Price Of Water eBook

The Second Edition of the Price of Water expands on the coverage of the first edition and ambitiously develops the theme of the proper management of river basins, both with respect to the control of rivers’ water quality and the defence of their quantitative flows from source to sea. Using the hydrosocial balance concept of the first edition, and the grand theory of catchment water deficits, a remarkable breakthrough is made in understanding how river flows are destroyed by human society. Drawing on extensive empirical research into the Kafue River Basin and the Thames River Basin, it is shown that the exhaustion of river flows that we see on a world-wide scale can be explained by just five measurable ‘drivers’ to basin surplus and basin deficit. Moreover, by specifying the key drivers and measuring their value, the basis is provided for economic, engineering and land management strategies that will reverse river basin destruction.