Water plays a key role in addressing the most pressing global challenges of our time, including climate change adaptation, food and energy security, environmental sustainability and the promotion of peace and stability. This comprehensive handbook explores the pivotal place of law and policy in efforts to ensure that water enables positive responses to these challenges and provides a basis for sound governance. The book reveals that significant progress has been made in recent decades to strengthen the governance of water resource management at different scales, including helping to address international and sub-national conflicts over transboundary water resources. It demonstrates that ‘effective’ laws and policies are fundamental drivers for the safe, equitable and sustainable utilization of water. However, it is also shown that what might constitute an effective law or policy related to water resources management is still hotly debated. As such, the handbook provides an important and definitive reference text for all studying water governance and management.

Provides a clearly presented overview of the law's provisions and pertient regulation and enforcement issues.

The Research Handbook on International Water Law surveys the field of the law of shared freshwater resources. In some thirty chapters, it covers subjects ranging from the general principles operative in the field and international groundwater law to the human right to water and whether international water law is prepared to cope with climate disruption. The authors are internationally recognized experts in the field, most with years of experience. The Research Handbook is edited by three scholars and practitioners whose publications and work deal with the law of international watercourses.

This work provides those involved in water purification research and administration with a comprehensive resource of methods for analyzing water to assure its safety from contaminants, both natural and human caused. The book first provides an overview of major water-related issues in developing and developed countries, followed by a review of issues of sampling for water analysis, regulatory considerations and forensics in water quality and purity investigations. The subsequent chapters cover microbial as well chemical contaminations from inorganic compounds, radionuclides, volatile and semi-volatile compounds, disinfectants, herbicides, and pharmaceuticals, including endocrine disruptors, as well as potential terrorist-related contamination. The last chapter describes the Grainger prize-winning filter that can remove arsenic from water sources and sufficiently protect the health of a large number of people. Covers the scope of water contamination problems on a worldwide scale Provides a rich source of methods for analyzing water to assure its safety from natural and deliberate contaminants Describes the filter that won the $1 million Grainger prize and thereby highlighting an important approach to remediation