Books

Promoted Content

Limnology (freshwater)

April 2005

Irrigation and Drainage Performance Assessment

Practical Guidelines

by Marinus G Bos, Martin Burton, David J Molden

Effective irrigation and drainage systems are essential if growing demands for water resources are to be met. For the use of water for irrigation to be improved we must understand current levels of performance. This book draws together the growing body of knowledge on irrigation and drainage performance assessment that has been gained over the last twenty years. It provides guidelines for practitioners to enable them to design and carry out performance assessment and implement performance-based management. Developed by a working group of the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) it provides a generic framework for performance assessment with guidance on the theory and practice of how to audit and assess the performance of irrigation and drainage schemes.

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Soil science, sedimentology

October 2007

Irrigation Water Pricing

The Gap Between Theory and Practice

by Edited by François Molle, Jeremy Berkoff

Much hope has been vested in pricing as a means of helping to regulate and rationalize water management, notably in the irrigation sector. The pricing of water has often been applied universally, using general and ideological policies, and not considering regional environmental and economic differences. Almost fifteen years after the emphasis laid at the Dublin and Rio conferences on treating water as an economic good, a comprehensive review of how such policies have helped manage water resources an irrigation use is necessary.The case-studies presented here offer a re-assessment of current policies by evaluating their objectives and constraints and often demonstrating their failure by not considering the regional context. They will therefore contribute to avoiding costly and misplaced reforms and help design water policies that are based on a deeper understanding of the factors which eventually dictate their effectiveness.

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Humanities & Social Sciences

June 2025

Living with water

Everyday encounters and liquid connections

by Charlotte Bates, Kate Moles

Living with water brings together sociologists, geographers, artists, writers and poets to explore the ways in which water binds, immerses and supports us. Drawing from international research on river crossings, boat dwelling, wild swimming, sea fishing, and drought impacts, and navigating urban waters, glacial lagoons, barrier reefs and disappearing tarns, the collection illuminates the ways that we live with and without water, and explores how we can think and write with water on land. Water offers a way of attending to emerging and enduring social and ecological concerns and making sense of them in lively and creative ways. By approaching Living with water from different disciplinary and methodological perspectives, and drawing on research from around the world, this collection opens up discussions that reinvigorate and renew previously landlocked debates. This book is relevant to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6, Clean water and sanitation

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Trusted Partner

April 2023

The Battle for Water

In the century of drought

by Jürgen Rahmig

— Water as a reason for war and a political instrument of power — Unique overview of global water conflicts — Foreword by Wolfgang Ischinger Every year, droughts in African countries cause hundreds of thousands of deaths and much suffering. Europe also experienced drought in 2022's summer of record temperatures. Without water, there can be no life. More and more people are suffering from water shortages. Climate change is fuelling the distribution battles for water; violent conflicts over this precious resource are the order of the day. Whether the protests in Iraq, the war in Syria, in the Himalayas, the Nile conflict and in many other places, water is already a reason for war and is being misused as a political instrument of power. The construction of huge dams, the targeted closure of locks, river diversions, water and land grabbing bring wars over the "blue gold" with them. In a unique overview, journalist Jürgen Rahmig describes the struggle for water in the 21st century. Where do dangers lurk today; where will they be tomorrow, and how can we prevent wars over precious water?

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Business, Economics & Law

March 2023

Water struggles as resistance to neoliberal capitalism

A time of reproductive unrest

by Madelaine Moore

This book provides an important intervention into social reproduction theory and the politics of water. Presenting an incorporated comparison, it analyses the conjuncture following the 2007 financial crisis through the lens of water expropriation and resistance. This brings into view the way that transnational capital has made use of and been facilitated by the strategic selectivities of both the Irish and the Australian state, as well as the particular class formations that emerged in resistance to such water grabs. What is revealed is a crisis-ridden system that is marked by increasing reproductive unrest - class understood through the lens of social reproduction theory. As an important analysis of two significant water struggles, the book makes a compelling argument for integrating the study of social movements within critical political economy.

