Water Crises and Sustainable Management in the Global South

This book is a reference material on how to sustainably manage water crises. The causes and effects of water crises under different regions in the Global South  are explored in this book. Approaches for the sustainable management of water crises are also highlighted in the book, especially in the Global South, where the level of technologies available for sustainable management of water are limited.

Water crisis is a global problem but with disproportionate higher consequences in the lobal South. About 25% of the global population resides in water-stressed countries, and about 10% of the world population lives in areas with high water vulnerability. Furthermore, many millions of people across the globe lack access to potable water supplies. As such, many people could be displaced by water crises or scarcity shortly. The effects of the water crisis on the environment include increased salinity, nutrient pollution, the loss of floodplains, the drying ofriverbeds, the loss of habitat, wetlands disappearing, and ecosystem loss. On the human level, it could lead to disease outbreaks, drought, famine, and death. This may have more severe effects in countries in the Global South as compared to nations in the Global North. This is because the water cycle is very intense in Asia and Africa, which are important areas in the Global South.

This book is of interest and useful to aquatic toxicologists, water quality experts, practitioners, trainees, and trainers, environmentalists, biological sciences scientists, academics, researchers, students (especially undergraduates and postgraduates), libraries, and other public knowledge repositories interested in novel and advanced practices in sustainable water management.

Dr. Sylvester Chibueze Izah holds a Ph.D. in Applied Microbiology and Environmental Health, and he is a licensed Environmental Health Specialist in Nigeria. Presently, Dr Izah serves as a lecturer at Bayelsa Medical University in Yenagoa, Nigeria, where he holds the position of Assistant Director of Academic Planning, Research, and Innovations. Dr. Izah's extensive research portfolio encompasses water, air, and soil quality, applied microbiology, biotechnology, public and environmental health, risk assessment, bioenergy, toxicology, medicinal plants, herbal medicine, and biodiversity. He has an impressive track record of over 300 peer-reviewed publications, including journal articles, book chapters, and edited books. His current research interests are centred around Sustainable Human-Environmental Health Interactions. Dr. Izah is an editorial and review board member for several esteemed journals.

Dr. Matthew Chidozie Ogwu is an Assistant Professor of Integrated Ecology and Sustainable Development at Appalachian State University, USA. He is an interdisciplinary academic with transdisciplinary skills and diverse convergence research interests (One Health and Eco Health) pertinent to the assessment of coupled human and natural as well as socio-ecological systems and has numerous awards, research grants, and scholarships to his name. Dr. Ogwu serves on the board of and as a reviewer for many peer-reviewed journals. He continues to volunteer his time and skills to promote sustainable development.

Dr. Athanasios Loukas is a Professor of Engineering Hydrology - Management and Development of Water Resources at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. His research and activity focus on hydrology, hydrological hazards and risks (droughts and floods), climate change impacts, and water resources management, fields in which he has more than 400 scientific referred international journal publications, conference proceedings publications, books and technical reports. He coordinated and participated in numerous national and international research programs. Besides his research activity, he develops a strong outreach activity, and acts as mentor of a large number of post-graduate and Ph.D. students. He received, during his academic studies and carrier, numerous fellowships, prices and awards such as the Fulbright Research Scholarship in 2013. He is listed in the top world-wide 2% of the most influential scientists (according to his publications and the citations to his publications for his carrier period until 2022) of Stanford University (2023). His is a visiting professor in U.S.A. and European Universities. He is, currently an Editor-in-Chief and a regular reviewer to many top journals.

Dr. Hossein Hamidifar received his Ph.D. in Water Engineering from the UT (University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran). In January 2013, he was appointed as an Assistant Professor at Fasa University's Department of Water Engineering in Fasa, Iran. He transferred to Shiraz University's Water Engineering Department in September 2015, where he became an Associate Professor in August 2021. His research is situated in the field of hydro-environment, with a special focus on water resources management, stage-discharge relationships, flow-vegetation-pollutant interaction, overbank flow, morphodynamics, and flood modelling. He is the author or co-author of over 50 publications published in international refereed journals, as well as over 50 conference contributions. He has given invited/plenary lectures at a number of national and international conferences.