Water Policy and Governance

Abstract

The bulk of this book is dedicated to the technical issues and methods used to assess, manage, and develop water resources in arid and semiarid lands, with a strong focus on groundwater resources. Sound science (i.e., understanding of hydrogeologic systems in questions and their response to water use) should provide a framework upon which water management decisions are made. However, technical issues are only one part of the story. Where water is scare, decisions must be made as to how available water resources are allocated between competing demands and the extent to which societal resources are expended to create new sources of water, such as through desalination. The human element of the water supply and demand equation may be far more complicated than the technical element.