River Basin Management and Development

Bibliographic Data

ID23733484
AuthorsFrançois Molle (0000-0001-5748-8770, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, corresponding author)
Year2017
Pages1-12
Publication date2017-03-06
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeCHAPTER
VenueInternational Encyclopedia of Geography (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/9781118786352.wbieg0907
OpenAlexW2904657924
ISBN9781118786352
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited13

River basins are geographical units in which all streams drain to a common terminus, but as a political boundary it is also the result of a choice and social construction. The concept has, from the nineteenth century onward, chiefly been mobilized for justifying and rationalizing the large‐scale development of water resources by powerful water bureaucracies imbued with their “hydraulic mission.” Excessive development resulting in basin closure and social and environmental externalities must be understood as a political phenomenon. The relevance of looking at water‐related problems through the lens of the water basin has been debated and the complexity of multilevel governance unearthed, not least at the transboundary level. Whether river basin organizations are needed or desirable, and what their prerogatives should be, are also under question.

Boundary (topology) · Bureaucracy · Closure (psychology) · Corporate governance · Drainage basin · Economics · Environmental planning · Externality · Geography · Management · Phenomenon · Political science · Politics · Relevance (law) · STREAMS · Structural basin · Water development · Water resource management · Water resources · Ecology · Environmental Science · Geology · Hydropower, Displacement, Environmental Impact · Law · Transboundary Water Resource Management · Water Governance and Infrastructure

Tools

Open DOISci-HubLibgen