Water Resources

Water Resource 

 Water resources encompass the freshwaters of the world, which include precipitation falling as rain or snow, infiltrating into soils and groundwater aquifers, running off into stream networks, evaporating from lakes and transping from vegetation, and flowing back into the deltas and estuaries along the continental margins. The geographic distribution and flow of freshwaters (analyzed through water-budget studies) affect supplies available for human use, and associated problems of surplus, scarcity, and pollution. Psychological and behavioral research has focused on perception of water problems, flood risks, drought hazards, and decision-making models, while phenomenological research has explored deeper meanings of water experience. During the twentieth century, social scientific research on water evolved from description of regional water problems (e.g., in the Tennessee Valley Authority); to economic and institutional analyses of water rights, water markets, and the ‘range of choice’ among water management alternatives; and, more recently, to political and cultural investigations of water and related ecosystem management problems. Although fundamentally flawed, Wittfogel's research on ‘hydraulic civilizations’ identified the key variables of environmental conditions, water use technologies, economic patterns, property regimes, state organization, social classes, and modes of social power. Wittfogel's ideas stimulated theoretical debates and applied research in many regions, which argues for continuing attention to comparative international research on water resources.