Other Titles in This Series
The Changing Economics of World Energy, edited by Bernhard J. Abrahamsson
Indonesias Oil, Sevinc Carlson
Desertification: Environmental Degradation in and around Arid Lands, edited by Michael H. Glantz
The Nuclear Impact: A Case Study of the Plowshare Program to Produce Natural Gas by Underground Nuclear Stimulation in the Rocky Mountains, Frank Kreith and Catherine B. Wrenn
Natural Resources for a Democratic Society: Public Participation in Decision-Making, edited by Albert Utton, W. R. Derrick Sewell, and Timothy ORiordan
Social Assessment Manual: A Guide to the Preparation of the Social Well-Being Account for Planning Water Resource Projects, Stephen J. Fitzsimmons, Lorrie I. Stuart, and Peter C. Wolff
Water Needs for the Future: Political, Economic, Legal, and Technological Issues in a National and International Framework, edited by Ved P. Nanda
Environmental Effects of Complex River Development: International Experience, edited by Gilbert F. White
Food from the Sea, Frederick W. Bell
The Geopolitics of Energy, Melvin A. Conant and Fern Racine Gold
EARTHCARE:Global Protection of Natural Areas, edited by Edmund A. Schofield
Westview Special Studies in Natural Resources and Energy Management
Water in a Developing World: The Management of a Critical Resource
edited by Albert E. Utton and Ludwik A. Teclaff
The availabilityor lackof water places a limit on human well-being in most areas of the world, and, as population continues to expand, our resources will have to be used increasingly wisely. This book focuses on the questions of how best to manage water resources in the face of growing demand. The contributors discuss trends in water use, methods of establishing effective and flexible water management institutions, the changing direction of water resource planning, and the need for harmonizing water use with environmental concerns. The conflict between Argentina and Brazil over the de la Plata River is presented as an example of the need for cooperation in international resource planning. Various water management problems encountered by developing countries are explored in the final section, with emphasis on institutional and human factors that affect economic growth.
Albert E. Utton, professor of law at the University of New Mexico and editor of the Natural Resources Journal, is an internationally recognized authority on the problems of transboundary air and water quality control.
Ludwik A. Teclaff is professor of law at Fordham University School of Law. He is the International Water Law Associations representative to the United Nations, and has written numerous books and articles on water and environmental law.
Westview Special Studies in Natural Resources and Energy Management
First published 1978 by Westview Press
Published 2019 by Routledge
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2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
Copyright 1978 by the Natural Resources Journal. Reprinted with additions and revisions from the Natural Resources Journal, volume 16, no. 4.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
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Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Main entry under title:
Water in a developing world.
(Westview special studies in natural resources and energy management)
Reprinted, with additions and revisions, from Natural resources journal, volume 16, no.4.
Bibliography: p.
1. Underdeveloped areas-Water resources development-Addresses, essays, lectures.
2. Underdeveloped areas-Water-supply-Addresses, essays, lectures. I. Utton, Albert E.,
1931- II. Teclaff, Ludwik A.
HD1702.W37 197833.9177-14213
ISBN 13: 978-0-367-21319-0 (hbk)
Gilbert F. White *
Wherever the management of water in the national or regional interest is found to be physically destructive or economically inefficient or politically disruptive, it becomes important to show how a continuation of present methods would affect future well being. Because of the nature of water use and control this is not always easy. The need for change rarely is dramatically apparent except in the trail of a great drought or flood. This was the dilemma for the organizers of the United Nations Water Conference convened during March 1425, 1977.
It could not be asserted with accuracy that the human race is running out of water or even that water in many sectors of the populated world yet constitutes a major limit upon human well being. That it does so in the future for most areas of the globe is undeniable. However, the need for international collaboration on water matters does not rest upon a forecast of an immediately threatening global thirst. Rather, it hinges on a more subtle and complex situation in which welfare in many regions will be degraded unless effective use is made of existing technology and managerial skills. This is a more difficult message to communicate. Public leaders find it easier to rally volunteers to fight a fire than to persuade people to organize their affairs so that no fire breaks out or so that fewer fighters will be required.
When the first United Nations Conference on Natural Resources was held at Lake Success in 1949 the heavy emphasis in the water resources field was on the data and modes of analysis needed for planning of irrigation, navigation, hydroelectric power, water supply, and flood control. Nevertheless, a strong current of concern for integrated basin development had flowed during the preceding three decades from a combination of plans for single purpose management of entire basins and of multiple purpose projects, usually centering upon hydropower.
This interest later showed itself within the United Nations family through the report of a panel of experts on integrated river basin The panel emphasized the concept of multi-purpose development, the technical considerations that attach to such efforts, and the economic and social opportunities for using integrated river basin development as a tool for social change. It surveyed special problems attached to economic evaluation, financing, organization and administration, and citizen participation. In recognizing the need for and obstacles to cooperation in international basins, it took account of the inadequacy of relevant international law and the difficulties of establishing joint commissions and associated devices. Its recommended lines of action included improving basic services in hydrology, sharpening tools for analysis, encouraging scientific and technical investigations, aiding countries in developing sectors of river basins, and laying the groundwork for reconciling conflicting interests over international rivers.
