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The Nile: Sharing a scarce resource
294
Book Reviews
Chapter 3 analyzes the procedures of upscaling of hydraulic conductivity from both theoretical and application perspectives. As the topic is an open one and of ongoing research, selection of the procedure to be used in the sequel requires insight and innovative approaches. Chapter 4 is devoted to the geological characterization of the confining layers, while Chapter 5 analyzes the measurements of the hydraulic properties at the core scale. The aim is to describe the spatial variability in statistical terms (distributions, two-point correlations, etc.). This Chapter may provide useful insight to those engaged in similar analyses of field data. Chapter 6 applies the upscaling procedures, in a stochastic context, to measured properties. This is done separately for non-cross bedded sediments and for crossbedded ones. The block properties are regarded as random and their statistical moments are derived from those at core scale for the selected block sizes. While the procedure for the non-cross bedded sediments follows a general pattern, the development for the cross-bedded ones is done with the aid of a numerical procedure adapted to the particular structure. Chapter 7 deals with upscaling from block scale to local and regional scale. This implies creating images of the confining layer made up from blocks of random properties, conditioned on the lithologic structure and on measurements. Next, flow and travel times of solutes are determined by numerical simulations and conclusions on the impact of various factors upon results are drawn. It is found that accounting for heterogeneities has a significant impact on estimating the protective properties of confining layers. The book is an unique monograph in the sense of applying the new concepts of stochastic modelling to a particular hydrogeological configuration. It provides a nice balance between theoretical concepts and the practical problems encountered in applications and it is recommended to hydrologists engaged in advanced modeling activities. The book does not offer general procedures, but rather may serve as a source of inspiration on how to approach similar problems. GEDEON DAGAN (Tel Aviv, Israel)
The Nile: Sharing a Scarce ,Resource,
P. P. Howell and J. A. Allan (Editors), Cambridge University Press, 1994, 408 pp. ISBN o-521-45040-3. This is, surely, the definitive text on the hydropolitics of the Nile. It is based, partly but not exclusively, on material contributed by invited authors representative of a variety of scientific, technical and administrative disciplines at a two-day meeting in 1990 held in London at the.Royal Geographical Society (day 1) and at the School of Oriental and African Studies (day 2). However, once the merits of the papers presented had been appreciated, it was decided to collate them in book form, as a set of revised, peer reviewed papers, complemented where appropriate by additional chapters, to provide a comprehensive overview of the international problems of “Sharing a
Book Reviews
295
Scarce Resource”, namely the waters of the Nile. The organisers were fortunate in persuading influential and distinguished participants from countries in the Nile basin to attend, to document and to discuss their opinions. They also secured the editorial services of the late Dr. Paul Howell and of Professor Tony Allan, on whom fell the completion of the editorial task. This text, thus, serves as a memorial to Dr. Paul Howell, most of whose life was dedicated to the Nile and its peoples in various capacities. The book is in four parts: Part I (120 pp.), Environmental history of the Nile and its management, includes chapters on: a paleohistory of the Origin and evolution of the Nile by Said, author of the recent monograph on the Nile; a History of Nile Flows by Evans; a History of water use in the Sudan and Egypt by Chesworth; an historical review of East Africa’s water requirements by Howell; and History, hydropolitics and the Nile-Myth or reality by Collins. Part II (55 pp.), Nile management and factors affecting future management, has a chapter by Hulme on Global climate change and the Nile Basin and one by Sutcliffe and Lazenby on Hydrological data requirements for planning Nile management. Part III (105pp.), Future utilisation of Nile waters, considers Future irrigation planning in Egypt by Stonor; Future water development planning in the Sudan by Knott and Hewitt; Irrigation and hydro-power potential in Uganda by Kabanda and Kahingere; Integrated development of Nile waters by Zewdie Abate; (Hydrological) Control of the swamps of the southern Sudan by Howell and Lock; and Water balance of the Bahr el Ghazel swamps by Sutcliffe