Water Resources Management and Policy

Rust, eds. 2002. The changing face of irrigation in Kenya: Opportunities for anticipating change in eastern and southern Africa. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute. /small-scale systems / water scarcity / farmer-managed irrigation systems / government-managed irrigation systems / irrigated farming / rice / technology transfer / databases / GIS / drainage / drought / sedimentation / land management / river basins / malaria / schistosomiasis / farmers / economic aspects / social conditions / case studies / arid zones / participatory management / water policy / legislation / health / livestock / Kenya / eastern Africa / southern Africa/ ISBN 92-9090-475-5 Cover photo, by Martin Fisher of ApproTec, shows Mrs. Kinuyu, a farmer entrepreneur who bought and uses the ApproTec Super MoneyMaker pump to irrigate an acre of cabbage, onion and French bean at Kilimambogo, east of Thilka, Kenya. The two young men in the picture work for her.

Mekong River, which is the largest river in the South-East Asia, is blessed with rich water resources, forest resources and aquatic resources. However, the Mekong River holds various problems, and bank erosions are most serious problems. Vientiane, capital city of Lao PDR, is in a monsoon region with dry and rainy season. In the dry season, the river level drops with about 10m, and then riverbanks have often failed. It is possible that seepage flow in the back ground influences the failure. In order to clarify the failure mechanism based on soil mechanics, we have conducted
field measurements and centrifuge model experiments. First, moisture sensors are installed in the boreholes on the riverbank in Vientiane city. We have collected data of volume water content in the soil from Jan. 2004. The results of measurements showed that the ground water level fluctuated. Second, the effect of the water level dropping on the ground stability was examined with the centrifuge model experiments. The particle size distribution of the soil of model ground was made to be similar to that of in-situ ground. The Stratum of the model ground is composed of upper siltyclay layer (with the depth of 7m) and lower silty-sand layer. This stratum of the model ground was also made to be similar to that of in-situ ground. The experimental results showed that the water level dropping caused the circular slip failure in upper silty-clay layer. The effect of seepage flow in the back ground on riverbank erosion should be
investigated in the future. Moreover, ground stability should be discussed using appropriate soil properties and saturated-unsaturated seepage analyses.

HEC-RAS merupakan program aplikasi yang digunakan untuk memodelkan suatu aliran sungai/saluran sehingga kita bisa mengetahui pola serta karakteristik aliran di sepanjang section sungai. Pada tulisan ini merupakan tinjauan aliran permanen (steady flow) model hidrodinamika. So, Let's check...

Mounding often occurs beneath engineering structures designed to infiltrate reuse water. AQTESOLV software and a spreadsheet solution for Hantush, together with soil moisture water balance (SWAGMAN farm model), were used for quantitatively predicting the height and extent of groundwater mounding underground to assess the groundwater-flow simulations of infiltration from a hypothetical irrigation site. Horizontal and vertical permeability, aquifer thickness, specific yield, and basin geometry are among the aquifer and recharge properties inputs. For 2.2 ha sites, the maximum heights of the simulated groundwater mound ranges up to 0.29 m. The maximum areal extent of groundwater mounding measured from the edge of the infiltration basins of 0.24 m ranges from 0 to 75 m. Additionally, the simulated height and extent of the groundwater mounding associated with a hypothetical irrigation infiltration basin for 2.2 ha development may be applicable to sites of different sizes, using the recharge rate estimated from the SWAGMAN farm model. For example, for a 2.2 ha site with a 0.0002 m/day recharge rate, the irrigation infiltration basin design capacity (and associated groundwater mound) would be the same as for a 1.1 ha site with a 0.0004 m/day recharge rate if the physical characteristics of the aquifer are unchanged. The study claimed that the present modelling approach overcomes the complications of solving the Hantush equation for transient flow. The approach utilised in this study can be applied for other purposes such as measuring the feasibility of infiltrating water, attenuation zone, risk mitigation essential for decision-makers and planning regulators in terms of environmental effects and water use efficiency.

