Introduction

The water resources of a specific area are evaluated within the context of the record of abstraction for domestic use and, using satellite imagery and water balance modelling, for agricultural use as well. The water stressed situation which has evolved in Ta’iz between 1965 and 1995 provides an example with which to test that hypothesis. The Ta’iz data are also used to examine critically: the relevance of demand management, the role of adaptive capacity, particularly social, the relative importance of economic and political factors, and the contribution of plural legal and institutional frameworks. For water resources management to contribute constructively to the establishment of an economy developing in a sustainable manner the unenviable task of policy formulation and decision making must weigh a host of variables, some of which are inherently in tension. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.