There are many people and places connected to rivers: fishermen whose livelihood depends on river ecosystems, farms that need irrigation, indigenous groups whose cultures rely on fish and flowing waters, cities whose electricity comes from hydroelectric dams, and citizens who seek wild nature. For all of these people, instream flow is vitally important to where and how they live and work. Riverflow reveals the diverse and creative ways people are using the law to restore rivers, from the Columbia, Colorado, Klamath and Sacramento-San Joaquin watersheds in America, to the watersheds of the Tweed in England and Scotland, the Fraser in Canada, the Saru in Japan, the Nile in North Africa, and the Tigris-Euphrates in the Middle East. Riverflow documents that we already have the legal tools to preserve the ecological integrity of our waterways; the question is whether we have the political will to deploy these tools effectively.

Instream Flow Protection is a comprehensive overview of Western water use and the issues that surround it. The authors explain instream flow and its historical, political, and legal context; describe current instream flow laws and policies; and present methods of protecting instream flow. They provide numerous examples to illustrate their discussions, with case studies of major river systems including the Bitterroot, Clark's Fork, Colorado, Columbia, Mimbres, Mono Lake, Platte, Snake, and Wind. Policymakers, land and water managers at local, state, and federal levels, attorneys, students and researchers of water issues, and anyone concerned with instream flow protection will find the book enormously valuable.

Water for the Environment: From Policy and Science to Implementation and Management provides a holistic view of environmental water management, offering clear links across disciplines that allow water managers to face mounting challenges. The book highlights current challenges and potential solutions, helping define the future direction for environmental water management. In addition, it includes a significant review of current literature and state of knowledge, providing a one-stop resource for environmental water managers. - Presents a multidisciplinary approach that allows water managers to make connections across related disciplines, such as hydrology, ecology, law, and economics - Links science to practice for environmental flow researchers and those that implement and manage environmental water on a daily basis - Includes case studies to demonstrate key points and address implementation issues

The Clean Water Act (CWA) requires that wetlands be protected from degradation because of their important ecological functions including maintenance of high water quality and provision of fish and wildlife habitat. However, this protection generally does not encompass riparian areasâ€"the lands bordering rivers and lakesâ€"even though they often provide the same functions as wetlands. Growing recognition of the similarities in wetland and riparian area functioning and the differences in their legal protection led the NRC in 1999 to undertake a study of riparian areas, which has culminated in Riparian Areas: Functioning and Strategies for Management. The report is intended to heighten awareness of riparian areas commensurate with their ecological and societal values. The primary conclusion is that, because riparian areas perform a disproportionate number of biological and physical functions on a unit area basis, restoration of riparian functions along America's waterbodies should be a national goal.