and Parks. Part IV (92 pp.), Economic, international and legalissues, comprises three chapters, respectively, on options, strategies and policies for Nile management, all by Allan; Treaty history of the Nile and Lake Victoria basins by Okidi; International law on sharing of Nile waters by Ahmed; and Law and the Nile by Mallat. The Sudd and the associated seasonally flooded grasslands form one of the last great wildlife areas of the world, comparable with the Serengeti and it involves both Sudan and Ethiopia. The Jonglei canal could damage this if it progressed, so that future tourist revenue potential would drop-a matter of little concern at the moment because of the war situation in southern Sudan. However, there is little reference to such wildlife matters in this book. One might have expected that such a distinguished imprint as Cambridge University Press would have taken care in copy editing and proof reading but even Editor Allan’s name is misspelled, twice, on page viii! While irritating to the reader, such minor blemishes do not detract from the overall merits of the book as a whole. Inevitably, in a publication based on a diversity of contributions, the standard of some is higher than that of others. However, this is not simply an erudite scientific or technical monograph on Nile water, a subject of vital international importance over the millennia; this is a text which, although somewhat indifferent to ecological considerations, considers the socio-economics and above all the politics governing the inadequate water of life for much of Africa. Thus, the key issue is not the hydrology of the Nile per se but the politics of sharing the resource. Outlined in part III are the (inevitably because of the scarcity of the resource), competitive claims for sharing of the waters of the Nile among the
296
Book Reviews
riparian and lacustrine states while Part IV considers the legalities; inevitably, therefore, Parts III and IV are the most important in the book. The text as a whole is required reading for professionals of diverse disciplines, involved in any aspect of the politics as well as of the hydrology and water resources of the Nile basin. All too many excellently conceived schemes for international development of water resources have been rather less than successful because inadequate attention was paid to the socioeconomic and, above all, to the political consequences of the development. One can appreciate why UNEP, the United Nations Environment Programme, seeks to establish UNEP Regional Waters Programmes, analogous to the Regional Seas Programmes, to cover the basins of the Zambezi-Okavango and of the Nile. J.S.G. MCCULLOCH (Oxford, UK)
Design Hydrology and Sedimentology for Small Catchments, C.T. Haan, B.J. Barfleld
and J.C. Hayes, Academic Press, San Diego, CA, 1994, XIV + 588 pp., ISBN o-12-312340-2. This ‘design’ book is an important contribution which according to the authors evolved over a 15 year period from mimeographed notes and two privately published books “Hydrology and Sedimentology of Surface Mined Lands” by C.T. Haan and B.J. Barfield and “Applied Hydrology and Sedimentology for Disturbed Areas” by B.J. Barfield, R.C. Warner and C.T. Haan. Also, according to the authors “The current version is a complete rewrite of the previous texts in nearly all aspects. The material on erosion and sediment control presents extensive new technology that has evolved since the previous publication”. This assertion is substantiated by comparison with the earlier works. The stated audience for the book is the practicing engineer and the level of treatment of theory, practice, examples, and data are appropriate for this audience. Although a practicing engineer may appreciate the presentation in English units, their use in this book is not justified. The reviewer’s opinion is that the lack of SI units limits the book’s usefulness as a text book and limits its use outside of the USA. The book is organized with Chapter 1 as an overview, Chapters 2 and 3 deal with surface water hydrology, Chapters, 4 and 5 deal with hydraulics of open channel flow and control structures, Chapter 6 deals with flow routing, Chapters 7,8,9, and 10 deal with erosion and sedimentation, Chapter 11 deals with groundwater, Chapter 12 with monitoring hydrologic variables, and Chapter 13 with hydrologic modeling. Chapters 2-l 1 include examples and problems for the reader to solve. Chapters 12 and 13 lack examples but include problems. Chapter 2 is entitled “Hydrologic Frequency Analysis” but is really limited to flood frequency analysis using the lognormal, extreme value type I, and the log Pearson type III probability distributions. The presentation is straightforward and logical. The discussion and interpretation of flood frequency analysis is good and easy to
