ABSTRACT

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book considers water quality issues and the complexities of managing across a watershed. It focuses on the difficulties of developing sustainable water policies in conditions of water scarcity, particularly given conflicting ideas about and priorities for the use of water. The book argues that effective and sustainable water-related management policies require innovative solutions that transcend political boundaries to work on an ecosystem level where local, state, and federal entities come together to collaborate with each other. It highlights the complexities of managing waste streams across multiple geopolitical scales and both production and consumption systems. The book illustrates some of the challenges of achieving sustainability remain in how the existing socio-political regime operates and that overhaul of the systems may be necessary for pursuing sustainability.