Urban Water Sustainability Textbook

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Tentative title:

The Water-Sustainable City: Science, Policy, and Practice

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What and why?

Commitment under PIRE program to provide an accessible text on issues related to urban water sustainability.

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Audiences?

Advanced undergraduates, practitioners in private for profit, private non-profit, or public water management sectors; professionals working in urban planning, city engineering, related fields.

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Goal?

Drawing on insights acquired through NSF-PIRE, we examine challenges in developing & deploying low-energy options to improve water productivity in cities, as seen through a multi-disciplinary lens.

Major Themes

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What might cities of the future look like if they used water more sustainably – in ways that protect environmental quality and human health, promote economic development, and foster just allocation and management?

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We provide an overview of the principles and practices that characterize such a city, including methods to regenerate, conserve, and substitute for freshwater, as well as the impediments to adopting these methods – especially in Australia and the U.S.

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A water-sustainable city imposes minimal adverse impact; embraces methods for delivery, treatment, use, and management of water that employ high water productivity with low energy use (and thus, a low carbon footprint); and pursues these methods as part of a “holistic framework” that encompasses the distinct water needs of urban life.

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One possible conclusion is that water should be managed in cities as a “closed loop” system – not as water supply , stormwater, and wastewater streams, but simply as water – a renewable, reusable resource. How can we approximate this aspiration through better applying our knowledge to the realities of city life?

Tentative structure and organization

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Part I: Our uncertain water future, our precarious water past

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1. Introduction – what might a water sustainable city look like?

2. Lessons for an urban ecology of water – historical views, environmental experiences 3. Roles of civil engineering, law and institutions in urban water management 4. Divergent approaches – a typology of traditional & contemporary alternatives Part II: Meeting the challenges of the water sustainable city

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5. Water-energy footprint of large cities – urban form, stress, transitional development 6. How cities value water, why it matters: economic and non-economic approaches 7. Water quality and risks – public health and ecological well-being

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Part III: The path forward – technology, infrastructure, institutions, practices

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8. Low impact development/low energy options 9. New forms of management & governance for urban water sustainability 10. Conclusions – future research needs

Key feature – illustrations, graphics, sidebars

Figure – Urban water management in Ancient Rome From: Sustainable water management in the city of the future, UNESCO, Institute for Water Education, 2011 SIDEBAR – HOW DO CITIES AND THEIR RESIDENTS USE WATER? Source: “Down the Drain: How much water goes when it flows?” Los Angeles Magazine, September 16, 2013.

First stage – prospectus review

On 1/21/2014 2:19 AM, Victoria Nicols wrote Dear Dave (if I may), Many thanks for submitting your proposal for a book titled 'The Water Sustainable City: an e-Book on Science, Policy and Practice' to my colleague, Alex Pettifer. I am Alex's assistant and will be handling the review process for your proposal. I will keep you updated as the review process progresses, but if I can be of any assistance in the meantime then please do not hesitate to let me know. Best wishes, Tori.

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Tori Nicols Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd – Alex Pettifer Editorial Director Edward Elgar Publishing - Independent Academic, Educational and Professional Publisher of the Year 2013 The Lypiatts, 15 Lansdown Road, Cheltenham, GL50 2JA, UK | Tel: +44 (0)1242 226934 | Fax: +44 (0) 1242 262111 www.e-elgar.com

| http://elgarblog.wordpress.com/ | http://twitter.com/PettiferAlex | A family business in international publishing Edward Elgar Publishing Limited is registered in the UK at the above address. Registered number: 2041703