Book Reviews
Chapter 3 analyzes the procedures of upscaling of hydraulic conductivity from both theoretical and application perspectives. As the topic is an open one and of ongoing research, selection of the procedure to be used in the sequel requires insight and innovative approaches. Chapter 4 is devoted to the geological characterization of the confining layers, while Chapter 5 analyzes the measurements of the hydraulic properties at the core scale. The aim is to describe the spatial variability in statistical terms (distributions, two-point correlations, etc.). This Chapter may provide useful insight to those engaged in similar analyses of field data. Chapter 6 applies the upscaling procedures, in a stochastic context, to measured properties. This is done separately for non-cross bedded sediments and for crossbedded ones. The block properties are regarded as random and their statistical moments are derived from those at core scale for the selected block sizes. While the procedure for the non-cross bedded sediments follows a general pattern, the development for the cross-bedded ones is done with the aid of a numerical procedure adapted to the particular structure. Chapter 7 deals with upscaling from block scale to local and regional scale. This implies creating images of the confining layer made up from blocks of random properties, conditioned on the lithologic structure and on measurements. Next, flow and travel times of solutes are determined by numerical simulations and conclusions on the impact of various factors upon results are drawn. It is found that accounting for heterogeneities has a significant impact on estimating the protective properties of confining layers. The book is an unique monograph in the sense of applying the new concepts of stochastic modelling to a particular hydrogeological configuration. It provides a nice balance between theoretical concepts and the practical problems encountered in applications and it is recommended to hydrologists engaged in advanced modeling activities. The book does not offer general procedures, but rather may serve as a source of inspiration on how to approach similar problems. GEDEON DAGAN (Tel Aviv, Israel)
The Nile: Sharing a Scarce ,Resource,
P. P. Howell and J. A. Allan (Editors), Cambridge University Press, 1994, 408 pp. ISBN o-521-45040-3. This is, surely, the definitive text on the hydropolitics of the Nile. It is based, partly but not exclusively, on material contributed by invited authors representative of a variety of scientific, technical and administrative disciplines at a two-day meeting in 1990 held in London at the.Royal Geographical Society (day 1) and at the School of Oriental and African Studies (day 2). However, once the merits of the papers presented had been appreciated, it was decided to collate them in book form, as a set of revised, peer reviewed papers, complemented where appropriate by additional chapters, to provide a comprehensive overview of the international problems of “Sharing a
Book Reviews
295
Scarce Resource”, namely the waters of the Nile. The organisers were fortunate in persuading influential and distinguished participants from countries in the Nile basin to attend, to document and to discuss their opinions. They also secured the editorial services of the late Dr. Paul Howell and of Professor Tony Allan, on whom fell the completion of the editorial task. This text, thus, serves as a memorial to Dr. Paul Howell, most of whose life was dedicated to the Nile and its peoples in various capacities. The book is in four parts: Part I (120 pp.), Environmental history of the Nile and its management, includes chapters on: a paleohistory of the Origin and evolution of the Nile by Said, author of the recent monograph on the Nile; a History of Nile Flows by Evans; a History of water use in the Sudan and Egypt by Chesworth; an historical review of East Africa’s water requirements by Howell; and History, hydropolitics and the Nile-Myth or reality by Collins. Part II (55 pp.), Nile management and factors affecting future management, has a chapter by Hulme on Global climate change and the Nile Basin and one by Sutcliffe and Lazenby on Hydrological data requirements for planning Nile management. Part III (105pp.), Future utilisation of Nile waters, considers Future irrigation planning in Egypt by Stonor; Future water development planning in the Sudan by Knott and Hewitt; Irrigation and hydro-power potential in Uganda by Kabanda and Kahingere; Integrated development of Nile waters by Zewdie Abate; (Hydrological) Control of the swamps of the southern Sudan by Howell and Lock; and Water balance of the Bahr el Ghazel swamps by Sutcliffe and Parks. Part IV (92 pp.), Economic, international