Part I: Context and Objective -- Introduction: A Critical Appraisal of Major Water Engineering Projects and the Need for Interdisciplinary Approaches -- Water Ethics – Orientation for Water Conflicts as Part of Inter- and Transdisciplinary Deliberation -- Part II: Major Water Engineering Projects – Challenges, Problems, Opportunities.- Major Water Engineering Projects: Definitions, Framework Conditions, Systemic Effects -- A Global View on Future Major Water Engineering Projects -- Neglected Values of Major Water Engineering Projects: Ecosystem Services, Social Impacts and Economic Valuation -- Water Governance: A Systemic Approach -- Research in two Case Studies: Irrigation and Land Use in the Fergana Valley and Water Management in the Lower Jordan Valley -- Part III: The Fergana Valley – Uzbekistan’s Hydro-Agricultural System between Inertia and Change -- Between Multiple Transformations and Systemic Path Dependencies -- From Upscaling to Rescaling – Transforming the Fergana from Tsarist Irrigation to Water Management for an Independent Uzbekistan -- Irrigation Infrastructure in Fergana Today: Ecological Implications –Economic Necessities -- Where Water Meets Agriculture: The Ambivalent Role of the Water Users Associations -- Theory, the Market and the State: Agricultural Reforms in Post Socialist Uzbekistan between Economic Incentives and Institutional Obstacles -- Part IV: The Lower Jordan Valley – The Red Sea-Dead Sea Conveyance Project and its Complex History -- Water Resources, Cooperation and Power Asymmetries in the Water Management of the Lower Jordan Valley – The Situation Today and the Path that has led there -- Reclaiming the Dead Sea: Alternatives for Action -- Jordan’s Shadow State and Water Management: Prospects for Water Security will depend on Politics and Regional Cooperation -- Technologies, Incentives and Cost Recovery: Is there an Israeli Role Model? -- Part V: Outlook and Options for Action -- Lessons Learnt, Open Research Questions and Recommendations.

Open Access

This book presents the results of the Interdisciplinary Research Group  "Society – Water – Technology" of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. It describes interdisciplinary evaluation criteria for major water engineering projects (MWEPs) and portrays an application to the Lower Jordan Valley (Middle East) and the Fergana Valley (Central Asia). Both areas are characterised by transboundary conflicts, by challenges due to demographic and climate change, and by political and societal pressures. Based on the findings, the book provides recommendations for science and political decisions makers as well as for international financing institutions. In addition, it outlines research gaps from an interdisciplinary perspective. In the past, MWEPs have been used as an instrument to cope with the demands of growing populations and to enhance development progress. Experiences with MWEPs have shown that a purely technical approach has not always brought about the desired results. In many cases, MWEPs have even resulted in negative implications for society and environment. Therefore, improved management strategies and enhanced technologies for a sustainable water resource management system are a prerequisite to meet present and future challenges. And, moreover, the continuous evaluation and optimisation of these measures is, likewise, a must.