Preface
During the past three decades, I participated and read about two intensifying story
lines in water management, each with its own legitimate, albeit partial, reasons.
(A) the catchphrase was ‘water is life’ but the focus of its management was through
other valid domains, such as economics, ecosystem, food and health; (B) major
integrated (water) management models and tools were developed but water
inconsistencies and problems grew significantly. My sense of ambivalence grew
when about a decade ago I witnessed in the Winrock International Water Forum
that I had the privilege to be a member, a prolonged, intense and eventually personal exchange of ideas between two famous water scholars Dr. Peter Gleick and
Dr. Chris Perry. On the subject matter at hand, they presented two separate water
views, each rejecting the other passionately, and only ended when one of them left
the Forum. As water problems, dichotomies and policy uncertainties grew, years
ago I started writing many notes for my learning, which proved very difficult but
finally lead in writing this book. My only reason to do so is the hope that it may
promote, in a small way, a more sustainable and equitable water management.
All the principal ideas in this book are known; however, they are organised into
a theory and an approach so that their significance can be more appreciated, while
making it easier, more coherent and transparent to apply them. In travelling along
this path, the book differentiates and comprehensively integrates in an explicit and
objective manner many of the water concepts, such as:
• Water resources and (re)use systems
• Water management theory based on five foundational ideas
• Three water management pillars and their trade-offs
• Stakeholders, learning and smart technology
• Water management terminology and system transparency
• Sustainable equity, efficiency and conservation
• Two states of water outflow vs. one state for other resources
• Inflow and outflow efficiencies
vii
During the past three decades, I participated and read about two intensifying story
lines in water management, each with its own legitimate, albeit partial, reasons.
(A) the catchphrase was ‘water is life’ but the focus of its management was through
other valid domains, such as economics, ecosystem, food and health; (B) major
integrated (water) management models and tools were developed but water
inconsistencies and problems grew significantly. My sense of ambivalence grew
when about a decade ago I witnessed in the Winrock International Water Forum
that I had the privilege to be a member, a prolonged, intense and eventually personal exchange of ideas between two famous water scholars Dr. Peter Gleick and
Dr. Chris Perry. On the subject matter at hand, they presented two separate water
views, each rejecting the other passionately, and only ended when one of them left
the Forum. As water problems, dichotomies and policy uncertainties grew, years
ago I started writing many notes for my learning, which proved very difficult but
finally lead in writing this book. My only reason to do so is the hope that it may
promote, in a small way, a more sustainable and equitable water management.
All the principal ideas in this book are known; however, they are organised into
a theory and an approach so that their significance can be more appreciated, while
making it easier, more coherent and transparent to apply them. In travelling along
this path, the book differentiates and comprehensively integrates in an explicit and
objective manner many of the water concepts, such as:
• Water resources and (re)use systems
• Water management theory based on five foundational ideas
• Three water management pillars and their trade-offs
• Stakeholders, learning and smart technology
• Water management terminology and system transparency
• Sustainable equity, efficiency and conservation
• Two states of water outflow vs. one state for other resources
• Inflow and outflow efficiencies
vii