Key Concepts in Water Resource Management

"The increasing centrality of water in the global development discourse has resulted in a proliferation of concepts and terminology without necessarily facilitating broad consensus on the underlying issues. This rapidly expanding lexicon draws from a range of diverse disciplines and the array of terms has the potential to limit their utility and ensure the challenges to which they refer remain abstract and elusive. This book fills an increasingly important need to provide an organising framework for the global discourse around water. By bringing together a set of critical analyses it serves to interrogate some of the dominant paradigms of our time and focus our attention on one of the most important global challenges that will inform our future." –Marcus Wishart, Senior Water Resources Specialist, World Bank.

"In the last few decades, water management has become more complex than ever before and management has to respond to new threats like climate change, rapid urbanization and growing demands from various sectors. Therefore, there is a need to craft even more nimble ways of managing water. This also means that water management concepts have evolved quickly over the recent decades and a multiplicity of terms like water governance, water productivity, water security, water footprints are often used without the needed precision. This book, edited by Jonathan Lautze, fills a much needed gap in policy and practice by subjecting these concepts to thorough scrutiny and comes up with a clear and nuanced understanding of these important but often misinterpreted concepts. As such, this book will find among its users not only academics, researchers and students but also policy makers and practitioners." – Aditi Mukherji, Theme Leader, Water and Air, Integrated Centre for International Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and Inaugural Winner of Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application by the World Food Prize.

"Water management is fundamental for food security, the environment and development especially in a world facing climate change. This book provides useful insights to elaborate phrases in the water sector that will benefit agricultural productivity and food security efforts. It gives a definitional framework that links scientific, operational and policy dialogues on water." – Moffatt K. Ngugi, Climate Change & Environment in Agriculture Advisor, US Agency for International Development.

"How refreshing; a book which extends our understanding without the introduction of new terminology. This reference book is worth reading from cover to cover for the lucid analysis of some of the key concepts used by today’s water management community. By taking stock and reflecting, we are better equipped for the remainder of the journey." – Anton Earle, Director African Regional Centre, Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI).

"...it is a pleasure to read the marvellous, recently published little volume edited by Lautze (2014) on key concepts in water resource management"- James Nickum, in Water International (2015, Volume 40).