From Catchment Management to Managing River Basins

A catchment refers to an area of land commonly surrounded by hills or mountains in which the water flows and gets collected. Catchment management is a sustainable and potentially low-carbon impact method of altering the quality of raw water at its source by managing land use practices on a catchment scale. It can also aid in the enhancement of resilience and the reduction of flood risk. Rivers supply water for power generation, irrigation, industry, domestic use and for a variety of other ecosystem services, and intrinsic and biodiversity benefits. River basin refers to an area of land which is drained by a river and its tributaries. It is considered to be the basic hydrological unit for managing water resources. Challenges related to sustainable water management on a river basin scale include changes in land use, increasing water usage and climate change. This book elucidates the concepts and innovative models around prospective developments with respect to catchment and river basin management. It will also provide interesting topics for research, which interested readers can take up. A number of latest researches have been included to keep the readers up-to-date with the global concepts in this area of study.