Introduction
1. Riding the Water Cycle: Water Cycle Dynamics and Freshwater Ecosystems
Water Cycle Mechanics
The Value of the Water Cycle and Freshwater Ecosystems
Conclusion

2. Spiraling Towards a Crisis: Water Use and Growing Shortages
Water's Role in Human Civilization
A Global Water Crisis?
Supply Side Solutions: Stretching the Water Cycle
Conclusion

3. To Feed the World: Food Supply and the Water Cycle
Status and Trends in Global Food Production
Green Revolution Technologies and Their Repercussions
How to Keep Food Growing and Water Flowing
Conclusion

4. A Thirsty Planet: Water Supply and Sanitation in a Water-short world
Water Paucity and Plenty: The Great Divide
Sources of Scarcity
Improving Our Performance
Conclusion

5. When it Rains, it Pours: Water Management for Flood Damage Reduction
The Nature and History of Floods
The Flood Control Concept
Shifts Towards a Holistic Approach to Flood Management
Conclusion

6. Arteries of Commerce: Inland Waterways and the Water Cycle
Building the Water Highways
Effects of Inland Waterway Construction and Operation on the Water Cycle
Navigating Gently
Conclusion

7. A Warmer World: The Interrelationships Between Global Warming and the Water Cycle
The Nature of the Greenhouse Effect
Effects of Global Warming on the Water Cycle, Aquatic Ecosystems and People
Pseudo Solutions
New Generation
Conclusion

8. When the Water Cycle Breaks Down: The Potential for Restoration
Freshwater Ecosystems on the Brink
Protection
Restoration
Conclusion

9. Avenues of Governance: Institutional Options for Protecting the Water Cycle
Binding Agreements: Treaties
Non-binding Agreements
Free Trade and Market Forces
Conclusion

Index