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Children's & YA

January 2022

Let's Drink Some Water

by Iryna Fingerova (Author), Alina Zharikova (Illustrator)

Does your child like to drink water? Well, may be not really...But everyone in the world should drink enough water every day. Animals, insects, birds, plants, and, of course, people. Maybe you don't know how to get your kid to drink enough water, especially when your they suffer from a cold or throws up? We will be happy to help with this.How? Of course, with this Book. The interactive picture book by writer, doctor and mother Irina Fingerova Let's Drink Some Water will get your kid to drink. Children will help heroes in their adventures, get a smile out of it, and replenish themselves with water!So... Do not forget to prepare a glass of water before reading! From 2 to 5 years, 320 words. Rightsholders: t.zaplitna@gmail.com

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Trusted Partner

Global warming

December 2015

Climate Change and Agricultural Water Management in Developing Countries

by Edited by Chu T Hoanh, Vladimir Smakhtin, Robyn Johnston.

The book provides an analysis of impacts of climate change on water for agriculture, and the adaptation strategies in water management to deal with these impacts. Chapters include an assessment at global level, with details on impacts in various countries. Adaptation measures including groundwater management, water storage, small and large scale irrigation to support agriculture and aquaculture are presented. Agricultural implications of sea level rise, as a subsequent impact of climate change, are also examined.

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Business, Economics & Law

November 2021

Water Conflicts and Cooperation: a Media Handbook

by Rasha Dewedar

This handbook is for journalists, researchers and policy makers that are interested in working on science communication for water peace and cooperation and that are searching for ideas and inspiration. It features descriptions and reflections of the activities (action research, training modules, joint workshops, reporting grants, podcast, online photo campaign...) implemented by Open Water Diplomacy project in the Nile basin, and in the new international basins identified under the top-up activities on capacity development, as well as activities in the field of media and water diplomacy implemented by other actors. It will be an online open access repository of case studies and best practices in the field of journalism and science communication for water peace and cooperation.

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Fertilizers & manures

August 2003

Water Productivity in Agriculture

Limits and Opportunities for Improvement

by Edited by Jacob W Kijne, Randolph Barker, David J Molden

First title in a major new seriesAddresses improving water productivity to relieve problems of scarcity and competition to provide for food and environmental securityDraws from scientists having a multitude of disciplines to approach this important problemIn a large number of developing countries, policy makers and researchers are increasingly aware of the conflicting demands on water, and look at agriculture to be more effective in its use of water. Focusing on both irrigated and rain-fed agriculture, this book gives a state of the art review of the limits and opportunities for improving water productivity in crop production. It demonstrates how efficiency of water use can be enhanced to maximize yields. The book represents the first in a new series of volumes resulting from the Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture, a research program conducted by the CGIAR's Future Harvest Centres, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and partners worldwide. It will be of significant interest to those working in areas of soil and crop science, water management, irrigation, and development studies.

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Trusted Partner

December 2024

The Rangelands of Libya

by Gustave Gintzburger, Slim Saïdi

Libya remains a land of mysteries with a harsh arid climate, a land rich in millenaries of troubled history, a land where the Sahara meet the Mediterranean Sea, a land where the West and the East Mediterranean merge. Libya is also a land where the desert and the sown intermingle in the steppe country where the rainfall is unpredictable, the soils are poor, rocky, saline, rendering rainfed cultivation hazardous, where grazing and rainfed cropping remained for long the only viable agricultural options. Over the past 60 years, oil resources allowed gigantic agricultural development projects, urbanization, road network expansion and well drilling. This changed the ways of life of rural populations, impacting and undoubtedly altering rangelands conditions and systems, as well as native vegetation cover, wildlife and land use. This book reviews the past and current environmental and agricultural condition of the Libyan rangelands with example of how territories and resources are used by tribal communities. It describes, explains and illustrates the landscapes, the vegetation, the wildlife, the rainfed cereal systems and livestock systems, the reasons for the rampant overstocking, the relentless land clearing for hazardous cropping and uncertain irrigation projects, the wild fuelwood collection and charcoal manufacturing, triggering land degradation and desertification. Long-tested rangeland recovery and rehabilitation techniques in Libya are reviewed using appropriate plant material and proven establishment techniques with successes and failures assessed. This book is offered in hopes of a better future for the Libyan people and the whole Mediterranean arid regions from Morocco to Pakistan.

