Review of River Basin Trajectories: Societies, Environments and Development by François Molle and Philippus WesterRiver Basin Trajectories: Societies, Environments and DevelopmentCABI978-1-84593-538-2$161.50

Abstract

This book is volume 8 in the Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture series, but its scope is in no way limited to agriculture. The series editor, David Molden, sets the tone for this volume by reminding readers of water’s role in the UN’s Millennium Development Goals MDGs . The MDGs were designed to eliminate income poverty, hunger, maternal and child mortality, disease, inadequate shelter, gender inequality, and environmental degradation, and to improve global partnership http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/ . The goals were adopted in 2000 and are set to be achieved in 2015, i.e., only five years from now http://www.undp.org/mdg/basics.shtml . It is almost certain that none of these goals can be achieved by the deadline, and it is highly unlikely that they will be achieved in the near future. Nevertheless, it is good to keep them in front of us and to keep working toward their accomplishment. Of course water is intrinsic to a number of these goals. Thus, managing water in order to provide access to the billions of people who still live without a safe source of this precious resource is crucial. River Basin Trajectories, edited by F. Molle and P. Wester, comprises 12 chapters. The editors have assembled a cluster of experts 27, including themselves who are known for their contributions in the water resources subject area to write the chapters. In chapter 1, the editors highlight human influence on watersheds. They argue that the hydrological cycle is not an independent entity; it is intertwined with the socioeconomic cycle, thus creating a hydro-social cycle. The human relationship with water, and vice versa, has not always been positive. Humans have had to deal, for example, with extreme events, such as droughts, floods, and water quality degradation. On the other hand, water resources have not always been developed and managed well. Indeed abuse and misuse of water resources is widespread throughout the world. The unambiguous link to and dependency on water have directly influenced society and have prompted an ongoing set of institutional changes. From the perspective of integrated water resources management, the watershed is the geographical unit from which everything else branches out. This ranges from surface and groundwater interaction to water quantity and quality manage-