ABSTRACT  Aside from the issues peace and stability, one of Afghanistan’s most vital needs is safe and reliable supplies of water. But Afghanistan faces certain economic, political, institutional problems to develop water resources potential. These problems will increase as the years go by. Afghanistan is one of the world’s poorest countries, with an economy largely based on subsistence agriculture. Afghan farmers depend on reliable, year-round sources of surface water and groundwater. Seasonal flows of streams and rivers fed by melting snowpack high in Afghanistan’s mountains recharge alluvial aquifers located in populated valleys and provide city dwellers with drinking water. The current population of Afghanistan is about 31 million and it is projected to  increase by nearly 80 percent by the year 2050 to approximately 56 million. This will raise demand on the country’s already economic stressed water resources. Almost all of the river basins are transboundary in the country. The Country due to the political unrest has not participated in many of the agreements regulating water resources in Central Asia. its current “non-player” and  "outsider" status of the Central Asian Hydropolitics  has to be changed when starting water resources development. This could create an international dispute  in future regional water sharing discussions. In addition, recent research suggests that global climate change could alter precipitation patterns in Afghanistan. In particular, both the amount and the timing of snowfall received at higher elevations could change, impacting the major source of water for many areas in Afghanistan. Development of Afghanistan’s  most transboundary water resources is a vital need for its own national interest, but it is also directly related with a transboundary water management dispute issue in the region. In other words, Afghanistan should find the best way to develop  its  transboundary water resources for national development  as well as peace and stability of    the region. But this development won't be so easy if current amount of  water  use of  riparian states will be same when Afghanistan plans to release smaller amount of water.

A groundwater resources assessment has been carried out for the Lake Nyasa Basin east Africa, with reference to sub catchments further to the whole basin wise analysis, including quantification of potential yields from the aquifers. Numerical groundwater models, MODFLOW-SURFACT coupled with Visual MODFLOW, were used to assess sub-basin groundwater sustainability (Via “Zone Budget” software package). The model has been calibrated to observed hydraulic head and processed baseflow estimate. It is concluded that the aquifer system is sustained by episodic recharge and the long-term gaining storage which represents the maximum extractable volume. Future predictions of groundwater usage indicate that by 2035 the percentage of annual safe yield extracted will increase to between 11.3 and 103%. Model result suggests that there is a need to revise the current estimate of sustainable yield based on future climate change conditions and projected population growth, which would decrease spring flows substantially and decrease hydraulic head basin-wide. It also suggests that by 2035 some sub catchments will be nearly at or exceeding the annual safe yield leaving no room for socio-economic development, or the need to reduce existing socio-economic demands to meet domestic demands. Besides to improving the natural replenishment capacity through artificial recharge technique, the other option is to increase the percentage of total recharge allocated to the annual safe yield from 10% of the total annual recharge to 20% in these catchments. This provides a basis for management of individual groundwater scheme in sustaining livelihood activities or implications of policies and to develop a plan for potential groundwater extraction scenarios pertaining to water use and allocation.

The course examines the concept of Indigenous water justice whereby students explore the development and implementation of water policies in relation to major themes and debates associated with Indigenous water crises. Through facilitated discussions, problem based learning, readings, film, and guest presentations students gain a deeper understanding of water injustices facing Indigenous Peoples. The course places special attention on international water law, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, traditional knowledge, and cultural values of water.

“As people accept that climate change is real and here to stay, they are likely to realize
that while reducing greenhouse gas emissions is all about energy, adapting to climate
change will be all about water.”
Frank Rijsberman, former Director General, International Water Management Institute.

The various standards and guidelines are discussed as they are required to control and regulate the factors of water quality. International Best Practice is key however it does need to take into account the relevancy of the landscape.

