River basin management in the 21st century: Blending development with environmental sustainability

Throughout both the developing and the developed world, members of the public and senior officials in governmental and non-governmental organizations daily struggle to balance the apparent pressing needs to fully develop the resources of river basins against the obvious natural and human environmental consequences of these actions on the basins. In lesser developed regions, the opportunity to exploit the agricultural, hydroelectric and water supply potential of untapped resources offers a seemingly logical way to pull an entire region into the 21st century. Pressures to expand development in floodplains and upland areas for growing agricultural and industrial bases create similar dilemmas for leaders in previously developed areas. Yet the ever present threat of flood disasters, habitat destruction, and species annihilation gives pause to those considering such actions.