By 2025 nearly 2 billion people will live in regions experiencing absolute water scarcity.

In the face of this emerging crisis, how should the planet's water be used and managed? Current international policy sees nature competing with human uses of water. Hunt takes issue with this perspective. She suggests that nature is the source of water and only by making the conservation of nature an absolute priority will we have the water we need in future for human use. It is essential, therefore, to manage water in ways that maintain the water cycle and the ecosystems that support it.

THIRSTY PLANET
looks at the complexity of the problem. It provides a wide array of ideas, information, case studies and ecological knowledge - often from remote corners of the developing world - that could provide an alternative vision for water use and management at this critical time.

Essential and compelling reading for students on courses related to water resource management and development, for water managers and decision makers, and for non-specialists with an interest in global water issues.

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Making IWRM everybody's business

The term Integrated Water Resources Management is currently the most widely used among water academics, practitioners, professionals and policy-makers, and yet is the least understood. Recent policy reforms in developing countries focus on institutionalising the concept and principles of IWRM. But without a clear understanding of the concept and what it involves in implementation, the reform process will at best be only partially successful. Policies will be written, new institutional arrangements will be laid out, but the main actors themselves will not understand their roles. IWRM literature is aimed at academics, leaving out most of the stakeholders without whose participation there can be no implementation of IWRM. These are a large section of development professionals, the civil society, local communities, government officials and even the private sector. IWRM also involves professionals from many different fields, such as engineers, economists, and social scientists who also need to understand IWRM if they are to make effective contribution to the reform and implementation process. And in many situations, they are hesitant to acknowledge their lack of understanding about the concept.

Publications by different organisations focus on their own definitions and programmes. There needs to be better exchange of information, methodology and coordination between the different organisations that promote IWRM. Through this document we have tried to introduce the concept of IWRM and bring together various definitions prevalent today, without any particular focus on any one definition or organisation. We have tried to explain the normative, strategic and operative dimensions of IWRM in a way that is easy to understand even for the least knowledgeable. The language and terminology used is simple and we have tried to avoid the use of ‘jargon’ and ‘rhetoric’.

The proposed Polavaram dam, located in Godavari delta, is part of the major irrigation expansion programme of the Government of Andhra Pradesh, which includes 26 projects with an outlay of Rs. 46,000 crores ($10 billion). Controversies around major water infrastructure projects are not new in India, Polavaram being no exception. As river disputes in India are bound to take centre stage of national politics, and environmental issues are set to dominate public agenda in coming years, Polavaram project is sure to engage the attention of both common man and intellectuals / activists.

Perspectives on Polavaram provides a platform to articulate diverse views on this mega irrigation project. This book is an effort to establish an informed dialogue on Polavaram based on mutual respect. Comprising contributions by eminent people from a wide cross section of the society and representing different interest groups, this ‘first of its kind' publication attempts to bring together various perspectives on the Polavaram project .

The programme of Interlinking of Rivers (ILR) in India has been one of the most ambitious ideas ever, of any government till date. It is an idea that has conjured up visions for the common Indian — of a country free from floods and droughts, and people in Tamil Nadu tasting the sweet waters of the holy Ganges. Such images of passion and emotion contrasted together with the recurring floods and droughts in various parts of the country have helped those in power to sell the dream of river linking to the people.

Backed by the Supreme Court judgement and a supportive and a strong advocate of the project, the President of India, the NDA government went all out to promote and get this project initiated. The present UPA government is also taking forward this idea.

The book is one of the first attempts in India to look at the river linking project from a rational and well researched perspective. It is not a one sided view; care has been taken to analyse the project in an unbiased way. The book throws up various pros and cons associated with the project, and also gives insights into how such projects can be analysed. On the Ken-Betwa link, various experts have pointed out the gaps in the pre-feasibilty report, where further work needs to be done, and what needs to be taken into consideration when such projects are planned.

History of irrigation reforms in India dates back to the beginning of the 20th century. A number of studies have addressed to the need and process of reforms but these largely ended with two rhythmic suggestions involving pricing of irrigation water and participatory management of the sources of irrigation. It is startling to note that most of these solutions are a century old. The authors have provided evidence that these reform solutions began from the very First Irrigation Commission Report of 1903, and continued thereafter, reappearing periodically almost after every two decades albeit with fragmentary success. This study integrates efforts of the authors incorporating more than a decade’s sustained work addressing to the question of irrigation reforms in the current context. The authors preferred not to take the usually treaded path and at the same time not totally avoiding it analytically.

After taking a thorough review of irrigation sector, the authors first map the problems and locate the crevices where from the water seeps. Following this, they chart out a corridor that reaches a technology based reform process. Their methods and conclusions are based on hard empirical evidence and rigorous analytical tools. It is quite refreshing to read that some of the usual reform tenets are challenged from their basics, to hammer home the point about their sporadic success. The efforts of the authors do not stop at just pointing out the failures but they go beyond to seek refreshing and sustained solutions.

Springs of Life is a book about water in all its complexities. It is an exhaustive account of water in India, and documents the natural beauty of the water bodies, the ways in which communities live and interact with water, particularly in hostile ecosystems, the resilience of people living in water stressed regions and their common sense solutions to local water problems.

As the co-author Ganesh puts it : "Water is free when it falls from the sky but the price one has to pay for its mismanagement is enormous, which no one in the world can afford. Water and not oil is the real driver for the robust and sustainable development of any country." He confidently expresses : "We discovered that many things can be solved with just 'common sense' and 'being fair and just.' Of course this may be a tall order for some, but there it is.... have a look.... and you will see what we mean." The authors are presently working with World Water Institute, Pune (India) and have been for years working on water related issues through extensive traveling, academic research, participation in international meets, involvement in effective people-centred interventions to deal with present-day challenges, etc.