Watershed and river basin management

• Main Authors: Zainudin, Zaki, Koning, Wendell, Weyand, Michael, Kelderman, Peter, Crabtree, Bob
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: International Water Association 2012
• Subjects: TC401 River, lake, and water-supply engineering (General); TD Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering; TD201 Water supply for domestic and industrial purposes
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/26221/1/IWA_SG_Global_trends_2011_lower_resolution.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/26221/

Leaps and bounds have been made in areas related to river basin management on a global scale, in line with vari- ous technological advances of the 21st century. We review six emerging trends related to water science, research and management. One of the main issues, which have come under the close scrutiny of the W&RBM SG, is international transboundary water management, where a position paper was produced, elaborating various issues related to the subject matter and was presented at the IWA 2010 Young Water Professionals (YWP) conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Transbound- ary water management refers to water management proc- esses that straddle at least one political jurisdiction, either within a nation or across an international boundary. For example, 20 European countries depend on neighbouring countries for more than 10% of their water resources and 5% draw 75% of their resources from countries upstream (UNECE 2009). Global water withdrawals have tripled over the past 50 years. At the same time, flood events, caused by climate change effects; increased imperme- able surfaces, and anthropogenic use of flood plains, are increasing in both frequency and severity. It is estimated that almost half of the world’s population will be living in areas of high water stress by 2030 (UNESCO 2009).