International River Water Quality

This book is a collection of papers presented at the 2nd International River Quality Symposium. The papers give case studies of the quality of rivers in different parts of the world, focusing particularly on the polluted Vistula River in Poland and the revived Will amette River in Oregon, USA which was the subject of a major cleaning operation in the 1970s. The book provides valuable information on the quality of rivers in Eastern Europe, particulary Poland. It is timely since, with the collapse of communism, Eastern European countries are faced with tackling huge environmental problems created by the lack of investment in environmental technology. The situation in Poland is contrasted with the USA and UK where water pollution problems have largely been overcome.

The purpose of this book is to present practical information on the planning and conduction of river water quality monitoring studies.

The global attention in recent years has focused primarily on water quantity and allocation issues. Water quality has received significantly less attention than water quantity. Commendable progress has been made by the developed world to control point sources of pollution, but commensurate progress in reducing non-point sources has not been made. In the third world countries both point and non-point sources of pollution are becoming increasingly a serious concern. Already, nearly all water bodies in such countries near and around urban centres have been severely polluted, with very high health and environmental costs. The book assesses the current status of water quality management in both developed and developing worlds, as well as analysing the effectiveness of economic instruments and legal and institutional frameworks to control water contamination. It outlines the importance of building up social and political awareness to reverse the trend of continuing water quality deterioration, which is likely to be a most challenging task in the coming years. This book was published as a special issue of International Journal of Water Resources Development.