Interdisciplinary studies at the river basin scale are now widely recognized as an invaluable tool in efforts to advance understanding of the complex interplay between human management of water and its repercussions for the environment and society. This book presents 11 comprehensive case studies focusing on governance and management issues in river basins as diverse as the Yellow River in China and Wadi Merguellil in Tunisia. The case studies cover rivers in five continents, with Europe a conspicuous standout, and it is surprising that most of the rivers selected are not international trans-boundary basins such as the much-studied Rhine, Danube, Nile and Mekong. Nevertheless, those from the USA, China, Mexico, India and Australia consider the complex governance interplay between the central and state or provincial arms of government.

An opening chapter by the editors effectively draws together the various threads, highlighting the effects of overinvestment in dams and diversions, over-allocation of water, the consequential environmental impacts and ultimately the risk of basin closure. While the book uncovers no easy fixes, the case studies review a wide range of governance and political models from which river basin organizations could draw in their efforts to cope with the ‘wicked’ [sic] water problems confronting them.

The book is generally well written and presented, although several of the figures would have benefited from colour printing. However, as volume 8 in the Series Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture, it maintains the high standard of scholarship set by the International Water Management Institute.