Falling or stagnant agricultural growth, increasing dependence on groundwater, climate variability, swift industrialization, and unplanned and unregulated urbanization in South Asia have spawned a variety of challenges for water resources governance, management and use: groundwater overdraft; insufficient, ill-managed and poor-quality freshwater supply vis-à-vis escalating demand; and water pollution. Water policies in each of the South Asian countries thus call for a more holistic understanding for the efficient management, equitable distribution and sustainable use of this scarce resource.

List of Tables. List of Figures. List of Maps. List of Abbreviations. Foreword. Acknowledgements. Introduction: An Agenda for Pluralistic and Integrated Framework for Water Policies in South Asia Anjal Prakash, Sreoshi Singh, Chanda Gurung Goodrich and S. Janakarajan Part I. Conceptual Framework for Water Resources Policy 1. Interface between Water, Poverty and Gender Empowerment: Revisiting Theories, Policies and Practices Amita Shah and Seema Kulkarni 2. Seeing Women and Questioning Gender in Water Management Margreet Zwarteveen 3. "Water Policies are Never Implemented, but Negotiated:" Analyzing Integration of Policies Using a Bayesian Network Saravanan V. Subramanian and David Ip Part II. Informing Water Resources Policies: The South Asian Experience 4. Institutional Design Perspective, Capacity Constraints and Participatory Irrigation Management in South Asia Jayanath Ananda 5. Integrated Water Resources Management: From Policy to Practice through a Comprehensive National Water Management Plan: A Case Study of Bangladesh Sultan Ahmed 6. Watershed Management Policies and Programs in Bhutan: Empowering the Powerless Thinley Gyamtsho 7. Scale, Diverse Economies, and Ethnographies of the State: Concepts for Theorizing Water Policy Priya Sangameswaran 8. Credit Conditionality and Strategic Sabotage: The Tale of the First Decade of Pakistan's Irrigation Reform Muhammad Mehmood Ul Hasan Part III. Water and Climate Change: Newer Dimensions That Should Shape Water Policies 9. Hydro-Hazardscapes of South Asia: Redefining Adaptation and Resilience to Global Climate Change Daanish Mustafa 10. Climate Change and Groundwater: India's Opportunities for Mitigation and Adaptation Tushaar Shah Part IV. International Experiences of Water Reform 11.