This study examines the problems of water resource management in South Asia, including policy approaches, resource sharing, and water quality issues.

Conflicts over water are a grim reality today, and this volume traces the reasons for these conflicts from the micro to the global level. The essays look at how the cumulative effect of gross negligence and mismanagement of water resources over the years have created water scarcity. They point out that the problem is not due to shortage of water, but due to the absence of proper mechanisms for its conservation, distribution, and efficient use. The essays are organized under three sub-themes--irrigation water, drinking water and sanitation, and gender and decentralization in water management.

This document is intended to provide an overview of the major components of surface and ground water quality and how these relate to ecosystem and human health. Local, regional, and global assessments of water quality monitoring data are used to illustrate key features of aquatic environments, and to demonstrate how human activities on the landscape can influence water quality in both positive and negative ways. Clear and concise background knowledge on water quality can serve to support other water assessments.

Water resources are vital to all human activities from basic survival to the most complex industrial production. In recent years, a broad set of national and international water issues has begun to receive significant attention. This paper provides a snapshot of current global water issues, assesses the water-related risks and opportunities most relevant for the private sector, and describes the general kinds of activities the business community could and should be taking to address them.

This paper analyzes the institutions and markets that govern groundwater allocation in the sugarcane belt of Uttar Pradesh, India, using primary plot-level data from a village which shares the typical features of this region. Electricity powers tubewell pumps, and its erratic supply translates into randomness in irrigation volumes. The paper finds that plots are water-rationed, owing to inadequate supply of power.

This report provides estimates of drinking water and sanitation coverage in 2004, by country and MDG region. It shows how many people have gained access since the MDG baseline year (1990) and identifies the challenges to meet the MDG drinking water and sanitation target over the coming decade. It compares progress towards the target, identifying which regions are on track, which are making progress but where progress is insufficient to reach the target, and which are not on track.

Based on extensive empirical and analytical research, this collection brings together A. Vaidyanathan's recent work on water resources management in India in a multidisciplinary perspective. The volume discusses the agro-climatic context, irrigation and agricultural technology, legal-institutional arrangements, and the economic environment.

Irrigation water security is vital both for livelihood and food security. While the country has made large investments in the augmentation of water supply, there have been no commensurate efforts in the management of demand and in the promotion of efficient and economic water use. This report draws attention to the scope available for improving the efficiency of use of irrigation water in a manner that both the productivity and profitability of farming are enhanced.

This richly documented book asks the major questions about the enormously important political and geo-strategic issue of water. Does water have a price? Is it a right or a need? Is there a water crisis? Will wars be fought over water? Should we be worried about water pollution? Can the available technological solutions keep it under control?

This book gives a brief outline of the general principles governing the occurrence of groundwater in a predominantly hard-rock terrain of Karnataka and indicates the extent of this resource. It is intended to serve as an introduction to groundwater hydrology of the State and be of assistance to all those who are concerned and interested with the evaluation, planning and development of groundwater resources. Emphasis is laid on the importance of conjunctive use of surface and groundwater resources to meet the growing demand for water in the years to come.