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Humanities & Social Sciences

January 2023

Living with water

by Kate Moles, Charlotte Bates

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Business, Economics & Law

September 2024

Global solidarities against water grabbing

by Caitlin Schroering

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Agriculture & related industries

November 2007

Community-Based Water Law and Water Resource Management Reform in Developing Countries

by B van Koppen, Mark Giordano. Edited by J Butterworth.

The lack of sufficient access to clean water is a common problem faced by communities, efforts to alleviate poverty and gender inequality and improve economic growth in developing countries. While reforms have been implemented to manage water resources, these have taken little notice of how people use and manage their water and have had limited effect at the ground level. On the other hand, regulations developed within communities are livelihood-oriented and provide incentives for collective action but they can also be hierarchal, enforcing power and gender inequalities. This book shows how bringing together the strengths of community-based laws rooted in user participation and the formalized legal systems of the public sector, water management regimes will be more able to reach their goals.

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Children's & YA

La fille de l'eau (The water girl)

by Yves Pinguilly, Sarang Seck

West African mythical tale. Yves Pinguilly and Saran Seick introduce you to the world of love and beauty of the African woman.

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Geography & the Environment

July 2008

Conserving Land, Protecting Water

by Deborah Bossio, Deborah Bossio, Frits W T Penning de Vries, Kim Geheb, Kim Geheb, Line J. Gordon, Antonio Trabucco, William Critchley, Pay Drechsel, Hanspeter Liniger, Francis Gichuki, Lech Ryszkowski, Jules Pretty, Andrew Noble

The degradation of land and water resources resulting primarily from agricultural activities has had enormous impact on human society. In order to alleviate this problem an advanced understanding of the state of our resources and the process of degradation is needed. Conserving Land, Protecting Water includes an overview of existing literature focusing on global patterns of land and water degradation and discussions of new insights drawn from successful case studies on reversing soil and water degradation and their impact on food and environmental security. ; Conserving Land, Protecting Water includes an overview of existing literature focusing on global patterns of land and water degradation and discussions of new insights drawn from successful case studies on reversing soil and water degradation and their impact on food and environmental security. ; Part 1: Land and Water Degradation: Assessment and Issues1.1: Learning from bright spots to enhance food security and to combat degradation of water and land resources.1.2: Land degradation and water productivity in agricultural landscapes.1.3: Land Degradation, ecosystem services and resilience of smallholder farmers in Makanya catachment, Tanzania.1.4: Political ecologies of bright spots1.5: Large scale fluxes of crop nutrients in food cause environmental problems at the sources and at sinks1.6: Carbon sequestration, land degradation and waterPart 2: Towards Better Land and Water Management2.1: Local Innovation in ‘Green Water’ Management2.2: Sustainability and Resilience of the Urban Agricultural Phenomenon in Africa2.3: Safeguarding water resources by making the land greener: knowledge management through WOCAT2.4: Bright basins - do many bright spots make a basin shine?2.5: The influence of plant cover structures on water fluxes in agricultural landscapes2.6: Investments in collective capacity and social capitalPart 3: ‘ Bright Spots’3.1: ‘Bright spots’: Pathways to ensuring food security and environmental integrity3.2: Ecosystem benefits of ‘Bright Spots’

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Trusted Partner

August 2021

Water Town

by Can Xue

Can Xue's latest novel "Water Town" is an artistic display of the complex history of human experience. What kind of survival is free survival? These thousand years of questioning have become extremely urgent in this era. The individual lives created by the writer are squeezed like a magic one by one, forcing themselves, fighting hard amidst the revelation of a grand and dim allegory background, and unanimously following the vague call to the magic after a long journey. Water town. In this wonderland, people will realize their dreams as long as they act. Everything is possible, the power of life rushes to the peak of ideals in the carnival... and the earth responds to the heartbeat in calmness. The free survival of man is a performance art activity, which is also the ancient essential impulse of man. "Water Village" is not only a display of artistic life, but also an advocacy of this kind of life.

