65 books match the query 'Water-supply' and 16 start with w

cover of Water Brings No Harm: Management Knowledge and the Struggle for the Waters of Kilimanjaro

Water Brings No Harm

Management Knowledge and the Struggle for the Waters of Kilimanjaro

Matthew V. Bender

Ohio University Press, 2019

In Water Brings No Harm, Matthew V. Bender explores the history of community water management on Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Kilimanjaro’s Chagga-speaking peoples have long managed water by employing diverse knowledge: hydrological, technological, social, cultural, and political. Since the 1850s, they have encountered groups from beyond the mountain—colonial officials, missionaries, settlers, the independent Tanzanian state, development agencies, and climate scientists—who have understood water differently. Drawing on the concept of waterscapes—a term that describes how people “see” water, and how physical water resources intersect with their own beliefs, needs, and expectations—Bender argues that water conflicts should be understood as struggles between competing forms of knowledge.

Water Brings No Harm encourages readers to think about the origins and interpretation of knowledge and development in Africa and the global south. It also speaks to the current global water crisis, proposing a new model for approaching sustainable water development worldwide.

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cover of Water Politics in Northern Nevada: A Century of Struggle

Water Politics in Northern Nevada

A Century of Struggle

Leah J. Wilds

University of Nevada Press, 2010

Nevada’s Newlands Project, completed in 1915, was the first federally subsidized water reclamation scheme in the U.S. Water Politics in Northern Nevada examines its construction and its many unintended consequences, including deterioration of water quality, destruction of vital wetlands, interruption of ecosystems, and pollution of waterways and ground water. The project also resulted in decades of litigation involving water allocation and the abatement of environmental, social, and economic problems. This book traces the long course of negotiation between competing users that resulted in the signing of the Truckee River Operating Agreement in 2008. It illustrates the challenges of sharing a scarce resource to meet diverse needs and of preserving the resource and the environment for future generations.
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cover of Water Politics in Northern Nevada: A Century of Struggle, Second Edition

Water Politics in Northern Nevada

A Century of Struggle, Second Edition

Leah J. Wilds

University of Nevada Press, 2014

In northwestern Nevada, the waters of the Truckee, Carson, and Walker river systems are fought over by competing interests: agriculture, industry, Native Americans and newer residents, and environmentalists. Much of the conflict was caused by the Newlands Project, completed in 1915, the earliest federal water reclamation scheme. Diverting these waters destroyed vital wetlands, polluted groundwater, nearly annihilated the cui-ui and the Lahontan cutthroat trout, and threatened the existence of Pyramid Lake.

Water Politics in Northern Nevada examines the Newlands Project, its unintended consequences, and decades of litigation over the abatement of these problems and fair allocation of water. Negotiations and federal legislation brought about the Truckee River Operating Agreement in 2008. This revised edition brings the reader up to date on the implementation of the agreement, including ongoing efforts to preserve and enhance Pyramid Lake. The second edition now also includes a discussion of the Walker River basin, following a major project undertaken to address concerns about the health and viability of Walker Lake. The approaches taken to save these two desert treasures, Pyramid Lake and Walker Lake, are offered as models for resolving similar water-resource conflicts in the West.

Leah J. Wilds’s study is crucial reading for students and scholars of water politics and environmental issues, not just in Nevada but throughout the western United States.
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cover of Water Resources: Efficient, Sustainable and Equitable Use

Water Resources

Efficient, Sustainable and Equitable Use

Wolfram Mauser

Haus Publishing, 2008

Water is a vital part of every ecosystem on the planet. It is a prerequisite for the basic function and productive efficiency of life on Earth. Today, approximately a third of the earth's population suffers because of water scarcity, and by the year 2025, this percentage is likely rise to two-thirds. Water Resources: Efficient, Sustainable and Equitable Use shows what conflicts this will entail, and provides a basis for possible solutions.
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cover of Water Wisdom: Preparing the Groundwork for Cooperative and Sustainable Water Management in the Middle East

Water Wisdom

Preparing the Groundwork for Cooperative and Sustainable Water Management in the Middle East

Abed Rabbo, Alfred

Rutgers University Press, 2010

Israel and Palestine are, by international criteria, water scarce. As the peace process continues amidst ongoing violence, water remains a political and environmental issue. Thirty leading Palestinian and Israeli activists, water scientists, politicians, and others met and worked together to develop a future vision for the sustainable shared management of water resources that is presented in Water Wisdom. Their essays explore the full range of scientific, political, social, and economic issues related to water use in the region; acknowledge areas of continuing controversy, from access rights to the Mountain Aquifer to utilization of waters from the Jordan River; and identify areas of agreement, disagreement, and options for resolution. Water Wisdom is model for those who believe that water conflict can be an opportunity for cooperation rather than violence.
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cover of Water and Climate in the Western United States

Water and Climate in the Western United States

W Lewis

University Press of Colorado, 2003

Water and Climate in the Western United States highlights the opportunity for and necessity of change in management of water, the West's most crucial resource. As old policies and institutions fail to meet changing demands for and availability of w
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cover of Water and Politics: Clientelism and Reform in Urban Mexico

Water and Politics

Clientelism and Reform in Urban Mexico

Veronica Herrera

University of Michigan Press, 2017

Most of the world’s population lives in cities in developing countries, where access to basic public services, such as water, electricity, and health clinics, is either inadequate or sorely missing. Water and Politics shows how politicians benefit politically from manipulating public service provision for electoral gain. In many young democracies, politicians exchange water service for votes or political support, rewarding allies or punishing political enemies. Surprisingly, the political problem of water provision has become more pronounced, as water service represents a valuable political currency in resource-scarce environments.

