The Evolution of Water Resource Planning and Decision Making

Article Type: Books and resources From: Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, Volume 21, Issue 1

Edited by Clifford S. Russell and Duane D. BaumannEdward Elgar Publishing LtdLondonJuly 2009320 pp.ISBN 978184844047£89.95

This broad review of the development of US water resource policy analysis and practice offers perspectives from several disciplines: law, economics,engineering, ecology, and political science. While the historical context provided goes back to the early nineteenth century, the book concentrates on the past 60 years and features a discussion of the difficulty that has generally been encountered in bringing the disciplines of economics and ecology into collaboration in the water resource context.

The book explores the evolution of water-related analytical capabilities and institutions and provides illustrations from case studies, concluding with recommendations for research, institutional change and action. Though designed to be a background textbook for interdisciplinary graduate seminars in water resources planning and management, it is accessible to interested lay readers and those who have policymaking or implementation responsibility but lack a technical background.