This report articulates a model of the adaptive planning cycle that is relevant across northern Australian jurisdictions, consistent with the National Water Initiative (NWI) and allows for better inclusion of the socio-cultural values associated with water resources. The types of values and the questions and research needs of water planners, stakeholders and Indigenous groups are specified at each stage within the model. Methods for eliciting, describing and analysing values, beliefs and practices are also proposed.
This report responds to the findings of the National Water Commission (NWC) in its most recent review of water reform progress, where it noted very few water plans include assessments of non-consumptive social or cultural values and the water requirements of those values (NWC 2011: 36). Further, even where such values have been clearly identified in plans, this has not generally led to any additional water regime requirements beyond those specified for environmental needs (NWC 2011: 45).
This highlights the significant gap between the accumulating knowledge and understanding of water-related values and practices, and the limited capacity for this knowledge to translate into substantive water planning or management initiatives for the protection and enhancement of these identified values.
Several possible explanations for this have been identified, including:
- The absence of any guidelines to provide consistent accounting for socio-cultural values in water plans (Jackson 2006)
- The lack of conceptual clarity around the definition of the term value, especially in relation to those values identified as ‘cultural’ and ‘social’ (Jackson 2006; Tan et al 2008; Reser and Bentrupperbaumer 2000)
- The tendency for ‘cultural values’ to be singularly associated with Indigenous heritage and spiritual significance (Jackson 2006; Head et al 2005; Davis 2006)
- Limitations on the appropriate use of privileged cultural knowledge and information as an input into the planning process (Rea 2008)
- The emphasis on market-based and economic criteria for decision-making within water reform that marginalises social and cultural values, particularly those associated with non-consumptive water use (Syme and Hatfield Dodds 2007; Euzen and Morehouse 2011)
- The lack of reliable and verifiable data on the water requirements associated with socio-cultural values and practices (Jackson et al 2010; FPWEC 2011:19; Zube 1987)
- The limited range of management strategies to meet socio-cultural purposes and needs through the scope of a water plan.
The key contribution of this report is that it provides a structured means for the integration of the multiple lines of inquiry and disparate methodologies that can be used to identify, prioritise, tradeoff and incorporate socio-cultural values in the water planning and management context. The five stages specified in the framework reflect the following assumptions about how socio-cultural values can better function as decision criteria:
4
- The full suite of socio-cultural values associated with the resource and its management must be identified, including (and especially) the relationships and dependencies between those values (inquiry)
- The relationship between these values and the resource needs to be modeled to ascertain how these values will be impacted by changes in water availability and to the management regime (system-building)
- The relative importance of these values, and how this assignment of importance varies across stakeholder groups, needs to be understood to enable negotiated tradeoffs between values in setting management objectives (plan development)
- Assessment of the impact of management choices on socio-cultural values is essential to determine the acceptability of planning decisions and to identify opportunities for mitigation actions (implementation)
- Monitoring and evaluating the impacts of a water regime on socio-cultural values improves collective understanding of those values, including their associated water requirements, and ultimately the quality and acceptability of water management decisions (adaptability).
No single tool exists for a comprehensive identification of values, and similarly no techniques of valuation are capable of establishing a total value of water that can include all aspects of its importance, significance and benefit. Instead, there are a wide range of techniques and methods from the social science and economic disciplines that are suited to particular aspects of value assessment. Through an adaptive framework, it is possible to articulate how the array of individual assessment and decision-support methods can contribute salient input to the planning process as a whole, through identifying the informational requirements of planners and decision-makers at each stage and demonstrating the inter-linkages and dependencies between nested stages of assessment, management and review.
This approach also highlights the areas that are currently underdeveloped, and require further investigation. Priority areas for development recommended by this report are suggested to be:
- Greater attention to integrated assessment tools that allow for synthesis of the socio-cultural value assessments with the other information gathering and assessment activities conducted for water planning. One of the key features of integrated assessment and system building tools is their ability to coherently combine multiple methods into a decision-support framework. The inclusion of socio-cultural values into such models is theoretically possible, but to date relatively untested. This work would assist in improving understanding of the water requirements associated with socio-cultural values, and how these vary contextually.
- Greater clarification of the management strategies available and appropriate for water plans to ensure or enhance priority socio-cultural values. Specifically, there is a need to clarify the range of mitigation actions for water plans in instances where socio-cultural values are risked, negatively impacted or annihilated by changes to the water regime. The use of collaborative projects to address the loss of cultural values for Indigenous communities in the Ord region provide an important example of the options envisaged by this approach, but the extent to which these exceed the current scope of water plans is an open question.