Water and Politics finds that middle-class and industrial elites play an important role in generating pressure for public service reforms.


 
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cover of Water in Texas: An Introduction

Water in Texas

An Introduction

By Andrew Sansom

University of Texas Press, 2008

No natural resource issue has greater significance for the future of Texas than water. The state's demand for water for municipal, industrial, agricultural, and recreational uses continues to grow exponentially, while the supply from rivers, lakes, aquifers, and reservoirs is limited. To help Texans manage their water resources today and plan for future needs, one of Texas's top water experts has compiled this authoritative overview of water issues in Texas.

Water in Texas covers all the major themes in water management and conservation:

  • Living with a Limited Resource
  • The Molecule that Moves Mountains
  • A Texas Water Journey
  • The Gulf Shores of Texas
  • Who's Who in Water
  • Texas Water Law: A Blend of Two Cultures
  • Does Texas Have Enough Water?
  • Planning for the Future
  • What's in Your Water?
  • How Much is Water Worth?
  • Water is Our Legacy

Illustrated with color photographs and maps, Water in Texas will be the essential resource for landowners, citizen activists, policymakers, and city planners.

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cover of Water in the Middle East: A Geography of Peace

Water in the Middle East

A Geography of Peace

Edited by Hussein A. Amery and Aaron Wolf

University of Texas Press, 2000

Finding "streams in the desert" has never been more urgent for the peoples of the Middle East. Rapid population growth and a rising standard of living are driving water demand inexorably upward, while the natural supply has not increased since Biblical times. Ensuring a fair and adequate distribution of water in the region is vitally important for building a lasting peace among the nations of the Middle East.

Addressing water needs from a geographical perspective, the contributors to this book analyze and assess the impact of scarce water resources in the Jordan River basin countries and territories (Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria) as these long-time antagonists work toward peace. After geographical and historical overviews, the authors envision the future-what the water issues may be when Israel and Syria begin negotiating, the "hydro-security" needs of each nation, and the difficulties of planning for uncertainty. Without proposing any one ideal scheme, they discuss the possibilities for cooperative sharing of water resources, while honestly acknowledging the political constraints that may limit such projects. The final essay speaks to the needs of the one party so rarely represented at the negotiating table—the Jordan River itself.

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cover of Water in the West: A High Country News Reader

Water in the West

A High Country News Reader

Char Miller

Oregon State University Press, 2000

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cover of Water, Community, and the Culture of Owning

Water, Community, and the Culture of Owning

Eric T. Freyfogle

University of Utah Press, 2018

In this timely work, Eric Freyfogle probes the long-simmering struggles in the American West to address water-related problem. The big challenge is to resolve water shortages and meet high-valued water needs while also improving river ecosystems. These water conflicts, he suggests, have less to do with our contentious political differences than they do with longstanding core elements of American culture—inherited, shared ways of understanding our place in nature that no longer make good sense. Particularly troublesome are the ways we fragment it, valuing its parts as discrete commodities. Also at play is our cultural inability to think clearly about how best to draw the line between the legitimate use of nature and the abuse of it. 
 
Building on these cultural critiques, Freyfogle takes up the issue of private property rights, highlighting the longstanding flexibility of this key American institution as well as the moral imperative to ensure that property rights aren’t used in ways that harm communities. Outdated understandings about private property, he concludes, have further confused our understanding and made sensible solutions to water problems even harder to imagine. Water-policy reform won’t happen, Freyfogle argues, until we reconsider how we understand nature and take charge of the institution of ownership, recasting it so as to increase the benefits it generates for everyone. If we can do that, solutions to water troubles could prove easier than we expect. The work concludes with an original, sweeping policy proposal to resolve the West’s water shortages and meet environmental needs in ways fair to all.
 
This lecture was presented on March 22, 2017, at the 22nd annual symposium sponsored by the Wallace Stegner Center for Land, Resources and the Environment at the S. J. Quinney College of Law, University of Utah.
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cover of Waters of Oregon: A Source Book on Oregon's Water and Water Management

Waters of Oregon

A Source Book on Oregon's Water and Water Management

Rick Bastasch

Oregon State University Press, 1998

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cover of Wellsprings: A Natural History of Bottled Spring Waters

Wellsprings

A Natural History of Bottled Spring Waters

Chapelle, Francis H.

