This book assesses the importance of the cultural dimensions of water management, which differ from one region of the world to another, from humid Southeast Asia to arid parts of the Middle East and Africa. Water is a vital resource, and water circulation brings invaluable benefits in many ways. Too much or too little water can also create disasters, however, including flooding and drought. Water is considered too much to control in humid areas and too little to survive in arid regions. There is a great storehouse of traditional and scientific knowledge on water management as an expression of culture in both arid and humid areas. The qanat, for example, is used in some arid regions to control the transport of water underground. In humid areas, people have long existed under the threat of heavy flooding by drawing upon traditional knowledge for survival. Once-effective water management is threatened, however, by climate change such as global warming and by the globalization and urbanization of society. Adaptive water management is now imperative as climate and society undergo changes. Not only political and institutional solutions are called for. As well, adaptations of traditional methods must be introduced into modern systems of water management. This book provides valuable guidance on how that synthesis can be achieved.
This book assesses the importance of the cultural dimensions of water management, which differ from one region of the world to another, in climates ranging from humid Southeast Asia to arid parts of the Middle East and Africa.
Part I Introduction
1. Cultures of Water Management
Hiroshi Nawata and Makoto Taniguchi
Part II Civilization, Religion, and Urbanization in Water Management
2. The Traditional Concept of Water in Islamic Egypt
Tsugitaka Sato
3. Aspects of Policy and Decision Making Regarding Nile Flood Control in
14th-Century Mamluk Egypt
Takenori Yoshimura
4. Water Culture with Canals and Groundwater in Thailand
Makoto Taniguchi
5. Water Culture and its Role in Water Management: A Case Study of the
Middle Reach of the Red River
Xiao Yun Zheng
Part III Qanats: Comparisons of a Traditional Water Management System
6. Comparative Study of Qanats in the Islamic World
Iwao Kobori
7. Traditional Water Management Systems in Iran: Focus on Qanats (or
Karezes)
Ali Asghar Semsar Yazdi
8. The role of Water Management in the Political History of Iran
Zohre Cheraghi
Part IV Sustainability and Diversity of Oasis Agriculture
9. The Oasis Concept: Part of a Sustainability Paradigm for Applying
Traditional Knowledge to Current Environmental Issues
Pietro Laureano
10. Agrobiodiversity in Date Palm Oases: Case Study of In Belbel and
Matriouen in Algerian Sahara
Abderrahmane Benkhalifa
11. Short-Term Changes in a Saharan Oasis: Water Supply, Farm Expansion,
and the Habitation Movement
Shun Ishiyama
Part V Cultures of Development Projects: Drinking Water, Food Security,
and Monitoring
12. Availability of Drinking Water in the Sahel Region
Fumiko Hakoyama
13. Water and Food Security in the Arabian Peninsula: Struggling for More
Action
Ahmed T. Moustafa, Abdul Wahid Jasra, and Abdullah Al Shankiti
14. Remote Sensing Methods for Surface Run-Off, Soil Moisture and Alien
Invasive Species Control in African Arid and Semi-Arid Lands
Buho Hoshino, Hiroshi Nawata, Abdelaziz Karamalla Gaiballa, Kiyotsugu Yoda,
and Hiroshi Yasuda
Part VI Conflict Resolution Through Water Management
15. The Iraqi Mesopotamian Marshlands: Environmental Crisis Mirrors the
Cumulative Impact within the Tigris and Euphrates Basin
Ryuichi Fukuhara
16. Water Conflict and Negotiations in the Post-Oslo Period
Aiko Nishikida
17. A New Horizon for Peace in the Middle East Involving Water and Energy
Masahiro Murakami
Part VII Conclusion
18. Water as the Key to the Earths Future: To be Poor without Resentment
is Difficult. To be Rich without Arrogance is Easy.
Hiroshi Nawata
Part I Introduction
1. Cultures of Water Management
Hiroshi Nawata and Makoto Taniguchi
Part II Civilization, Religion, and Urbanization in Water Management
2. The Traditional Concept of Water in Islamic Egypt
Tsugitaka Sato
3. Aspects of Policy and Decision Making Regarding Nile Flood Control in
14th-Century Mamluk Egypt
Takenori Yoshimura
4. Water Culture with Canals and Groundwater in Thailand
Makoto Taniguchi
5. Water Culture and its Role in Water Management: A Case Study of the
Middle Reach of the Red River
Xiao Yun Zheng
Part III Qanats: Comparisons of a Traditional Water Management System
6. Comparative Study of Qanats in the Islamic World
Iwao Kobori
7. Traditional Water Management Systems in Iran: Focus on Qanats (or
Karezes)
Ali Asghar Semsar Yazdi
8. The role of Water Management in the Political History of Iran
Zohre Cheraghi
Part IV Sustainability and Diversity of Oasis Agriculture
9. The Oasis Concept: Part of a Sustainability Paradigm for Applying
Traditional Knowledge toCurrent Environmental Issues
Pietro Laureano
10. Agrobiodiversity in Date Palm Oases: Case Study of In Belbel and
Matriouen in Algerian Sahara
Abderrahmane Benkhalifa
11. Short-Term Changes in a Saharan Oasis: Water Supply, Farm Expansion,
and the Habitation Movement
Shun Ishiyama
Part V Cultures of Development Projects: Drinking Water, Food Security,
and Monitoring
12. Availability of Drinking Water in the Sahel Region
Fumiko Hakoyama
13. Water and Food Security in the Arabian Peninsula: Struggling for More
Action
Ahmed T. Moustafa, Abdul Wahid Jasra, and Abdullah Al Shankiti
14. Remote Sensing Methods for Surface Run-Off, Soil Moisture and Alien
Invasive Species Control in African Arid and Semi-Arid Lands
Buho Hoshino, Hiroshi Nawata, Abdelaziz Karamalla Gaiballa, Kiyotsugu Yoda,
and Hiroshi Yasuda
Part VI Conflict Resolution Through Water Management
15. The Iraqi Mesopotamian Marshlands: Environmental Crisis Mirrors the
Cumulative Impact within the Tigris and Euphrates Basin
Ryuichi Fukuhara
16. Water Conflict and Negotiations in the Post-Oslo Period
Aiko Nishikida
17. A New Horizon for Peace in the Middle East Involving Water and Energy
Masahiro Murakami
Part VII Conclusion
18. Water as the Key to the Earths Future: To be Poor without Resentment
is Difficult. To be Rich without Arrogance is Easy.
Hiroshi Nawata