Griffith University and CSIRO brought together a small multi-disciplinary team to work on water planning with government agencies and other stakeholders throughout Australia.

Starting in August 2008, the primary aims of the Water Planning Tools project were to help communities and governments meet the challenges of water planning by building knowledge and skills in government agencies, and by informing policy making at national and state levels. Land & Water Australia, on behalf of the funding body the National Water Commission, required that these aims be fulfilled by the active trial of planning tools.

The Water Planning Tools project worked in Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory to develop and trial ‘water planning tools’ that can be adapted to suit a range of conditions and that will enable better planning and management of Australia’s water resources.

Tools were selected for trial to address the main issues and gaps that stakeholders had identified as impacting on the planning process. Engaging communities and building stakeholder confidence in the planning process became a focus as the project progressed.

Many of the present challenges have yet to be addressed, and aspirations of water planning such as integrated catchment management appear to have been set aside in the pressure to deal with overallocation and sustainability. Interception by farm dams, forestry and peri-urban supply has been identified more as an issue for specification of private consumptive rights, but there are implications for planning as well. Other emerging challenges identified by our work include the incidental extraction of water by mining activities; addressing trade-offs between providing water and energy use; addressing the costs of delivering environmental water; and allowing rural-urban transfer of water. In our view, one critical challenge that emerges in relation to many areas of the Murray–Darling Basin, is the role of planning for sustainable contraction. For further details on these and additional emerging challenges, we recommend readers to the three pilot reports that form part of the Water Planning Tools project.

Water Resources have close relationship with precipitation and runoff in the watershed, and rainfall that coming on watershed, support water consuming by plants. Drinking water, industry and agriculture from ways including infiltration in soil, surface and subsurface flow. On this basis, studies about rainfall and ground  water has been aimed in Bouin watershed with area 290.95 Km2 Located in Isfahan province. This watershed has a good situation from rainfall and surface and ground water aspects in Isfahan province. But in some recent years because of annual and rainfall reduction over exploration of water resources, resulting in water shortage in agriculture thus it is necessary that to investigate rainfall changes, wet and dry period predication and their effects on water resources changes (surface and ground water). In this study , with investigation of rainfall trend changes , flood discharge determination by manning , fuller , SCS methods and flood hydrograph in different return period , determined flood situation in watershed , after that with investigation of ground water level changes, determined rainfall changes effects on ground water changes in study area using correlation coefficient in lag time 0,1,2,3,4,5, and 6 monthly for recent years (2000-2003) in 36 month duration .Result shoes that is a significant relationship between rainfall and ground water level changes in study area, and it can be described that a for majoring of station is a 3 monthly lag time from rainfall occurrence to ground water changes. Additional, common trend of ground water level changes has a Descending status.

Interventions on hydro/ecological systems by different categories of stakeholders characterised by different political, decision-making and discursive power, and varied access to resources, tend to generate costs, benefits and risks that are distributed unevenly across spatial and temporal scales and across social groups. This is due to the interconnectedness of users through the hydrologic cycle entailed by their dependence upon the same resource. As pressure over resources increases and basins 'close', this interdependence becomes more critical, increasing the frequency and seriousness of water shortages and conflicts. A political ecology approach seeks to identify and understand the mechanisms that underpin the transformations of aquatic socioenvironmental systems. Basin interconnectedness, with its hydrological, ecological and social dimensions, and three instances of the concept of scale are shown to be relevant to the understanding of these transformations. The paper analyses the case of the Chao Phraya river basin, in Thailand, and shows how land and water resources have been appropriated and identifies the different interest groups and their related discourses and power; it examines how they have adapted to socio-environmental changes, and highlights how risks, costs and benefits have been distributed.

