Water is a limited resource. Water and sanitation are human rights. However there is a gap in the international water debate. The different discourses, like the right to water versus water as economic good, water security and sustainability, water, food and energy nexus, ecosystem services versus engineering solutions are drifting apart rather than evolving towards consensus solutions.
The public debate, dominated by NGOs is frequently turning into ideological confrontation. The more professional discourse, while gradually becoming more interdisciplinary, is rather scientific details than issues oriented.
The planned handbook aims to provide comprehensive, concise, and critical reading material for all communities involved in the different water debate(s). The book is conceived to open the way for the scientific communities to engage in the international discourse by being made acquainted with issues, ideologies, societal concepts and aspirations which dominate the scene. Simultaneously it is aimed to present the water cycle, its laws, natural and technical constraints and intervention options which reconcile the competition between human and ecosystem water demands to the participants of the public debates.
This duality of the target audience is a challenge. In the same time it underlines the urgency of this handbook summarizing water knowledge and water aspirations.
