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Vanishing Waters by Bryan Davies and Jenny Day, University of Cape Town Press, Capetown, 1998. 487 pp. Price US$40.00 or £25.00. ISBN 1 91971 311 5.

Vanishing Waters by Bryan Davies and Jenny Day, University of Cape Town Press, Capetown, 1998.... VANISHING WATERS by Bryan Davies and Jenny Day, University of Cape Town Press, Capetown, 1998. 487 pp. Price US$40.00 or £25.00. ISBN 1 91971 311 5. South Africa is a dry land, with an overall average rainfall of only 425 mm year − 1 and very few areas where annual rainfall exceeds evaporation. The problem of supplying enough clean water to the rapidly rising population is aggravated by the fact that the greatest concentrations of people are in some of the drier areas. Within the next few decades even the lowest estimates of water demand will exceed the total surface resources of water. This precarious situation was emphasized by severe droughts and acute water shortages in the 1980s. There is also, of course, the need to conserve water for natural aquatic habitats and their inhabitants, many of which are peculiar to this region and have already suffered badly in the drive to move water from where it occurs to where it is needed and to develop the country’s industry and infrastructure. Against this background the authors have written this excellent book not only for their students but also for a wider audience of water managers, engineers, government officials and the general public, both in and beyond southern Africa. The central message is not just a local one—it needs to be understood and heeded all over the world. There will not be enough fresh water to go round if we do not manage the resources more carefully and this problem will be exacerbated if we do not care for the natural systems that store and regulate the flow of water. Throughout the book the situation in South Africa, which is particularly urgent, and the specific examples are set in the global and regional contexts and should be heeded by all. The book is written in an easily readable style with many clear and attractive, black and white illustrations INSTREAM FLOW PROTECTION. SEEKING A BALANCE IN WESTERN WATER USE by David M. Gillilan and Thomas C. Brown, Island Press, 1997. 417 pp. Price $50 (cloth), $30 (paper). ISBN 1 55963 523 1 (cloth), 1 55963 524 X (paper). For those of us who have worked in the arena of minimum flow reservations and the analysis of flow-related habitat criteria, it comes as second nature that the world of aquatic scientists should understand the concepts implicit in instream flow protection. It takes but a short sojourn into regulatory disputes or discussions outside of minimum flow assessments to discover how few aquatic managers, resource regulators, and environmental litigators CCC 1052–7613/99/040407–03$17.50 Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. plus a few pages of coloured photographs. It is divided into four main sections: (1) the issues — a general introduction plus an overview of South Africa’s inland waters; (2) the way things were — which is a relatively brief (about 100 pages) introduction to basic freshwater biology by habitat; (3) the way things are — about pollution and other human impacts, particularly the consequences of impoundments, large and small; (4) the future — conservation and rehabilitation and how to study inland waters. There are lists of notations and acronyms used at the front of the book and an extensive glossary at the back. These will greatly help both students and lay readers in their understanding of the text where, despite its user-friendly style, it is impossible in a book of this kind to avoid technicalities altogether. The book ends with keys to the common invertebrate taxa of South African inland waters. My only reservation is whether this section (only 10% of the whole) serves any useful purpose, in that it will be insufficiently detailed for students while perhaps making the book look more parochial than it is, which would be a pity. On the other hand it will serve to show general readers the appearance of the different animal groups mentioned in the text. I hope this book will be read and appreciated well beyond South Africa. It should be of particular interest to anyone concerned with African limnology and/or conservation in general and will provide a very interesting read for those, like me, with only the vaguest previous knowledge of South African freshwater ecosystems and ecology. This book is very good value; I can strongly recommend it to all readers of Aquatic Conser6ation. MARY J. BURGIS Berkshire, UK understand the processes and criteria necessary to establish protection of the instream uses of flowing water as a component of allocating water rights. Until recently, little has been published on the history of flow allocations and the political and legal changes that have been made to establish the standing of instream uses in the US. Island Press is a non-profit organization that publishes an exclusive list of literature aimed to support and expand the environmental community. In the past decade, Island Press has produced some seminal works in environmental philosophy, ethics and research, most notably The Freshwater Imperati6e (1995). This more recent addition to its collection of works in aquatic resources management brings a much needed survey of instream flow assessments, management options, and legal opportunities to the http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems Wiley

Vanishing Waters by Bryan Davies and Jenny Day, University of Cape Town Press, Capetown, 1998. 487 pp. Price US$40.00 or £25.00. ISBN 1 91971 311 5.

