The Oxford Handbook of Water Politics and Policy (Oxford Handbooks)

Water is a basic human need and a scarce commodity with increasing value to farmers, industries, and cities in an urbanizing world. It is unpredictable in supply and quality, difficult to contain or direct, and notoriously difficult to manage well. Several trends -- climate change, the endurance of widespread global water poverty, intensifying competition among rival uses and users, and the vulnerability of critical freshwater ecosystems -- combine to intensify the challenges of governing water wisely, fairly, and efficiently. The twenty-seven chapters in The Oxford Handbook of Water Politics and Policy address such issues over the course of seven thematic sections. These themes reflect familiar frameworks in the water policy world, including water, poverty, and health; water and nature; and water equity and justice. Other sections look at emergent and contentious policy arenas, including the water/energy/food nexus and management of uncertainty in water supply, or connect well-established strands in new ways, including sections on water tools (water price and value, supply and demand, privatization, corporate responsibility) and issues surrounding transboundary waters. This volume conceives of water as a global issue, and gathers a diverse group of leading scholars of water politics and policy. "This handbook gathers a diverse group of leading scholars of water politics and policy. Authors were tasked to present forward-looking chapters in their areas of expertise, flagging key trends in both research and practice. The volume is organized into six sections: poverty, rights, and ethics; food, energy, and water; water and the politics of scale; law, economics, and water management; the politics of transboundary water; and the politics of water knowledge. Cross-cutting themes include governance challenges rooted in the mobility, unpredictability, and public-goods dimensions of water; tensions and synergies among equity, efficiency, and sustainability; the distributive consequences of water governance; the design and performance of water institutions; and the implications of climate change."-- Publisher A diverse group of leading scholars present forward-looking chapters on water politics and policy, flagging key trends in both research and practice. The volume is organised into six sections: poverty, rights, and ethics; food, energy, and water; water and the politics of scale; law, economics, and water management; the politics of transboundary water; and the politics of water knowledge. Cross-cutting themes include governance challenges rooted in the mobility, unpredictability, and public-goods dimensions of water; tensions and synergies among equity, efficiency, and sustainability; the distributive consequences of water governance; the design and performance of water institutions; and the implications of climate change This Handbook Is Currently In Development, With Individual Articles Publishing Online In Advance Of Print Publication. At This Time, We Cannot Add Information About Unpublished Articles In This Handbook, However The Table Of Contents Will Continue To Grow As Additional Articles Pass Through The Review Process And Are Added To The Site. Please Note That The Online Publication Date For This Handbook Is The Date That The First Article In The Title Was Published Online. For More Information, Please Read The Site Faqs.