Water, Rivers & Creeks

Summary

Concerned with water resources throughout his career, Luna B. Leopold has at last brought together over forty years of experience to produce Water, Rivers and Creeks, a nontechnical primer on hydrology and water resources. As an expert engineer, meteorologist, environmentalist and geologist, few individuals could provide the breadth of coverage with the insightful brevity that characterize this introduction to water. By integrating the basics of hydrology and geomorphology with the practical formulation of policy, this book is intended for the general public, students of environmental studies, legislators, policy makers, and all others who are interested in the use, control, and management of water.

Resources

List of Adoptions

Table of Contents

Preface
Foreword

PART I: Hydrology and Morphology

Precipitation
Infiltration
Groundwater
Surface Water
The River Channel—Formation and Maintenance
Rivers, Creeks, and Vegetation

PART II: The Water Resource and Its Management

Water Supply
Water Use
Water Availability and Its Quality
Land Management and Its Relation to Water
Demands and Disposal
Water—Our Common Pleasure and Our Common Responsibility
References
Index

Reviews

“This is a delightful little book. I found myself marveling at Dr. Leopold’s ability to pull so much together so succinctly.”
-Professor David L. Freyberg, Stanford University

“authoritative, engaging, well written, and easily accessible…The book should be required reading for any North American science teacher who has not a course in hydrology or water resources, and recommended reading for secondary-school students who anticipate college majors in science, engineering or public service. Further, this brief book may very well be the long-awaited “required reading” about natural and managed water appropriate for all local and regional policy makers. Certainly the genius of the small, concise book is its engaging thoroughness presented with measured use of technical terminology.”
-Journal of Geoscience Education

“This concise treatment of the hydrology of rivers and groundwater is an expanded, reorganized and updated version of the author’s earlier Water–A Primer. The book provides valuable background information needed for an understanding of contemporary environmental issues having to do with surface water and groundwater, and should appeal to students of environmental science as well as the interested layperson.”
-Science Books & Films

“High school and college students and teachers interested in ecology and environmental studies will find this book to be a valuable resource.”
-The Science Teacher

“Dr. Leopold is a straightforward and stylish writer, and he imparts undoubted authority to the text. We need a book like this.”
-Professor Michael Church, The University of British Columbia

“Leopold’s book is very enjoyable reading–well written, clear, concise–and ideal as a supplementary resource for any geomorphology, sedimentary, hydrology, or water policy curriculum. Real-world examples with supporting photographs abound.”
-Choice

“A distinguished academic at the University of California, Berkeley, and former chief hydrologist at the US Geological Survey, Leopold offers as succinct a treatise on the principles and practice of hydrology as you could imagine…This is the kind of book students yearn for but seldom find.”
-The Times Higher