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Switzerland is the water tower of Europe and many large European rivers originate in the Alps. The evolution of the protection of rivers and lakes in Switzerland from its early states to its holistic form today, comes about the complex interaction between the federal government and the highly autonomous cantons. The federalist structure of Switzerland allows for a very diverse legislative system on the protection of water. This book takes a closer look at how the cantons achieved the qualitative protection of waters and how diverse the respective cantonal laws and ordinances are.

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Philip Pika, born in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1986 obtained his M.Sc. in Environmental Systems Science at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (2008-2014). His specialisation were fresh water systems and marine systems. He is currently at Princeton University (USA) researching the impact of climate change on the ocean´s ecosystems.

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