Jiri Marsalek

Iwona Wagner

Pascal Breil

Aquatic habitats supply a wide range of vital ecosystem benefits to cities and their inhabitants. The unsustainable use of aquatic habitats, including inadequate urban water management itself, however, tends to alter and reduce their biodiversity and therewith diminish their ability to provide clean water, protect us from waterborne diseases and pollutants, keep urban areas safe from flooding, and support recreational ecosystem services and even the aesthetic enjoyment of our world. Aquatic Habitats in Sustainable Urban Water Management – the result of collaboration between UNESCO’s International Hydrological Programme and its Man and the Biosphere Programme – aims at improving our understanding of aquatic habitats, related ecosystem goods and services, and conservation and sustainable use – with a special focus on their integration into urban water management. The first part of this volume reviews basic concepts and challenges in urban aquatic habitats, as well as strategies for their management integration. The second part examines technical measures related to habitats management and rehabilitation, along with their incorporation into urban planning and their role in human health. The final part looks at current urban aquatic habitat issues and practical approaches to solving them through the lens of case studies from around the globe. Urban Water Series - UNESCO-IHP Following from the Sixth Phase of UNESCO’s International Hydrological Programme (2002–2007), the Urban Water Series – UNESCO-IHP addresses fundamental issues related to the role of water in cities and the effects of urbanization on the hydrological cycle and water resources. Focusing on the development of integrated approaches to sustainable urban water management, the Series should inform the work of urban water management practitioners, policy-makers and educators throughout the world.

Urban Water Series - UNESCO-IHP

Aquatic Habitats in Sustainable Urban Water Management

Jochen Schanze

Evzen Zeman

Floods are of increasing public concern world-wide due to increasing damages and unacceptably high numbers of injuries. Previous approaches of flood protection led to limited success especially during recent extreme events. Therefore, an integrated flood risk management is required which takes into consideration both the hydrometeorogical and the societal processes. Moreover, real effects of risk mitigation measures have to be critically assessed. The book draws a comprehensive picture of all these aspects and their interrelations. It furthermore provides a lot of detail on earth observation, flood hazard modelling, climate change, flood forecasting, modelling vulnerability, mitigation measures and the various dimensions of management strategies. In addition to local and regional results of science, engineering and social science investigations on modelling and management, transboundary co-operation of large river catchments are of interest. Based on this, the book is a valuable source of the state of the art in flood risk management but also covers future demands for research and practice in terms of flood issues.

Flood Risk Management: Hazards, Vulnerability and Mitigation Measures

Michel Desbordes

Harry C. Torno

In most of the developed countries of the,World, significant efforts to control the pollution of surface waters have been underway for decades, and particularly the last 10-15 years. These efforts have focused mainly on eliminating or mitiga ting the effects of point sources of pollution. In many ca ses, however, it is clear that we have achieved only limited improvement in water quality, and that non-point sources of pollution are going to control any further improvement. It has long been known that urban runoff is a major non-point source, and much research has been done in an attempt to un derstand the mechanisms and processes which govern this source and to reduce or eliminate its impacts. Many urban jurisdic tions have adopted urban runoff pollution control measures, in spite of the fact that there is a great deal that we still do not know, and without really being able to quantify the benefits achieved. A major problem is that while a great deal of work is being done, both in Europe and North America, it is very difficult to keep abreast of new developments. The Urban Water Resources Research Council of the American Society of Civil Engineers has for many years had as one of its major objectives the transfer of urban runoff technology among researchers and practitioners in the field, as well as to those engineers who are not in the forefront but who nonetheless need the information on the latest developments.

Urban Runoff Pollution

Effective management of urban water should be based on a scientific understanding of the impact of human activity on both the urban hydrological cycle - including its processes and interactions - and the environment itself. Such anthropogenic impacts, which vary broadly in time and space, need to be quantified with respect to local climate, urban d

Jiri Marsalek

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