Encyclopedia of Lakes and Reservoirs

The world’s growing population faces the challenge of meeting ever-larger demands for  fresh water, not only for drinking but also for agriculture, industry and recreation. Already some one billion people are at risk from over-use, water withdrawals and pollution of these water bodies So scientific knowledge of the lakes and reservoirs, which hold about 90% of the world's surface fresh water, is increasingly critical to meeting the multiplicity of needs.

The Encyclopedia of Lakes and Reservoirs offers a comprehensive and authoritative review of physical, chemical and ecological characteristics of lakes and reservoirs, as well as describing their uses and environmental conditions and trends in all parts of the world.

More than 165 scientists from over 30 countries have contributed in both large and small ways to this authoritative volume. Superbly illustrated throughout, it includes some 200 entries in a wide range of topics, including acidification, artificialisation, biology, canals, climate change effects, chemicals, dams, dew ponds, drainage, ecological, eutrophication, evaporation, fisheries, geographical, geological, hydrological, hydro-electric power, nutrients, organic pollution, paleolimnology, reservoir capacities and depths, sedimentation, water resources.

These include many of the most current and most controversial environmental problems.

• dams
• eutrophication
• lakes and reservoirs
• paleolimnology
• water resources
• hydrogeology
• water quality and water pollution

From the reviews:

Selected by Choice magazine as an "Outstanding Academic Title" for 2013

“This latest addition to the ‘Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences’ series focuses on lakes and reservoirs, which comprise over 1.6 million kilometers of the Earth’s surface and hold approximately 90 percent of its surface fresh water. … The volume is profusely illustrated with graphs, charts, maps, and mathematical formulas. … Excellent author and subject indexes assist in finding relevant information. … should become one of the most authoritative references on this important subject. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All libraries; lower-level undergraduates through professionals, and general readers.” (J. C. Stachacz, Choice, Vol. 50 (7), March, 2013)

“This mammoth volume, containing around 200 entries, collates the work of 162 contributors from over 30 countries … . While the dominant focus is on physical geography, it will be of great interest to bio-geographers as contextual background, and there are plenty of sections dealing with biological theories, principles or records. This will be an essential reference text for the library.” (Frontiers of Biogeography, Vol. 4 (4), 2012)

“This encyclopaedia comprises 186 entries that are written by 162 contributors from all over the world … . an authoritative overview of scientific knowledge regarding lakes and reservoirs. … The Encyclopaedia of Lakes and Reservoirs is intended to be a reference book for scholars and students. … To sum up, the book is well done and suitable for libraries … .” (Alexander Pleßow, Environmental Earth Sciences, 2012)

• Lund University, Lund, Sweden

  Lars Bengtsson

• Reading, UK

  Reginald W. Herschy

Lars Bengtsson is professor in Water Resources Engineering at Lund University, Sweden. He was previously professor of hydrology at Uppsala University and Luleå Technical University and visiting professor in the USA, Canada and Hungary. He is and has been editorial board member of a large number of scientific journals. He has published more that 100 papers in international peer-reviewed journals. He specializes in physical processes in lakes and rivers and cold climate hydrology. 

Reginald Walter Herschy is a British consultant in hydrology dealing mainly with rivers, lakes and reservoirs. His work has taken him to Ireland, China, India, South Africa, Lesotho, Kenya, USA, Canada and South America. Dr Herschy was formerly with the UK Government for many years as head of hydrometry in England and Wales.  He is the author of some 60 technical papers on hydrology and meteorological satellites and author of several books. He is co-editor with the late Professor Rhodes Fairbridge ofthe Encyclopedia of Hydrology and Water Resources.

Policies and ethics