Water Management Guide

Many people worldwide lack adequate access to clean water to meet basic needs, and many important economic activities, such as energy production and agriculture, also require water. Climate change is likely to aggravate water stress. As temperatures rise, ecosystems and the human, plant, and animal communities that depend on them will need more water to maintain their health and to thrive. Forests and trees are integral to the global water cycle and therefore vital for water security – they regulate water quantity, quality, and timing and provide protective functions against (for example) soil and coastal erosion, flooding, and avalanches. Forested watersheds provide 75 percent of our freshwater, delivering water to over half the world’s population. The purpose of A Guide to Forest–Water Management is to improve the global information base on the protective functions of forests for soil and water. It reviews emerging techniques and methodologies, provides guidance and recommendations on how to manage forests for their water ecosystem services, and offers insights into the business and economic cases for managing forests for water ecosystem services. Intact native forests and well-managed planted forests can be a relatively cheap approach to water management while generating multiple co-benefits. Water security is a significant global challenge, but this paper argues that water-centered forests can provide nature-based solutions to ensuring global water resilience.

This book provides an overview of facts, theories and methods from hydrology, geology, geophysics, law, ethics, economics, ecology, engineering, sociology, diplomacy and many other disciplines with relevance for concepts and practice of water resources management. It provides comprehensive, but also critical reading material for all communities involved in the ongoing water discourses and debates. The book refers to case studies in the form of boxes, sections, or as entire chapters. They illustrate success stories, but also lessons to be remembered, to avoid repeating the same mistakes. Based on consolidated state-of-the-art knowledge, it has been conceived and written to attract a multidisciplinary audience. The aim of this handbook is to facilitate understanding between the participants of the international water discourse and multi-level decision making processes. Knowing more about water, but also about concepts, methods and aspirations of different professional, disciplinary communities and stakeholders professionalizes the debate and enhances the decision making.

A key question for individuals involved in managing watersheds is, "What is an effective process that will integrate science, policy, and public participation in order to help manage water resources effectively?" The Watershed Project Management Guide presents a four-phase approach to watershed management that is based on a collaborative process that responds to common needs and goals. It utilizes assessments and decision processes that are based on local knowledge and a combination of biophysical, social, and economic information. Individually these principles and practices are not new, but in combination they describe an innovative approach for addressing complex water and related management issues. This recommended process consists of a series of four basic phases; Assessment, Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation, which are built on stakeholder involvement, social capacity, and adequate monitoring. This four-phased approach will assist watershed practitioners develop a plan consistent with the recently released USDA-EPA Watershed Management Planning and Implementation Process guidance. This process can be used to implement a management strategy to meet the load allocations required by an approved Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), the goals of a Source Water Protection Plan, USDA programs such as EQIP, or Section 319 Project. The process outlined in the text is applicable for both restoration and prevention projects. The Watershed Project Management Guide focuses on the complexities of the watershed management process, the watershed partnership's role in the processes, and what needs to be done next. The author has kept the technical jargon to a minimum to help the reader easily grasp the important points and where appropriate directs the reader to specific resources and references for further information. About the Author: Thomas E. Davenport is an Environmental Scientist for the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency and was designated as the Agency's National Expert on Nonpoint Source Control in 1991. Dr. Davenport has received seven Bronze Medals from the EPA for outstanding contributions for various activities related to nonpoint source, lake restoration, and watershed management. Dr. Davenport has published over 40 papers, book chapters, and project reports. Present duties include serving as the Water Program Lead for the Great Lakes/Baltic Seas and 3 Rivers 3 Countries Watershed Capacity Building Projects.

Water Management Models: A Guide to Software is designed to make the inventory of modeling tools more accessible to water management professionals. The purpose of the book is to assist water managers, planners, engineers, and scientists in sorting through the maze of models to understand which ones might be most useful for their particular modeling needs. Information is provided to facilitate identification, selection, and acquisition of software packages for a broad spectrum of water resources planning and management applications.

Did you know? -In 1999, a fight between two villages over water from a spring, located near Ta'iz in Yemen, resulted in six deaths and left another sixty injured. -In January 2018, the mayor of Cape Town declared 22nd April 2018 as 'Day Zero', since there was no water supply in the city. -A newly constructed dam in Ethiopia could jeopardize the lives of millions of people in Egypt in future. Read on to know who intervened in the Yemenis village water crisis to avert a civil war? How the city of Cape Town could avoid the doomsday of zero water? Or why Egypt and the countries in the Middle East are importing maize and other cereals, and resorting to a Virtual Water Trade? Also read about water harvesting, ground water recharge, water demand management practices followed across the world. This book is strongly recommended for all wise scholars and professionals who value water.

This volume focuses on practical aspects of sustainable water management in urban areas and presents a discussion of key concepts, methodologies, and case studies of innovative and evolving technologies. Topics include: (1) challenges in urban water resiliency; (2) water and energy nexus; (3) integrated urban water management; and (4) water reuse options (black water, gray water, rainwater). This volume serves as a useful reference for students and researchers involved in holistic approaches to water management, and as a valuable guide to experts in governmental agencies as well as planners and engineers concerned with sustainable water management systems in urban environments.