Mother of All Links related to " Water Resources" at global level

Mother of All Links related to " Water Resources" at global level

ICOLD Book on " Dams & the World Water"

ICOLD Book on " Dams & the World Water"

Conjunctive Use of GroundWater and SurfaceWater

World Bank Site says

"Conjunctive water use refers to simultaneous use of surface water and groundwater to meet crop demand. 

To optimize conjunctive use of water, the best way forward is to concentrate on capacity building of irrigation system managers to improve system management and reshape hydraulic infrastructure of large and small-surface systems.

To sustain groundwater use in tube well-irrigated areas, enhancing recharge from precipitation and surface water imports is necessary. 

None of these improvements can be made without the proper institutional and organizational development, including investment in the capacities of local governments to lead on participatory groundwater management and integrated water resources management. "

 For more info :

CONJUNCTIVE USE OF GROUNDWATER AND SURFACE WATER

Global changes and water resources

Global changes and water resources

 

-How climatic and human-induced changes will affect the world’s water resources.

-It has been difficult, even with current technology, to accurately assess the state of world water resources.

- There is no carefully maintained and clear record of global hydrologic change by which to judge the cumulative impact of human activities on the world’s freshwater and coastal support systems...

-While process-based hydrological research remains successful on a small scale, there is a critical need for synthesis studies of complex drainage basins on continental or global domains. This need has provided the impetus for several major international and national observational and modelling programmes.

-more on these studies at  unesco site

 

Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM)

Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is the coordinated development and management of water, land and related resources in order to maximise economic and social welfare without compromising the sustainability of ecosystems and the environment.
 

IWRM is emerging as an accepted alternative to the sector-by-sector, top-down management style that has dominated in the past.

The basis of IWRM is that

• The many different uses of finite water resources are interdependent. (High irrigation demands and polluted drainage flows from agriculture mean less freshwater for drinking or industrial use; contaminated municipal and industrial wastewater pollutes rivers and threatens ecosystems; if water has to be left in a river to protect fisheries and ecosystems, less can be diverted to grow crops.)  There are plenty more examples of the basic theme that unregulated use of scarce water resources is wasteful and inherently unsustainable.

• Integrated Water Resources Management is a cross-sectoral policy approach, designed to replace the traditional, fragmented sectoral approach to water resources and management that has led to poor services and unsustainable resource use.

• IWRM is based on the understanding that water resources are an integral component of the ecosystem, a natural resource, and a social and economic good.

http://globalwaterpartnership.wordpress.com/what-is-iwrm/

Pay Attention to Water Issues- Some thoughts

• If you want to feed the world—and contribute to poverty reduction, human health, and economic prosperity—pay attention to water.
• How can we feed a burgeoning population? Agriculture already uses some 70% of the world’s water. So if food production has to increase to feed today’s population (not to mention tomorrow’s), the stress on water resources will only get worse. How will we meet our energy needs?  productivity issues? climate change issues on say wheat, rice?
• Again, it’s about water. How will we eliminate many water borne diseases?
• Water resources management is about a host of issues such as government policy, financing, allocation, transboundary conflict, and the ecosystem. 
• Sustainable development will not be achieved without a water secure world.
• A water secure world harnesses water’s productive power and minimises its destructive force. It is a world where every person has enough safe, affordable water to lead a clean, healthy and productive life. It is a world where communities are protected from floods, droughts, landslides, erosion and water-borne diseases. Water security also means addressing environmental protection and the negative effects of poor management.
• A water secure world reduces poverty, advances education, and increases living standards. It is a world where there is an improved quality of life for all, especially for the most vulnerable—usually women and children—who benefit most from good water governance.

http://globalwaterpartnership.wordpress.com/manage-water/