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Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
ISSN
1052-7613
eISSN
1099-0755
DOI
10.1002/(SICI)1099-0755(199907/08)9:4<407::AID-AQC338>3.0.CO;2-T
Publisher site
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Abstract

VANISHING WATERS by Bryan Davies and Jenny Day, University of Cape Town Press, Capetown, 1998. 487 pp. Price US$40.00 or £25.00. ISBN 1 91971 311 5. South Africa is a dry land, with an overall average rainfall of only 425 mm year − 1 and very few areas where annual rainfall exceeds evaporation. The problem of supplying enough clean water to the rapidly rising population is aggravated by the fact that the greatest concentrations of people are in some of the drier areas. Within the next few decades even the lowest estimates of water demand will exceed the total surface resources of water. This precarious situation was emphasized by severe droughts and acute water shortages in the 1980s. There is also, of course, the need to conserve water for natural aquatic habitats and their inhabitants, many of which are peculiar to this region and have already suffered badly in the drive to move water from where it occurs to where it is needed and to develop the country’s industry and infrastructure. Against this background the authors have written this excellent book not only for their students but also for a wider audience of water managers, engineers, government officials and the general public, both in and beyond southern Africa. The central message is not just a local one—it needs to be understood and heeded all over the world. There will not be enough fresh water to go round if we do not manage the resources more carefully and this problem will be exacerbated if we do not care for the natural systems that store and regulate the flow of water. Throughout the book the situation in South Africa, which is particularly urgent, and the specific examples are set in the global and regional contexts and should be heeded by all. The book is written in an easily readable style with many clear and attractive, black and white illustrations INSTREAM FLOW PROTECTION. SEEKING A BALANCE IN WESTERN WATER USE by David M. Gillilan and Thomas C. Brown, Island Press, 1997. 417 pp. Price $50 (cloth), $30 (paper). ISBN 1 55963 523 1 (cloth), 1 55963 524 X (paper). For those of us who have worked in the arena of minimum flow reservations and the analysis of flow-related habitat criteria, it comes as second nature that the world of aquatic scientists should understand the concepts implicit in instream flow protection. It takes but a short sojourn into regulatory disputes or discussions outside of minimum flow assessments to discover how few aquatic managers, resource regulators, and environmental litigators CCC 1052–7613/99/040407–03$17.50 Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. plus a few pages of coloured photographs. It is divided into four main sections: (1) the issues — a general introduction plus an overview of South Africa’s inland waters; (2) the way things were — which is a relatively brief (about 100 pages) introduction to basic freshwater biology by habitat; (3) the way things are — about pollution and other human impacts, particularly the consequences of impoundments, large and small; (4) the future — conservation and rehabilitation and how to study inland waters. There are lists of notations and acronyms used at the front of the book and an extensive glossary at the back. These will greatly help both students and lay readers in their understanding of the text where, despite its user-friendly style, it is impossible in a book of this kind to avoid technicalities altogether. The book ends with keys to the common invertebrate taxa of South African inland waters. My only reservation is whether this section (only 10% of the whole) serves any useful purpose, in that it will be insufficiently detailed for students while perhaps making the book look more parochial than it is, which would be a pity. On the other hand it will serve to show general readers the appearance of the different animal groups mentioned in the text. I hope this book will be read and appreciated well beyond South Africa. It should be of particular interest to anyone concerned with African limnology and/or conservation in general and will provide a very interesting read for those, like me, with only the vaguest previous knowledge of South African freshwater ecosystems and ecology. This book is very good value; I can strongly recommend it to all readers of Aquatic Conser6ation. MARY J. BURGIS Berkshire, UK understand the processes and criteria necessary to establish protection of the instream uses of flowing water as a component of allocating water rights. Until recently, little has been published on the history of flow allocations and the political and legal changes that have been made to establish the standing of instream uses in the US. Island Press is a non-profit organization that publishes an exclusive list of literature aimed to support and expand the environmental community. In the past decade, Island Press has produced some seminal works in environmental philosophy, ethics and research, most notably The Freshwater Imperati6e (1995). This more recent addition to its collection of works in aquatic resources management brings a much needed survey of instream flow assessments, management options, and legal opportunities to the

Journal

Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems – Wiley

Published: Jul 1, 1999

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