The extent and pattern of our material use strongly affects the planet’s water resources. This report provides the first combined overview of the links between different aspects of material use and their effects on the planet’s water resources. As water-related challenges, such as water shortages and pollution, increase worldwide, the need for us to understand and address these links is becoming increasingly important.

Water is necessary for almost every step of the material flow, from the extraction of raw materials to their processing and recycling or disposal. This report highlights the role of water in these steps, often illustrating this with case studies and examples, and shows how the availability of water determines what and how much we can produce and how production and consumption influence the quality and quantity of our freshwater resources.

In the context of globalisation and ever more complex supply chains, water also plays an important role in trade. As water is usually required for the production of export goods, local problems of water depletion and pollution are closely linked to the local economies’ ties to the global market. This report explores virtual water flows, which can help assess the real water situation in different countries.

The findings come with a warning that Europe is neglecting the catastrophic consequences that water stress and scarcity will have in Europe and in the rest of the world, and with a call to governments to start measuring Europe’s overall water and material use.

This report gives informed, research-based recommendations to relevant stakeholders, including, but not limited to members of Moldovan national network of Climate Forum East II, on key entry points to strengthen policy implementation for adaptation to climate change with specific focus on water resource and biodiversity sectors.
This document has been developed by „MilleniuM“ Training and Development Institute in the framework of the project "Analysis of national policy documents on climate change in Water Resources and Biodiversity sectors" with the financial support of the NGO EcoContact under the program "Climate Forum East“ (CFE II). This program is financed by the European Union, Austrian Development Cooperation and the Austrian Red Cross.

Agriculture is perhaps the most important pillar of human civilization. In order to ensure this pillar won’t crumble under the weight of the growing population, humans have strengthened it through technological advancements and massive increases in scale of production. Yet in recent history, a new crisis has emerged in many regions of the world. While advancements in agriculture during the last one hundred or so years have allowed humans to sustain our immense growth, we find that many of our considerations may have been short sighted. The 20th century focus on unceasingly increasing agricultural productivity is what has allowed humans to reach
the level of consumption that we, at least those of us in developed countries, enjoy today. However, this focus on constant growth did not give serious consideration to what would happen once we began to run out of the resources that we previously took for granted. Of course, this train of thought extends far beyond just agriculture, as we face the problem of diminishing resources across many other fronts, namely our reliance on fossil fuels for energy. It is evident that our astonishing growth could only be accomplished through the use of an astonishing amount of water, fertilizer, seeds, and labor. Thus, the unsustainable nature of many modern agricultural practices has given rise to a new sort of agrarian crisis.

An important aspect of contemporary European policy-making is public participation. The European Commission increasingly mandates its Member States to involve the general public in policy-making through public participation. Public participation is generally considered to improve the legitimacy and democracy of the policy-making process and its outcomes. However, mandated public participation creates severe difficulties for Member States whose policy-making process may be characterized as a (neo)corporatist system of interest representation. This paper presents the case of the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive in the Netherlands, aiming to highlight these difficulties, to provide an example of how a Member State may cope with forced public participation in a (neo)corporatist environment, and to question whether and, if so, how mandated public participation actually results in a more democratic and legitimate policy-making process.

Interventions on hydro/ecological systems by different categories of stakeholders characterised by different political, decision-making and discursive power, and varied access to resources, tend to generate costs, benefits and risks that are distributed unevenly across spatial and temporal scales and across social groups. This is due to the interconnectedness of users through the hydrologic cycle entailed by their dependence upon the same resource. As pressure over resources increases and basins 'close', this interdependence becomes more critical, increasing the frequency and seriousness of water shortages and conflicts. A political ecology approach seeks to identify and understand the mechanisms that underpin the transformations of aquatic socioenvironmental systems. Basin interconnectedness, with its hydrological, ecological and social dimensions, and three instances of the concept of scale are shown to be relevant to the understanding of these transformations. The paper analyses the case of the Chao Phraya river basin, in Thailand, and shows how land and water resources have been appropriated and identifies the different interest groups and their related discourses and power; it examines how they have adapted to socio-environmental changes, and highlights how risks, costs and benefits have been distributed.

