Customer Reviews

Watershed Management: Practice, Policies, and Coordination

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Environmental protection programs in the United States have greatly improved the water quality in lakes, rivers, wetlands, coastal waters, and ground water during the past 25 years, yet many challenges remain. Dr. Robert Reimold-an internationally recognized expert in wetlands ecology and active participant in the Water Environment Federation (WEF), a worldwide non-profit technical and educational organization-has written and edited a significant volume on integrated environmental management. Developed for environmental engineers, planners, and managers; government policymakers; economic planners; and other key stakeholders, Watershed Management builds on the correct premise that many water quality and ecosystem issues are best addressed environmentally, financially, socially, and administratively at the watershed level rather than at the individual waterbody or specific discharger level. The watershed approach addresses environmental issues within natural hydrologically defined geographic areas, taking into consideration both surface and ground water flow. Important within the watershed approach is the cumulative impact of a wide variety of human activities and the prioritization of critical issues within a given watershed. Dr. Reimold points to work in the Chesapeake Bay and the Florida Everglades as two good examples of decisions being made and focused, integrated actions being taken on a "whole drainage system" basis rather than by controlling point sources of pollution only. Water Management spans case studies in the U.S., France, the Nile River basin, the Pacific rim, and former Soviet Union. The book contains a foreword by Dr. Eugene P. Odum. Dr. Odum, professor emeritus at the University of Georgia, is a recipient of the Crafoord Prize-an equivalent of the Nobel Prize-for excellence in ecology from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It is well-annotated, subject-indexed, and authenticated quantitatively. Robert S. Frey, M.A. Editor/Publisher, BRIDGES: An Interdisciplinary Journal