International River Basin Management

AIMS River basins are challenged by increasing population pressures, rapid urbanization and climate change impacts. A river basin is a semi-closed ecological and economic system, representing logical management units of the water cycle, throughout which all decisions and actions have interdependent ecological, social and economic implications. Thus, river basin management needs interdisciplinary knowledge. This subject aims to equip tomorrow’s water managers with the adaptive approach by linking cutting edge knowledge to stress-tested practices in river basin management. In addition to 10 weeks of classroom teaching, this subject includes a 5-7 day field trip held in either China or Australia, to be held in the first week after the exam period. Students are expected to make a contribution towards the cost of the field trip.

• 1ILO 1. Compare the historical development of large multi jurisdictional river basins from an economic, social and environmental perspective
• 2ILO 2. Identify links between the historical development and the management challenges facing the current generation of river basin managers
• 3ILO 3. Critique the policy and other reforms designed to solve a range of river basin management challenges
• 4ILO 4. Create new solutions to particular contemporary river basin management challenges.
• 5ILO 5. Identify and describe the key elements involved with modelling water resource systems