Environmental Flows: Saving Rivers in the Third Millenniumis a singular source of information on the subject of environmental flows-the quantity, timing, and quality of water flows and regimes required to sustain freshwater and estuarine ecosystems as well as the human livelihoods and well-being that depend upon these ecosystems. How much water does each type of ecosystem need? What happens when natural seasonal flow patterns or standing water regimes are radically altered by dams, hydropower generation, or pumping to meet the needs of humans? Can damaged ecosystems be restored by the provision of environmental flows? How can human societies come to grips with the realities of climate change, less water for everyone, greater impacts on aquatic biodiversity, and increasingly dysfunctional ecosystems? This book addresses these questions, describing each environmental flow method from the simplest hydrological formulae to ecosystem frameworks that seek to inform water management at multiple spatial scales. Implementation and monitoring are discussed, as well as legislation and public policy. The book ends with an appeal to address the freshwater biodiversity crisis, and turn the third millennium into an era of transformation and restoration of earth's natural resiliency and healing power for the benefit of ecosystems and people like.