Reconnecting People and Water

"If I were asked to highlight one of the most important trends in water research and practice to emerge over the last 25 years, it would be a realisation and increasing understanding of the role water plays in people’s lives and how they use this. The water industry has arguably been so successful in delivering clean water and in removing dirty and drainage water, that neither providers nor users have hardly anything left to say to each other unless the system malfunctions. Dr Liz Sharp has masterfully written a text that should be essential reading for water engineers, environmental scientists and applied social scientists with an interest in sustainable water management. She expertly weaves together insights from the scientific literature, personal research, case studies and informed comment to make a compelling case for the need to reconnect people with water and the means to start doing it." Professor David Butler, FREng, Centre for Water Systems, University of Exeter, UK

"The book’s call for greater emphasis in research and practice on a hydro-social perspective will reinvigorate debate about the balance between technical and non-technical interventions in urban water management." Paul Jeffrey, Professor of Water Management, Cranfield University, UK

"This most timely book’s importance is not that it brings together the concerns of scientific and technical water managers, publics, and social scientists, though it does this admirably. Even more significantly, it weaves disparate strands of social research on water into a coherent framework, with a lucid vision of how this growing body of social science expertise can make direct and practical contributions to water planning and management, especially for water sustainability and resilience." Zoe Sofoulis, University of Western Sydney, Australia