Book Review: Water resources of Italy: protection, use and control, edited by Giuseppe Rossi &Marcello Benedini

The editors, Marcello Benedini and Giuseppe Rossi, are both very experienced water resources experts in Italy. Benedini graduated in civil engineering in 1957. After further studies in the UK, he joined the Water Research Institute of the National Research Council in Rome, and acted as the director of the water management sector. Rossi graduated in civil engineering in 1965, and is Emeritus Professor of Hydrology and Hydraulic Structures at the University of Catania. He was a visiting scientist in Colorado, USA, and Valencia, Spain, and has served as the vice-president of International Water Resources Association from 2010 to 2012.

On the whole, the authors are to be warmly congratulated on their important and outstanding contribution and sharing their extensive experiences to colleagues and other interested people. Although being somewhat younger than the editors, I have repeatedly noticed how there is not always adequate understanding of the relevance of the past for the present and the future in academic circles, scientific fora and policymaking. The need for long-term
thinking and understanding is particularly high in water management