Use of historical data as a decision support tool in watershed management: a case study of the Upper Nilwala Basin in Sri Lanka

Watershed management / Hydrology / Land use / Flow / Catchment areas / Water balance / Case studies / Runoff / Water yield / Rainfall-runoff relationships / Forestry / Decision support tools / Data collection / Sri Lanka / Nilwala Basin

A Farm in Kumsangir of Tajikistan: A Perspective of Water/land Use along Pyandzh River

We carried out an assessment of natural resources use and management along with the on-farm observations and experience gathered through a fieldwork expedition along the riparian basin of Pyandzh River from Tajik side. It is described the natural vegetation irrigation history, technologies, agriculture, crops diversity and farmer development system through this vast area of Khatlon Province of Southwestern Tajikistan. Target area is Kumsangir District and Mumin Farm in the district along Pyandzh River. By performing this survey, we could further examine our preliminary studies on the potentials for agriculture using of Subsurface Drip Irrigation (SDI) technique on the right bank of Pyandzh River. Many of the local farmers, pastoralist communities, and some of the agricultural authorities and governmental leaders were interviewed to help understand the history of their irrigation infrastructures, their concerns on the issue of land use and agricultural activities, and their outlook and desires to implement cost-effective watershed-scale water saving technologies.natural resources, subsurface drip irrigation (SDI), Pyandzh, Amu Darya, Kumsangir, water quality

Deserts and Desertification

A desert is an ecosystem in an arid zone in which sand dunes cover the land and sandstorms often occur. Although desert vegetation is sparse, it plays an important role in ecosystem structure and function. Desertification is one of the most severe environmental problems today. Land desertification can be controlled through many measures, such as eco-villages, eco-agriculture, biodiversity conservation, and the combination of engineering and biology. This edited volume provides new insights into the pattern of desert ecosystems and the progress of desertification control. It is a useful resource for researchers in ecology, forestry, and land desertification control

Comparative assessment of the vulnerability and resilience of 10 deltas : work document

Background information about: Nile delta (Egypt), Incomati delta (Mozambique), Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (Bangladesh), Yangtze (China), Ciliwung (Indonesia), Mekong (Vietnam), Rhine-Meuse (The Netherlands), Danube (Romania), California Bay-Delta, Mississippi River Delta (USA

“There is no lake here, the lake is down there!” An inquiry on the transformation of environment and culture in Burdur Region.

Burdur Lake, which is located in southwest of Turkey in Lake Region, and has been drying rapidly in the last 30 years. Disappearance of the water from the lake brings dramatic changes to the region on both socio-economic and cultural levels. This paper explores the processes that brought Burdur Lake and its locals to the point where the lake is today. Transformations in cultural habits and everyday life will be examined in parallel to state regulations, acts and their results

NCR-days 2005 November 3-4 : book of abstracts

The Netherlands Centre for River Studies (NCR) aims to provide an open platform for all people interested in scientific research and communication on river issues. To that end NCR organises once a year the socalled NCRdays, where on two consecutive days scientists present their ongoing river studies, in order to maximise the exchange of ideas and experiences between the participants and to provide the researchers a sounding board for their study approach and preliminary results. Based on these contacts they can improve their approach and possibly establish additional cooperation