Preface

There is an estimated 1.4 billion km3 of water in the world but only approximately three percent (39 million km³) of it is available as fresh water. Moreover, most of this fresh water is found as ice in the arctic regions, deep groundwater or atmospheric water. Since water is the source of life and essential for all life on the planet, the use of this resource is a highly important issue. 'Water management' is the general term used to describe all the activities that manage the optimum use of the world's water resources.

However, only a few percent of the fresh water available can be subjected to water management. It is still an enormous amount, but what's unique about water is that unlike other resources, it is irreplaceable.

This book provides a general overview of various topics within water management from all over the world. It covers a wide range of current issues, reflecting on actual problems and demonstrating the complexity of water management. The book presents a collection of different contributions from outstanding scientists and experts and gives a detailed account of the different topics and current issues in water management.

Industrial and agricultural development causes a rise in water demand, which can mainly be observed in developing countries. Additionally, most of these countries are characterized by water shortages due to climatic conditions and/or high population density, which can consequentially lead to extensive use of groundwater, also called "groundwater mining". However, the method will only be valid for a short period of time: a sustainable water management program is an important part of industrial and agricultural development. In this book a number of authors analyse the current and future water demand, presenting solutions for sustainable water usage considering the conflict between agriculture and the limited availability of water. While water pricing is a major consideration as a tool for controlling and influencing the demand, which is discussed later on.

Enormous water quality problems arise due to industrial development combined with exploration of other resources through mining activities, and some aspects of water quality issues are also discussed in this book.

### XII Preface

A part of the book is dedicated to the global nature of water management problems. Most of the important water resources in the world are extended across the borders of two or more countries, making water management an international issue. In the past decades different international institutions like the United Nations or the European Union provided numerous directives and guidelines for sustainable water management. Politics, regulation and guidelines related to water management are discussed in different chapters in different ways and for different countries.

Water resource management for rivers and reservoirs is another issue tackled in the book. The authors reflect on generalized models for river system development, a webbased modelling solution, as well as an international management project.

I am certain that the collected materials will provide an interesting contribution to research in this field. I would like to thank the authors for their contributions and wish the reader to enjoy the reading and perhaps gain a better understanding of the current issues in water management.

> **Dr. Uli Uhlig** Groundwater Civil Engineer Planning - GIP GmbH Dresden at the Groundwater Research Centre (GWZ) Dresden, Germany
