Water Management in Desert Environments

Based on a comparative analysis of two case studies, this
book presents a   comprehensive and systematic examination of
urban water management in the   light of environmental theory.
A complex model structure of the subject      matter portrays it
as a system of interlocking subsystems covering               the
management structure, the inventory and the urban
hydrological         conditions. The system itself is also viewed
within its wider urban            ecological context of interaction
between urban and industrial development, land use and the
physical environment. This analytical grid also provides   the
framework for the evaluation of water management reforms,
remedial   strategies, programs and plans.
By seizing upon a crucial problem setting   for arid land
research, the author most poignantly reveals the                     complex
role of water management within the context of                                 environmental
crisis. The choice of urban regions - ]r}mqi, Xinjiang,         and
Phoenix, Arizona - within systems as culturally and
politically      different as the United States and the PR of
China is apt to give an            up-to-date display of the main
issues of the topic within a global               perspective. The evident
socioeconomic contrast between the two systems      projects a
differentiated notion of the Third World's predicament               in
this respect, and leads the reader on to explore the
opportunities - but also the definite limitations -involved
in the transfer of high-standardWestern know-how.