Rutgers University Press, 2005

Bottled water is a part of everyday life for millions of Americans. Per capita consumption in the United States now tops fifteen gallons per year with sales over $5 billion in 2002. Even as fuel prices climb, many people are still willing to pay more for a gallon of bottled water than they are for the equivalent in gasoline. At the same time, bottled water has become a symbol of refined taste and a healthy lifestyle. But despite its growing popularity, many people cannot quite put their finger on just why they prefer bottled water to the much less expensive tap variety. Some have a vague notion that bottled water is "healthier," some prefer the convenience and more consistent taste, and others are simply content to follow the trend. The fact is most people know very little about the natural beverage that they drink and enjoy. It is reasonable to wonder, therefore, just what differentiates bottled water from other water? Is it really better or healthier than tap water? Why is it that different brands seem to have subtle variations in taste?

As Francis H. Chapelle reveals in this delightful and informative volume, a complex story of geology, hydrology, and history lies behind every bottle of spring water. The book chronicles the history of the bottled water industry in America from its beginnings in Europe hundreds of years ago to the present day. Subsequent chapters describe the chemical characteristics that make some waters desirable, and provide an overview of the geologic circumstances that produce them. Wellsprings explains how these geologic conditions vary throughout the country, and how this affects the kinds and quality of bottled water that are available. Finally, Chapelle shows how the bottled water industry uses this natural history, together with the perceived health benefits of spring waters, to market their products.

Accessibly written and well illustrated, Wellsprings is both a revealing account and a user’s guide to natural spring waters. Regardless of your drinking preference, this timely exploration will make your next drink of water refreshingly informed.

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cover of Western Water A to Z: The History, Nature, and Culture of a Vanishing Resource

Western Water A to Z

The History, Nature, and Culture of a Vanishing Resource

by Robert R. Crifasi

University Press of Colorado, 2022

Western Water A to Z is the first ever field guide to Western water. Reinventing this twentieth-century genre for a twenty-first-century audience, Robert R. Crifasi answers questions about rivers, water projects, the culture of water, the ecosystems water projects have created or destroyed, and the reliance of cities, farms, and industries on this critical resource.
 
Organized as a collection of terms, the book addresses the most salient water issues and provides helpful background information regarding their origins and implications. Photographs serve a vital role in the cultural dialogue on water and stand as an equal partner to the text. Each subject is covered in about one page and is accompanied by one or two striking images from famous photographers like Margaret Bourke-White, Carleton E. Watkins, Arthur Rothstein, William Henry Jackson, and Dorothea Lang as well as Crifasi’s own work. Water often finds itself at the center of our cultural discourse in art, cinema, and literature, which play essential roles in shaping our understanding and experience of Western water. Crifasi also engages personalities that are nearly synonymous with Western water—John Wesley Powell, Elwood Mead, and Floyd Dominy, among others—to show how their lives intertwined with and often influenced the course of water development across the region.
 
Travelers, adventurers, students, and anyone interested in water will find Western Water A to Z a handy and entertaining reference guide.
 
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cover of Where Rivers Meet the Sea: The Political Ecology of Water

Where Rivers Meet the Sea

The Political Ecology of Water

Stephanie Kane

Temple University Press, 2012

Where fresh water appears to be abundant and generally accessible, chronic pollution may be relatively ignored as a public issue. Yet there are those whose lives, livelihoods, and traditions are touched directly by the destructive albeit essential relationship between humans and water. 

In her passionate and persuasively argued Where Rivers Meet the Sea, Stephanie Kane compares two cities and nations—Salvador, Brazil and Buenos Aires, Argentina—as she tells the stories of those who organize in the streets, petition the courts, and challenge their governments to implement and enforce existing laws designed to protect springs, lakes, harbors, and rivers.

Illuminating the complex and distinctive cultural forces in the South Atlantic that shape conflicts and collaborations pertaining to particular waterfront settings, Kane shows the dilemmas, inventiveness, and persistence that provide the foundation for environmental and social justice movements writ large.

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cover of Working Watersheds: Water and Energy in the Lackawanna Valley

Working Watersheds

Water and Energy in the Lackawanna Valley

William Conlogue

Temple University Press, 2025

A personal narrative, an examination of literary texts, and a history of the Lackawanna Valley region, Bill Conlogue’s Working Watersheds explores how water has circulated in the former anthracite capital of the world. Conlogue not only recounts water’s use in anthracite mining and textile making, but also investigates its resulting pollution. He delves into the current natural gas boom, which threatens groundwater, and concludes with hopes of environmental renewal and restoration.

Offering a fresh way to think about the Anthropocene, this distinctive history of water and coal in the Lackawanna Valley discusses how both water abundance and scarcity might play out as global temperatures rise. Working Watersheds is designed to trigger debates about the nature of history, the significance of literature, and the importance of linking person, place, and planet in an era of climate change.
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