History of river basin management

The purpose of this chapter is to explore briefly the nature of Man’s occupation of river basins; the adoption of a conscious modern attempt at holistic management will almost certainly involve cultural attitudes to the problems, with their roots in history. Too often scientists ignore the importance of such elements in the translation of research results into policy and practice. For example, religious attitudes to the significance of water and its uses date back to the dawn of recorded history, as recently portrayed for the British Isles by Bord and Bord (1986).