and legalissues, comprises three chapters, respectively, on options, strategies and policies for Nile management, all by Allan; Treaty history of the Nile and Lake Victoria basins by Okidi; International law on sharing of Nile waters by Ahmed; and Law and the Nile by Mallat. The Sudd and the associated seasonally flooded grasslands form one of the last great wildlife areas of the world, comparable with the Serengeti and it involves both Sudan and Ethiopia. The Jonglei canal could damage this if it progressed, so that future tourist revenue potential would drop-a matter of little concern at the moment because of the war situation in southern Sudan. However, there is little reference to such wildlife matters in this book. One might have expected that such a distinguished imprint as Cambridge University Press would have taken care in copy editing and proof reading but even Editor Allan’s name is misspelled, twice, on page viii! While irritating to the reader, such minor blemishes do not detract from the overall merits of the book as a whole. Inevitably, in a publication based on a diversity of contributions, the standard of some is higher than that of others. However, this is not simply an erudite scientific or technical monograph on Nile water, a subject of vital international importance over the millennia; this is a text which, although somewhat indifferent to ecological considerations, considers the socio-economics and above all the politics governing the inadequate water of life for much of Africa. Thus, the key issue is not the hydrology of the Nile per se but the politics of sharing the resource. Outlined in part III are the (inevitably because of the scarcity of the resource), competitive claims for sharing of the waters of the Nile among the
296
Book Reviews
riparian and lacustrine states while Part IV considers the legalities; inevitably, therefore, Parts III and IV are the most important in the book. The text as a whole is required reading for professionals of diverse disciplines, involved in any aspect of the politics as well as of the hydrology and water resources of the Nile basin. All too many excellently conceived schemes for international development of water resources have been rather less than successful because inadequate attention was paid to the socioeconomic and, above all, to the political consequences of the development. One can appreciate why UNEP, the United Nations Environment Programme, seeks to establish UNEP Regional Waters Programmes, analogous to the Regional Seas Programmes, to cover the basins of the Zambezi-Okavango and of the Nile. J.S.G. MCCULLOCH (Oxford, UK)
Design Hydrology and Sedimentology for Small Catchments, C.T. Haan, B.J. Barfleld
and J.C. Hayes, Academic Press, San Diego, CA, 1994, XIV + 588 pp., ISBN o-12-312340-2. This ‘design’ book is an important contribution which according to the authors evolved over a 15 year period from mimeographed notes and two privately published books “Hydrology and Sedimentology of Surface Mined Lands” by C.T. Haan and B.J. Barfield and “Applied Hydrology and Sedimentology for Disturbed Areas” by B.J. Barfield, R.C. Warner and C.T. Haan. Also, according to the authors “The current version is a complete rewrite of the previous texts in nearly all aspects. The material on erosion and sediment control presents extensive new technology that has evolved since the previous publication”. This assertion is substantiated by comparison with the earlier works. The stated audience for the book is the practicing engineer and the level of treatment of theory, practice, examples, and data are appropriate for this audience. Although a practicing engineer may appreciate the presentation in English units, their use in this book is not justified. The reviewer’s opinion is that the lack of SI units limits the book’s usefulness as a text book and limits its use outside of the USA. The book is organized with Chapter 1 as an overview, Chapters 2 and 3 deal with surface water hydrology, Chapters, 4 and 5 deal with hydraulics of open channel flow and control structures, Chapter 6 deals with flow routing, Chapters 7,8,9, and 10 deal with erosion and sedimentation, Chapter 11 deals with groundwater, Chapter 12 with monitoring hydrologic variables, and Chapter 13 with hydrologic modeling. Chapters 2-l 1 include examples and problems for the reader to solve. Chapters 12 and 13 lack examples but include problems. Chapter 2 is entitled “Hydrologic Frequency Analysis” but is really limited to flood frequency analysis using the lognormal, extreme value type I, and the log Pearson type III probability distributions. The presentation is straightforward and logical. The discussion and interpretation of flood frequency analysis is good and easy to