The concept for the Water Environment of Cities arose from a workshop “Green
Cities, Blue Waters” workshop held in 2006.1 The workshop assembled experts
from engineering, planning, economics, law, hydrology, aquatic ecology, geomorphology,
and other disciplines to present research findings and identify key new
ideas on the urban water environment. At a lunch discussion near the end of the
workshop, several of us came to the recognition that despite having considerable
expertise in a narrow discipline, none of us had a vision of the “urban water environment”
as a whole. We were, as in the parable, blind men at opposite ends of the
elephant, knowing a great deal about the parts, but not understanding the whole.We
quickly recognized the need to develop a book that would integrate this knowledge
to create this vision. The goal was to develop a book that could be used to teach
a complete, multidisciplinary course, “The Urban Water Environment”, but could
also be used as a supplemental text for courses on urban ecosystems, urban design,
landscape architecture, water policy, water qualitymanagement and watershed management.
The book is also valuable as a reference source for water professionals
stepping outside their arena of disciplinary expertise.