Water Laws In Selected European Countries Belgium England And Wales France Israel Italy Spain Turkey

Recent years have witnessed a significant acceleration in the revision of forest laws around the world. Forest law increasingly recognizes the multiple interests involved in or affected by forest management, with greater attention given to the environmental and social roles of forest resources and to their sustainable management and use. In addition, renewed emphasis is being placed on the involvement of a wider range of public and private actors. Issues in which forest laws have been reoriented include local forest and private management, the environmental functions of forests, forest management planning and forest utilization contracts.

A robust regulatory framework for the corporate governance of water users' organizations is a fundamental ingredient of irrigation management transfer policies. The present publication offers a comparative analysis of the contemporary legislation of a wide variety of countries, providing the needed regulatory framework for water users' organizations to function and grow.

The vital importance of water to human activity is such that most societies and cultures have sought to establish legal rules over its use and allocation. In most jurisdictions legal rights to water have been linked to land tenure and ownership rights. A number of countries have recently undertaken substantive water law reforms, usually involving the introduction of formal and explicit water rights that clearly specify the volume of water that is subject to each right ("modern water rights"), together with institutional arrangements for their allocation, registration, monitoring and enforcement. Modern water rights are not intrinsically tied to specific land plots, are often transferable and available to be traded on a temporary or permament basis. This book reviews international experiences of the introduction and use of modern water rights. It is based on a survey of relevant primary and secondary legislation, published literature, internet sources and practical experience.

As the pressure on finite resources of freshwater resources increases, government-administered legislation is taking a more dominant role in water resources management and protection. This manual is intended to bridge the gap between the policy and principles of the resultant primary legislation and implementation through secondary legislation. It covers a variety of legislative approaches cvoering all aspects of water resource management from water rights & permits, pollution prevention & control; conservation; flood control; irrigation; drainage and charging. It is an update of of the earlier FAO Legislative Study No. 52 (1994). Like its predecessor, it provides conceptual material for use in the preparation of national regulations for the management, development, use and protection of freshwater resources.