Climate and Water: Transboundary Challenges in the Americas explores some of the ways that climate, hydrology, and water resource management converge at the borders between jurisdictions and countries in the western Hemisphere. This book is unique in focusing on case studies of climate-hydrology-water resource management in diverse contexts in South, Central, and North America. This book is singular in highlighting important problems arising from the very existence of boundaries drawn and defined by society. Addressing such problems takes on increasing urgency as the world becomes ever more inter connected and interdependent.

Target groups for this book include water resource managers and decision makers at levels from the international to the local; scientists involved in interdisciplinary studies of basic and applied climatology, hydrology, and environmental studies; and readers specializing in institutional analyses, including transboundary water law, policy analysis, and risk assessment. This book is also a useful text for college classes addressing natural resources management in general, and the transfer of scientific knowledge to society.

Inhalt

Section A: Water Policy, Institutions, and Society.- 1. Climate and Water in Transboundary Contexts: An Introduction.- 2. Boundaries in Climate-Water Discourse.- 3. Experience and Role of the Organization of American States in Transboundary River Basin Management in Latin America.- 4. Coping with Climate Variability: Municipal Water Agencies Agencies in Southern California.- 5. Impacts of Climate Fluctuations and Climate Changes on the Sustainable Development of the Arid Norte Grande in Chile.- 6. Water Resource Management in Response to El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Droughts and Floods: The Case of Ambos Nogales.- 7. Transboundary Water Problems as "Jurisdictional Externalities": Increased Economic Efficiency Through Institutional Reforms.- 8. Impacts in Mexico of Colorado River Management in the United States: A History of Neglect, A Future of Uncertainty.- 9. Reservoir Management in the Interior West: The Influence of Climate Variability and Functional Linkages of Water.- Section B: Climate, Hydrology, and Ecosystem Processes.- 10. Biomes, River Basins, and Climate Regions: Rational Tools for Water Resources Management.- 11. The Transboundary Setting of California's Water and Hydropower Systems: Linkages between the Sierra Nevada, Columbia, and Colorado Hydroclimates.- 12. The Role of Transboundary Agreements in the Columbia River Basin: An Integrated Assessment in the Context of Historic Development, Climate, and Evolving Water Policy.- 13. Climate Doesn't Stop at the Border: U.S.-Mexico Climatic Regions and Causes of Variability.- 14. Climate and Climate Variability in the Arenal River Basin of Costa Rica.- 15. Nonlinear Forecasting of River Flows in Colombia Based Upon ENSO and Its Associated Economic Value for Hydropower Generation.- 16. Climate Variability and Climate Change, and Their Impacts on the Freshwater Resources in the Border Region: A Case Study for Sonora, Mexico.- 17. Land Cover Changes and Climate Fluctuations in the Upper San Pedro River Basin in Sonora, Mexico.