Clean freshwater is the most precious resource in the world and the development of water resources has had a very long history, as early as humans changed from being hunters and food collectors to modern civilization. At very early stage, people had to rely on creeks, rivers and lakes for their water demand that was relatively small, and today humans have accumulated the knowledge and techniques for water storage, building artificial lakes or reservoirs to meet their huge water demand due to industrialization and urbanization. The Wworld’s earliest large dam was the Sadd-el-kafara Dam built in Egypt between 2950 and 2690 B.C. Up to now, water from lakes and reservoirs is still the main source for people’s water supply. However these large water bodies suffer two problems incurred by nature and human being, one is sedimentation and the other water pollution. Two of them jointly reduce the available amount of clean water and deteriorate the water quality. Consequently, approximate 1.1 billion people lack of safe drinking water and between 2 and 5 million people die annually from water-related disease (Gleick, 2004). It is understandable that with the population growth in the world, it is difficult to provide sufficient clean water to meet the demand; on the other hand, our natural systems are under pressure from drought (too little), floods (too much), pollution (too dirty), climate change, and other stresses. This creates serious challenges for water management.
History
Citation
Yang, S., Qin, B. & Lin, P. (2011). Novel SPP water management strategy and Its applications. In M. Kumarasamy (Eds.), Studies on water management issues (pp. 239-259). USA: InTech.