International voices fill the pages of Water and Sustainability in Arid Regions, forming an original scientific exploration of current water research and management issues. In arid regions, agriculture that is ill-adapted to the environment, accelerated urbanization, poverty, and increasing pollution challenge access to and uses of water. Understanding these issues requires incorporating findings from both the physical and social sciences at different temporal and spatial scales. The chapters in this book were written by hydrologists, remote sensing specialists, ecologists, historians, economists, political scientists, architects, archaeologists, and other experts who live in and study arid lands. The authors present updates, overviews, and analyses of water challenges these areas have faced and are striving to address, from salinization in the fabled Taklimakan Desert in China to land degradation in the northern Mediterranean to groundwater over-exploitation in the southwestern United States. The book also examines desertification, remote sensing, qanat systems, architecture, arsenic contamination, and other case studies from Iran, the Maghreb region, Argentina and Chile, and Mexico. From this conceptual mosaic of comparative perspectives and research methods emerges a strong assumption: an interdisciplinary approach that combines physical and social sciences is the first step toward globally and comprehensively addressing water and sustainability."This book is a valuable and welcome contribution to the discussion of water and sustainable development. Through the collection of chapters, the book clearly illustrates the contemporary diversity of approaches to water scarcity and presents pertinent and new research findings that readers generally do not find compiled together. The result is a highly relevant, accessible, and timely resource that is unique in its international and interdisciplinary content. This is a must-read for anyone working on environmental and sustainability issues in arid lands."André Mariotti, University Pierre et Marie Curie, and INSU - CNRS (National Institute for Earth Sciences and Astronomy-National Center for Scientific Research/Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), France "Anyone who reads this book will find himself or herself contemplating the need to rethink how we approach the issue of water and sustainability in arid lands. Drawing on the expertise of both physical and social scientists, the chapters taken as a whole present global, historic, and current perspectives on water scarcity in a multi-layered way that rarely has been done before." Miguel Solanes, Madrid Water Institute, Spain

This book presents the most recent innovative studies in the field of water resources for arid areas to move towards more sustainable management of the resources. It gathers outstanding contributions presented at the 2nd International Water Conference on Water Resources in Arid Areas (IWC), which was held online (Muscat, Oman) in November 2020. Papers discuss challenges and solutions to alleviate water resource scarcity in arid areas, including water resources management, the introduction of modern irrigation systems, natural groundwater recharge, construction of dams for artificial recharge, use of treated wastewater, and desalination technologies. As such, the book provides a platform for the exchange of recent advances in water resources research, which are essential to improving the critical water situation and to move towards more sustainable management of water resources.

Water deficiency in many arid and semi-arid regions in Southern Europe is becoming a major constraint for economic welfare and sustainable regional development. These regions are characterised by high spatial and temporal imbalances of water demand and supply, seasonal water uses, inadequate water resources and poor institutional water management. The aim of this book is to formulate appropriate strategies and guidelines for water management necessary for the formulation and implementation of integrated sustainable management of water resources. Lessons are learned from various case studies, which examine competing water use patterns, compare governance structures and how these have evolved in response to scarcity, and structural and non-structural instruments to address water deficiency. Water Management in Arid and Semi-Arid Regions will appeal to policymakers in relevant countries as well as to scholars and researchers of environmental studies and economics.

A large part of the global population lives in arid lands which have low rainfall and often lack the water required for sustainable population and economic growth. This book presents a comprehensive description of the hydrogeology and hydrologic processes at work in arid lands. It describes the techniques that can be used to assess and manage the water resources of these areas with an emphasis on groundwater resources, including recent advances in hydrologic evaluation and the differences between how aquifer systems behave in arid lands versus more humid areas. Water management techniques are described and summarized to show how a more comprehensive approach to water management is required in these areas, including the need to be aware of cultural sensitivities and conditions unique to many arid regions. The integration of existing resources with the addition of new water sources, such as desalination of brackish water and seawater, along with reusing treated wastewater, will be required to meet future water supply needs. Also, changing climatic conditions will force water management systems to be more robust so that future water supply demands can be met as droughts become more intense and rainfall events become more intense. A range of water management techniques are described and discussed in order to illustrate the methods for integrating these measures within the context of arid lands conditions.

The management of water resources is extremely important for survival. Depending on the climate, certain regions require different strategies to maintain sustainable hydrological systems. Hydrology and Best Practices for Managing Water Resources in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands is a crucial scholarly resource that outlines current trends in water management and offers solutions for the future of this growing field. Highlighting pertinent topics such as hydrological processes modelling, satellite hydrology, water pollution, and climate resources, this publication is ideal for environmental engineers, academicians, graduate students, and researchers that are eager to discover more about the issues and processes currently shaping water management technology.

Interdisciplinary volume considers how nine arid/semi-arid river basins with irrigated agriculture will survive future climate change, siltation, and decreased flow.

Arid and semi-arid regions face major challenges in the management of scarce freshwater resources under pressures of population, economic development, climate change, pollution and over-abstraction. Groundwater is commonly the most important water resource in these areas. Groundwater models are widely used globally to understand groundwater systems and to guide decisions on management. However, the hydrology of arid and semi-arid areas is very different from that of humid regions, and there is little guidance on the special challenges of groundwater modelling for these areas. This book brings together the experience of internationally leading experts to fill a gap in the scientific and technical literature. It introduces state-of-the-art methods for modelling groundwater resources, illustrated with a wide-ranging set of illustrative examples from around the world. The book is valuable for researchers, practitioners in developed and developing countries, and graduate students in hydrology, hydrogeology, water resources management, environmental engineering and geography.