1st Edition

Water Management and Climate Change Dealing with Uncertainties

Edited By Cecilia Tortajada, Asit Biswas, Avinash Tyagi Copyright 2015
    186 Pages
    by Routledge

    186 Pages
    by Routledge

    To plan successfully and manage the increased uncertainties posed by likely future climate change, knowledge needs to advance much more for the water profession beyond what it is now available. Meeting these challenges does not depend exclusively on advances in climatological-hydrologic models. Policies for adaptation and strategies for mitigation measures have to be formulated on the basis of what are likely to be the potential impacts. These will have to be regularly fine-tuned and implemented according to changing needs and as more reliable knowledge and data become available. Even more challenging will be the politics of policy making and implementation, which will require a quantum leap from current policy-making and implementation processes. One can even say that, in addition to the development of more reliable models, the politics of climate change and water management remains one of the greatest uncertainties for the water profession.

    This book addresses water management practices and how these should and could be modified to cope with climatic and other related uncertainties over the next two to three decades; the types of strategies and good practices that may be available or have to be developed to cope with the current and expected uncertainties in relation to climate change; and the types of knowledge, information and technological developments needed to incorporate possible future climate change impacts within the framework of water resources management. Decision making in the water sector under changing climate and related uncertainties, and societal water security under altering and fluctuating climate are also discussed. Several case studies are included from several basins, cities, regions and countries in both developed and non-developing countries.

    This book was published as a special issue of the International Journal of Water Resources Development.

    1. Introduction  2. Adapting to climate change: towards societal water security in dry-climate countries  3. Australian water policy in a climate change context: some reflections  4. Characterizing the water extremes of the new century in the US South-west: a comprehensive assessment from state-of-the-art climate model projections  5. Impacts of climate change on the hydrological cycle in Mexico  6. Climate change projections of streamflow in the Iberian peninsula  7. Downscaled climate change projections over Spain: application to water resources  8. The application of hydrological planning as a climate change adaptation tool in the Ebro basin  9. Measures against climate change and its impacts on water resources in Greece  10. Water and disasters: a review and analysis of policy aspects  11. Managing drought risk in water supply systems in Europe: a review

    Biography

    Cecilia Tortajada is the President of the Third World Centre for Water Management, Mexico.

    Asit K. Biswas is a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore

    Avinash Tyagi is Secretary General, International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID), India.