Desde el siglo XVIII las bonificaciones y saneamientos realizados por el hombre han extinguido o menguado poderosamente las zonas húmedas que salpicaban el litoral y las tierras interiores de la provincia de Alicante.
Tras efectuar un detallado análisis de las características físicas de dichas áreas palustres, de sus orígenes y de los ecosistemas pretéritos o actuales la autora de Humedales y áreas lacustres de la provincia de Alicante dedica una particular atención a la acción humana, documentándola de manera rigurosa gracias al paciente y hábil rastreo de numerosos expedientes, que en su gran mayoría se encontraban desperdigados y faltos de la catalogación. El resultado de este trabajo es una visión integral y llena de interés del proceso evolutivo sufrido por las zonas húmedas alicantinas.

With “integrated water resources management” (IWRM) the current buzzword in international circles, the real question is: how to operationalise a truly multidisciplinary approach to the effective management of shared watercourses. Based largely on the actual experience of HELP (Hydrology for the Environment, Life and Policy), the overall aim of the book is to produce a series of case studies from around the world (from the Aral Sea to Zimbabwe) that demonstrate how the “gaps” between hydrology, water law and management are actually bridged in practice. Is hydrological data relevant and used in the formulation of national and international water law and policy? Cases cited include examples of where this has happened and been successful or unsuccessful and where this has not happened and led to problems. This will act as a guide to how future water laws and polices can be made more effective via the use of accurate and up to date hydrological information.

Este libro contribuye a plasmas las ideas de la nueva cultura del agua en un conjunto de propuestas y medidas concretas orientadas a facilitar su aplicación. Este esfuerzo programático parte de la convicción de que la vieja politica de rpomoción de obras hidráulicas se apoya en interprestaciones de la realidad que, a base de repetirse, han llegado a generar una mitología difícil de desmontar, auqneu carezca cada vez más de fundamento real.

All over the world countries struggle with water stress. Problems vary from water scarcity and a degrading water quality, to floods and a rising sea level due to climate change. The European Union adopted a Water Framework Directive to improve the sustainability of water management in its member states. Water management should be coordinated at the level of river basins as a whole. Interests of various user groups should be better represented. River basin visions should take into account the impact of all human activities on the status of the resource. Water legislation needs streamlining and more focus on its implementation. The European Union advocates regulating water prices by charging the costs of water services on the basis of full cost recovery and the polluter pays principle. This book examines water management integration in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy and Switzerland. It is based on the European research project EUWARENESS. Per country two case studies are considered, to analyze specific regime transitions at water basin level during the last decades. The twelve case studies are discussed within their national context and compared on conditions that are important for regime change towards sustainability. The book also provides theory on water governance, institutional regimes, and property rights, resulting in a tool for monitoring the progress of integrated water management at the basin level in EU member states or other countries. This book follows another volume published with Kluwer Academic Publishers on "The Evolution of National Water Regimes in Europe", edited by Ingrid Kissling-Näf and Stefan Kuks.