Mountains: Sources of Water, Sources of Knowledge

The idea for Mountains: Sources of Water, Sources of Knowledge began with the constitution of the Association Montagne 2002, whose mission was to celebrate the International Year of Mountains in the alpine canton of Valais, Switzerland. The year 2002 was the occasion for diverse activities ranging from exchanges with Bhutan and the construction of a traditional hanging bridge, to a contest for schoolchildren and roving photography exhibits. An international scientific colloquium was also organized at the University Institute Kurt Bösch. Committee members of the Association Montagne subsequently agreed that the presentations should be gathered into a book. The topic seemed particularly approp- ate for the Martin Beniston-edited series, "Advances in Global Change Research," which regularly publishes the results of the annual Wengen Workshops on Global Climate Change Research as well as of other conferences. This volume was a collective effort. The dedication of the Assoc- tion Montagne committee members was unflagging. The commitment to the overall project of State Councilor Jean-Jacques Rey-Bellet and of Gabrielle Nanchen, then President of the Fondation pour le développement durable des regions de montagne, was particularly noteworthy and is gratefully acknowledged here. We appreciate the support of numerous financial sponsors of the Association Montagne 2002 and its International Year of Mountains activities, who made the conference and the book possible. Martin Beniston deserves thanks for including the volume in his series.

List of contents

General Concepts and Processes; Mountain Specificities.- Framing the Study of Mountain Water Resources: An Introduction.- "Water Towers"-A Global View of the Hydrological Importance of Mountains.- The History of Irrigation and Water Control in China'S Erhai Catchment: Mitigation and Adaptation to Environmental Change.- Scarcity, Equity, and Transparency: General Principles for Successfully Governing the Water Commons.- From Principles to Action: Incentives to Enforce Common Property Water Management.- Multiple Uses and Competition for Mountain Water.- Hydroelectric Resources Between State and Market in the Alpine Countries.- Crans-Montana: Water Resources Management in an Alpine Tourist Resort.- Water Conflicts and Conflict Resolution Mechanisms.- Water Value, Water Management, and Water Conflict: A Systematic Approach.- Evolutionary Explanations of Syrian-Turkish Water Conflict.- Water Use and Risk: the Use of Prospect Theory to Guide Public Policy Decision-Making.- Indigenous Knowledge; Technical Solutions.- Disasters, Development, and Glacial Lake Control in Twentieth-Century Peru.- Wetlands and Indigenous Knowledge in the Highlands of Western Ethiopia.- A New Ancient Water Mill:Remembering Former Techniques.- Water-Related Natural Disasters: Strategies to Deal With Debris Flows: The Case of Tschengls, Italy.- Flood Volume Estimation and Flood Mitigation: Adige River Basin.- Hydrological Assessment for Selected Karstic Springs in the Mountain Regions of Bulgaria.- Policy Implications for Efficient and Equitable Water Use.- Water and Mountains, Upstream and Downstream: Analyzing Unequal Relations.- Creating a Policy Environment for Sustainable Water use.

Summary

The idea for Mountains: Sources of Water, Sources of Knowledge began with the constitution of the Association Montagne 2002, whose mission was to celebrate the International Year of Mountains in the alpine canton of Valais, Switzerland. The year 2002 was the occasion for diverse activities ranging from exchanges with Bhutan and the construction of a traditional hanging bridge, to a contest for schoolchildren and roving photography exhibits. An international scientific colloquium was also organized at the University Institute Kurt Bösch. Committee members of the Association Montagne subsequently agreed that the presentations should be gathered into a book. The topic seemed particularly approp- ate for the Martin Beniston-edited series, “Advances in Global Change Research,” which regularly publishes the results of the annual Wengen Workshops on Global Climate Change Research as well as of other conferences. This volume was a collective effort. The dedication of the Assoc- tion Montagne committee members was unflagging. The commitment to the overall project of State Councilor Jean-Jacques Rey-Bellet and of Gabrielle Nanchen, then President of the Fondation pour le développement durable des regions de montagne, was particularly noteworthy and is gratefully acknowledged here. We appreciate the support of numerous financial sponsors of the Association Montagne 2002 and its International Year of Mountains activities, who made the conference and the book possible. Martin Beniston deserves thanks for including the volume in his series.

Additional text

From the reviews:

"This book, the latest volume in the ‘Advances in Global Change Research’ series, is a compilation of presentations from a 2002 international scientific colloquium in Sion, Switzerland. … Readers can select any of the papers and find opening abstracts, well-written and scientifically supported text, and conclusions and/or recommendations. A bibliography lists over 500 entries. … is a valuable contribution to the literature on regulating water resources that emanate from mountain sources. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate through professional water resource planning and management collections." (M. J. Zwolinski, CHOICE, Vol. 46 (1), September, 2008)

“This book addresses the diverse challenges facing water resources within mountain environments, including temporal and spatial variability … . Overall, the book contains useful and valuable examples and case study reports relating to a variety of water resource issues. … This volume presents a collection of interesting papers that are well presented; most images are of good quality. … it will be of value as a library reference source … .” (Neil Macdonald, Mountain Research and Development, Vol. 29 (2), May, 2009)

Report

From the reviews:

"This book, the latest volume in the 'Advances in Global Change Research' series, is a compilation of presentations from a 2002 international scientific colloquium in Sion, Switzerland. ... Readers can select any of the papers and find opening abstracts, well-written and scientifically supported text, and conclusions and/or recommendations. A bibliography lists over 500 entries. ... is a valuable contribution to the literature on regulating water resources that emanate from mountain sources. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate through professional water resource planning and management collections." (M. J. Zwolinski, CHOICE, Vol. 46 (1), September, 2008)
"This book addresses the diverse challenges facing water resources within mountain environments, including temporal and spatial variability ... . Overall, the book contains useful and valuable examples and case study reports relating to a variety of water resource issues. ... This volume presents a collection of interesting papers that are well presented; most images are of good quality. ... it will be of value as a library reference source ... ." (Neil Macdonald, Mountain Research and Development, Vol. 29 (2), May, 2009)

Product details

• Assisted by: Elle Wiegandt (Editor), Ellen Wiegandt (Editor)
• Publisher: Springer Netherlands
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 18.10.2010
• EAN: 9789048177127
• ISBN: 978-90-481-7712-7
• No. of pages: 386
• Dimensions: 156 mm x 234 mm x 20 mm
• Illustrations: X, 386 p.
• Series: Advances in Global Change Research; Advances in Global Change Research
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Geosciences > Miscellaneous; Non-fiction book > Nature, technology > Nature and society: general, reference works; C, Cultural Studies, Climate Change, Environment, Water, Earth and Environmental Science, Regional and Cultural Studies, Regional Cultural Studies, Regional Studies, Hydrology, Hydrology & the hydrosphere, Hydrology/Water Resources, Environmental Sciences, Environment, general, Culture—Study and teaching