Inter-Basin Water Transfer Case Studies from Australia, United States, Canada, China and India

Increasing demands for irrigation, domestic and industrial water have generated a massive growth world-wide in the number of large water infrastructure projects involving the transfer of water from basins considered to have surplus water to those where the demand for water has exceeded or is expected to exceed supplies. Using the experiences of projects in Australia, United States, Canada, China and India, this book examines case studies within the diverse geographical, climatic, economic, and policy regimes operating in these countries. It examines the water resources of Australia, the driest inhabited continent, and explores inter-basin water transfer projects in the United States, Canada, China and India, examining their benefits and impacts within these nations' contrasting economies and governance systems. This comprehensive and well-illustrated text will be of great interest to professionals and researchers in the fields of hydrology, water resources, and to those engaged in environmental science, policy and regulation.

Foreword; Overview and scope; Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; Part I. The Challenges: 1. World population and pressures on land, water and food resources; 2. Issues in inter-basin water transfer; Part II. Inter-basin Water Transfer in Australia: 3. Land and water resources of Australia; 4. The Snowy Mountains hydro-electric scheme; 5. Inter-basin water transfer from coastal basins of New South Wales; 6. The Bradfield and Reid Schemes in Queensland; 7. Three schemes for flooding Lake Eyre; 8. The Goldfields pipeline scheme of Western Australia; 9. Supplying Perth, Western Australia with water: the Kimberley pipeline scheme; 10. Other schemes in Australia; Part III. Inter-basin Water Transfer in Other Selected Countries: 11. Inter-basin water transfer in the United States of America; 12. Inter-basin water transfer in Canada; 13. Inter-basin water transfer in China; 14. India: the National River-Linking Project; 15. Inter-basin water transfer, successes, failures and the future; Part IV. Appendices: A. Some of the Australian pioneers of inter-basin water transfer; B. Construction timetable of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme; C. Details of diversion schemes from the Clarence River Basin; D. Chronological table of the most important events in the Goldfields Pipeline Scheme, Western Australia; E. Flooding of the Sahara depressions; F. The Ord River Irrigation Scheme; G. The West Kimberley Irrigation Scheme; H. Some other water transfer schemes in Australia; I. Selected technical features of the Central Valley Project in California; J. Selected technical features of the State Water Project in California; K. Selected characteristics of some of the completed or proposed inter-basin water transfer projects in Australia, United States, Canada, China and India, in chronological order; Glossary; Index.

Using the experiences of large water infrastructure projects involving the transfer of water from basins considered to have surplus water to those where the demand for water has exceeded or is expected to exceed supplies, this 2007 book examines case studies within diverse geographical, climatic, economic, and policy regimes.