspects of drought such as groundwater and soil contamination, river low-flow, urban water quality, and desertification. It also examines the effects of climate change and variability on drought, and discusses the differences in groundwater, rainfall, and temperatures and their related effects. It presents analytical modeling for better understanding drought in uncertain and changing climates.

Drought Challenges: Livelihood Implications in Developing Countries, Volume Two, provides an understanding of the occurrence and impacts of droughts for developing countries and vulnerable sub-groups, such as women and pastoralists. It presents tools for assessing vulnerabilities, introduces individual policies to combat the effects of droughts, and highlights the importance of integrated multi-sectoral approaches and drought networks at various levels. Currently, there are few books on the market that address the growing need for knowledge on these cross-cutting issues. As drought can occur anywhere, the systemic connections between droughts and livelihoods are a key factor in development in many dryland and agriculturally-dependent nations. Connects the biophysical, social, economic, policy and institutional aspects of droughts across multiple regions in developing world Analyzes policy linkages between government agencies, public institutions, NGOs, the private sector and communities Includes a discussion of gender dimensions of drought and its impacts Presents a multi-sectoral perspective, including the human dimensions of drought in developing countries

"Over the past decade there have been extraordinary advances towards drought risk reduction with the development of new water-conserving technologies, and new tools for planning, vulnerability and impact assessment, mitigation, and policy. Drought and Water Crises: Integrating Science, Management, and Policy, Second Edition comprehensively captures this evolving progress as it discusses drought management in the light of present risks, global climate change and public policy actions. This new edition emphasizes the paradigm shift from managing disasters to managing risk, reflecting the global emphasis that has evolved in recent years, a new focus that shines light on preparedness strategies and the tools and methods that are essential in drought risk reduction. The book provides additional relevant case studies that integrate this new approach and discusses examples applied in both developed and developing countries."--Provided by publisher.

How is water scarcity becoming a serious problem worldwide—including in the United States? This book provides a broad overview of water, sanitation, and hygiene problems faced by both developing and developed nations around the globe and suggests how these problems can be solved by imaginative and innovative thinking. Human society depends on sufficient clean water. In many parts of the world, however, this most basic commodity is in very short supply. Even in developed, first-world nations, climate change and other factors have begun to create alarming water supply issues. The Global Water Crisis: A Reference Handbook provides a detailed overview of this important topic, enabling readers to understand the nature of the world's water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) problems and to know what resources are best for conducting their own research on the topic. The first chapter of the book provides the historical background information pertaining to the world's water and sanitation problems; the second chapter documents the problems, explores the issues, and presents potential solutions for understanding the nature of WASH issues. The other sections provide the needed resources for readers to study the issue of the global water crisis further: perspective essays, primary documents, biographical profiles, data and documents, an extended annotated bibliography, a chronology, and a glossary.

Always considered a classic renewable resource, after a hundred thousand years of farming and industry, rivers in many parts of the world are running dry and the groundwater is over pumped. In addition, the rate at which water sources are becoming contaminated with waste from humans, industry, and agriculture is truly alarming. Do these factors add up to a water crisis that merits drastic, large-scale action? Not necessarily say the editors of Water Crisis: Myth or Reality. They challenge this pessimism, concluding that while there are serious global water issues to be considered, the concept of a global water crisis is largely overstated. The book examines the issues and explores which conditions are permanent and unchangeable and which are remediable and changeable. The chapters explore when and where severe regional and local water problems occur and make suggestions about how they may be solved in a deliberate, non-crisis manner. The book covers recent breakthroughs in desalination technologies, the eco-sanitation revolution, international trade in agricultural products, methods of governance and negotiation in water allocation, and pricing and devolution of property rights and the roles they play in solving water issues. The editors, along with a panel of world-renowned experts, suggest that water issues can be solved over the next few decades using new technologies and processes.

This Book includes selected papers that has been published in the Water journal Special Issue (SI) on Water Supply and Water Scarcity. Moreover, an overview of the SI is included. The papers selected for publication in the SI include review and research papers on water history, on water management issues under water scarcity regimes, on rainwater harvesting, on water quality and degradation, and on climatic variability impacts on water resources. Overall, the issue identify and highlight the main challenges in water sector, and particularly in management and protection of water resources and in use of alternative (non-conventional) water resources, especially in areas with demographic change and climate vulnerability in order to achieve sustainable and secure water supply. Furthermore, general guidelines and possible solutions for an improved and sophisticated water management system are proposed and discussed, such as the adoption of advanced technological solutions and practices that improve water-use efficiency and the use of alternative water resources, to address the growing environmental and health issues and to reduce the emerging conflicts among water users.