A Twenty-First Century U.S. Water Policy

Erscheinungsjahr 2012
ISBN: 978-0-19-985944-3
Verlag: Oxford University Press

Buch, Englisch, 360 Seiten, Format (B × H): 162 mm x 236 mm, Gewicht: 642 g

As is becoming clearer and clearer, pressures on water resources in the United States are growing, with no foreseeable end in sight. Yet these pressures are not due to a national water scarcity. While the Southwest faces the problems of draught, a rising population, and over-allocation of resources, the Northeast and Northern Plains must deal with increasingly wet weather and flooding. The greatest challenges that the United States faces with regard to water are
regional disparities in availability, a changing climate, worsening water quality, and, increasingly, controversies over management strategies and policies.
While many countries have adopted federal approaches to water management, the United States has no cohesive national water policy. In fact, the oversight of current water policy is shared by over sixty different agencies,and the last national water assessment undertaken in the United States occurred over forty years ago. The lack of coordinated oversight not only renders national policymakers unable to make informed analyses of water quality standards and availability, it also results in large
gaps of understanding regarding variability of water resources and how to most efficiently and effectively manage and preserve those resources. A Twenty-First Century U.S. Water Policy culls together independent analysis of freshwater availability; water usage in agriculture, municipalities, tribal
settlements, and energy production; exisiting legal frameworks; environmental justice movements; and data on water quality and climate change. The result is a visionary proposal for a coherent and critically needed federal water policy.

Zielgruppe

National and local policymakers, scholars and students of environmental studies and policy, environmental law and justice, climate change, environmental management and science

Autoren/Hrsg.

Christian-Smith, Juliet

Gleick, Peter H.

Cooley, Heather

Allen, Lucy

Vanderwarker, Amy

Berry, Kate A.

Reilly, William K.

Fachgebiete

• Geowissenschaften Umweltwissenschaften Umweltpolitik, Umweltprotokoll
• Geowissenschaften Umweltwissenschaften Wasserversorgung
• Geowissenschaften Umweltwissenschaften Umweltmanagement, Umweltökonomie
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Umweltökonomie
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Regierungspolitik Umwelt- und Gesundheitspolitik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Foreword by William K. Reilly
List of Acronyms
Chapter 1: The Water of the United States: Freshwater Availability and Use, Peter H. Gleick

Chapter 2: Legal and Institutional Framework of Water Management, Juliet Christian-Smith and Lucy Allen

Chapter 3: Water and Environmental Justice, Amy Vanderwarker

Chapter 4: Tribes and Water, Kate A. Berry

Chapter 5: Water Quality, Lucy Allen

Chapter 6: Protecting Freshwater Ecosystems, Juliet Christian-Smith and Lucy Allen

Chapter 7: Municipal Water Use, Heather Cooley

Chapter 8: Water and Agriculture, Juliet Christian-Smith

Chapter 9: Water and Energy, Heather Cooley and Juliet Christian-Smith

Chapter 10: Water and Climate, Heather Cooley

Chapter 11: United States International Water Policy, Peter H. Gleick

Appendix: Federal Legislation

Notes

Bibliography

About the Authors

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Juliet Christian-Smith is Senior Research Associate with the Pacific Institute's Water Program and a National Academy of Sciences Frontiers of Science Fellow. Peter H. Gleick is Co-Founder and President of the Pacific Institute in Oakland, California.