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Limnology (freshwater)

February 2005

Irrigation and River Basin Management

Options for Governance and Institutions

by Edited by Mark Svendsen

With increasing water scarcity, pressure to re-allocate water from agriculture to other uses mounts, along with a need to put in place institutional arrangements to promote 'higher value' uses of water. Many developing countries are now experimenting with establishing new institutional arrangements for managing water at the river basin level.This book, based on research by IWMI and others, reviews basin management in six developed and developing countries. It describes and applies a functional theory of river basin management, based on the idea that there is a minimum set of functions required to manage basins effectively and a set of basic conditions that enable effective management institutions to emerge. The book examines the experiences of both developed and developing countries in order to see what lessons can be learned and to identify what constitutes the core of a 'theory of river basin management'. It concludes that although it is difficult for developing countries to adopt approaches and institutional designs directly from developed countries, basic principles and lessons are transferable.

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Water Margin for Children

by Bao Pengshan

Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Chinese Novels, is a very important part of Chinese traditional culture. This series of books (5 volumes) is the teen version of Water Margin, telling the stories of the heroes in Water Margin through vivid characters and intriguing plots. This series will allow more people to learn about the Chinese classical novel and traditional culture.

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Geography & the Environment

October 2021

Key Questions in Hydrology and Watershed Management

A Study and Revision Guide

by Leon Bren, Patrick Lane

This book provides a series of exercises of various types covering matters of hydrology and watershed management. The exercises include true/false questions, multiple choice questions, and numeric, graphical, and analytical exercises. The questions draw on the basic disciplines of hydrology and physics, with some stress placed on correct or appropriate units. The questions reflect the authors' many years of teaching watershed management at undergraduate and graduate levels. Questions cover: 1. Terminology and measurement of flow (and units) 2. Quantifying stream networks 3. Concepts of water balance and evapotranspiration 4. Slope recharge, groundwater hydrology, and water-table/phreatic aquifers 5. Single and paired watershed experiments 6. Impacts of fires on watersheds 7. Concepts and measurements of water quality 8. Flooding forests 9. Valuation of water 10. Protection of forest stream by buffers 11. Urban watershed concepts The book is self-contained, and designed to be used at any time in any place, either for revision or as source material for teaching. The work is graded so that easier questions are presented early, followed by harder questions. Answers are concise but contain enough information to help students study and revise on a topic-by-topic basis. The book concludes with suggestions for student exercises and projects and is an invaluable resource for both students and instructors.

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Management of land & natural resources

August 2013

Managing Water and Agroecosystems for Food Security

by Edited by Eline Boelee

Water protection, food production and ecosystem health are worldwide issues. Changes in the global water cycle are affecting human wellbeing in many places, while widespread land and ecosystem degradation, driven by poor agricultural practices, is seriously limiting food production. Understanding the links between ecosystems, water, and food production is important to the health of all three, and sustainably managing these connections is becoming increasingly necessary. This book shows how sustainable ecosystems, especially agroecosystems, are essential for water management and food production.

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Practical Guidelines

by Marinus G Bos, Martin Burton, David J Molden

The Gap Between Theory and Practice

by Edited by François Molle, Jeremy Berkoff

Everyday encounters and liquid connections

by Charlotte Bates, Kate Moles

In the century of drought

by Jürgen Rahmig

A time of reproductive unrest

by Madelaine Moore

by Iryna Fingerova (Author), Alina Zharikova (Illustrator)

by Edited by Chu T Hoanh, Vladimir Smakhtin, Robyn Johnston.

by Rasha Dewedar

Limits and Opportunities for Improvement

by Edited by Jacob W Kijne, Randolph Barker, David J Molden

by Gustave Gintzburger, Slim Saïdi

by Kate Moles, Charlotte Bates

by Caitlin Schroering

by B van Koppen, Mark Giordano. Edited by J Butterworth.

by Yves Pinguilly, Sarang Seck

by Deborah Bossio, Deborah Bossio, Frits W T Penning de Vries, Kim Geheb, Kim Geheb, Line J. Gordon, Antonio Trabucco, William Critchley, Pay Drechsel, Hanspeter Liniger, Francis Gichuki, Lech Ryszkowski, Jules Pretty, Andrew Noble

by Can Xue

Options for Governance and Institutions

by Edited by Mark Svendsen

by Bao Pengshan

A Study and Revision Guide

by Leon Bren, Patrick Lane

by Edited by Eline Boelee

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