Natural Resources Development Methodologies

Contents: Preface. I. Sustainability in resource management: 1. Sustainability in resource industries : implications for management, technology and education/J.S.J. Van Deventer. II. Water resources: 2. Management of groundwater resources/G. Krishnarao. 3. Geomorphology of river basins and freshwater aquifers/K.N. Prudhviraju. 4. Geophysics in the study of coastal salinization/I. Radhakrishna. 5. Multi-thematic remote sensing in water resource management/D.P. Rao. 6. GIS and remote sensing in watershed management/I.V. Muralikrishna. 7. Water resources systems engineering/M. Yacoob. 8. Watershed management for drought mitigation/S.K. Jain and V.P. Singh. 9. Socio-economic impact of drought/P. Prasad. 10. Aberrated climate systems and their impact on water resources/A.A.L.N. Sarma. 11. Impact of land-use and land-cover on water quality/T. Vijaya Lakshmi. 12. Geomatics for watershed management/M. Anji Reddy. 13. Paradigms of water resources development/U. Aswathanarayana. III. Soil resources: 14. In situ conservation of rainwater on alfisols in a semiarid region/Prabhu Prasadini. IV. Mineral resources 1. Mineral resources management methodologies/U. Aswathnarayana. Author index. Subject index.

"Any pathway for economic progress has to be both knowledge-driven, and job-led. Waters, soils and minerals constitute the most significant natural resources. Their use did provide immense benefits to the community, but there is a flip side to the picture in the form of severe environmental degradation, with adverse consequences on health and quality of life. The book draws attention to ways and means of using science and technology innovatively to optimize the benefits of resource use, while avoiding or at least minimizing, the adverse impact through practices such as the beneficial use of wastes. Also, the volume could serve as instructional material to give end-use orientation.

The book not only gives an account of the problems in the management of natural resources, but also draws attention to the new technologies that are available to remedy the situation. It will be useful to university students and professionals in the area of natural resources management, earth and environmental sciences and technologies, agriculture, ecology, civil engineering, geography, sociology, etc."