The premise of this book is that careful reconsideration of strategies to achieve water management ambitions, together with more in-depth knowledge on the theories and practices of boundary spanning, could bring solutions for contemporary water problems within reach.

Understanding Sea-Level Rise and Variability identifies the major impacts of sea-level rise, presents up-to-date assessments of past sea-level change, thoroughly explores all of the factors contributing to sea-level rise, and explores how sea-level extreme events might change.

Providing water and sanitation services to low-income communities is a key development challenge in urban areas.

The provision of water and sanitation services in deprived urban settlements is a challenge faced by many countries in the South. The growth of towns and cities together with the rapid increase in urban populations has meant that peri-urban areas are growing much more quickly than formal urban centres.

An estimated 800 million urban dwellers lack access to safe and adequate drinking water. Most of those people live in unplanned, low-income areas and slums.

Natural resources often stretch across borders that separate modern nation states. This can create conflict and limit opportunities for regulated consumption of their goods and services, but also provide opportunities for joint multinational efforts that exceed single country capabilities.

Our knowledge of the oceans is increasing rapidly, as more powerful tools for exploration and exploitation make it easier to locate valuable resources, such as fish stocks, oil and gas reserves, or sites for wind and hydropower schemes.

The United Nations World Water Development Report, published every three years, is a comprehensive review providing an authoritative picture of the state of the world's freshwater resources. It offers best practices as well as in-depth theoretical analyses to help stimulate ideas and actions for better stewardship in the water sector. It is the only report of its kind, resulting from the collaboration and contributions of the 26 UN agencies, commissions, program, funds, secretariats and converntions that have a significant role in addressing global water concerns.

One of the important challenges of post-war reconstruction is to provide more and better quality basic services, such as water. Previous attempts at upgrading main supply systems to accommodate peri-urban areas have been overwhelmed by the explosive demographic growth of Angola’s major cities brought about by many years of civil war.

There is an increasing annual demand for water drawn from Asia’s international rivers for domestic, agricultural, industrial, and environment purposes. As a result, nations sharing river systems, lakes and aquifers are vulnerable to tensions and conflicts, which in many are intensified by climate variation and climate change. This report focuses on the challenges and opportunities facing Asia: a continent with intensively utilized groundwater and surface water resources.

This paper assesses the quality and extent of provision for water and sanitation in urban areas in Malawi – where over 60% of the population lives in informal settlements. It also considers whether the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for water and sanitation are likely to be met in Malawi, and examines the current and potential role of community-led sanitation improvements. It includes recommendations for interventions needed by governmental, international and civil-society organizations to improve living conditions of communities to contribute to the realization of the MDGs.

Population growth, urbanisation and economic growth in general, all exert pressure on water resources through increased demand and pollution. This 57 page summary with CD-ROM provides the status of water resources across the continents of Africa and Asia for major rivers, lakes and groundwater basins. The joint Africa-Asia study is intended for managers, planners and other key decision-makers in water resources management and governments.