To achieve flood protection in the Maritsa River Basin, Greece and Turkey have been forced to take preventative measures. However, these actions have been taken unilaterally making the Maritsa River Basin an example of poor international and transboundary water management. As a transboundary river, water development and management issues in the basin require regional collaboration between Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey.

India is the greatest groundwater consumer in the world, with estimated annual withdrawals exceeding 230 km 3 . More than 60% of irrigated agriculture, 85% of drinking water supplies, and 50% of urban and industrial water needs are dependent on sustainable groundwater management. Regardless, groundwater overextraction is a growing problem in many regions. Predictions of groundwater resource availability in India are problematic in part because of a limited number of monitoring sites and insufficient data quality and quantity. Regional groundwater assessments are further complicated because of sporadic and low-frequency data. To help overcome these issues and more accurately quantify groundwater resource availability, scientists have begun using satellite-derived remote sensing data. In this study, the authors used seasonal and annual hydrologic signals obtained by NASA Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites and simulated soil moisture variations from land data assimilation systems to show groundwater depletion trends in the northwest state of Gujarat (surface area of 196 030 km 2 ), India. Results were evaluated using direct measurement data from 935 wells. Remote sensing generated results compared favorably with well data (e.g., r 2 5 0.89 for Gandhinagar, a representative highly urbanized district in Gujarat: confidence interval (CI) 5 0.05 and P 5 0.002). Results show that remote sensing is an effective tool to compliment and interpolate observed regional groundwater well data and improve groundwater storage estimations in Gujarat, India. Properly implemented, the method will supply reliable science-based information to enhance management of groundwater resources in India and other geographic locations.

El objetivo del presente artículo es describir diversas estructuras de gobernanza internacionales del agua que influyen o contextualizan la política del agua en México. Mediante un análisis de gabinete de los principales organismos internacionales de agua, se construyen cuatro modelos típico-ideales de gobernanza: global, transnacional, multilateral y bilateral-transfronterizo. El hallazgo principal es que la mayor influencia internacional que se detecta sobre la política del agua en México es la incidencia en la agenda gubernamental, ya que, junto con muchos otros países, se han adoptado diferentes compromisos internacionales como los “Objetivos del Milenio”, y ahora de desarrollo sostenible, estrategias para mitigación del cambio climático, y la gestión integrada de recursos hídricos. Este trabajo aporta elementos teóricos para la docencia e investigación en el tema de gobernanza, gestión y política del agua. Al final se presentan los logros y desafíos de las cuatro estructuras de gobernanza internacionales presentadas y la influencia de éstas para el caso de la política de agua en México.

The purpose is to identify the main challenges of municipal wastewater treatment policy in Mexico, through an original descriptive statistical analysis, distinguishing data from the country, as well as by states and municipalities. Five challenges are identified: good intentions; abandonment of treatment plants; operation and preventive maintenance; the vacuum of responsibility, and the priority of treatment in state agendas. The conclusion is that the professionalization of local water and sanitation agencies is key to aspiring to materialize good intentions that will be written in the new General Water Law.

O trabalho tem como objetivo apresentar a metodologia e os resultados preliminares do estudo que está sendo desenvolvido sobre a gestão dos serviços públicos de saneamento nos municípios integrantes do Consórcio Intermunicipal da Costa dos Coqueiros–CICC, na região do Litoral Norte do Estado da Bahia, que são: Camaçari, Dias d’Ávila, Entre Rios, Jandaíra, Lauro de Freitas, Mata de São João, Rio Real e São Sebastião do Passé. O estudo que surgiu da demanda dos municípios à Universidade Federal da Bahia-UFBA, insatisfeitos com os serviços prestados pela concessionária estadual de água e esgotos, visa a proposição de modelos de gestão para a prestação dos serviços de saneamento básico identificando os limites e as possibilidades. Na elaboração do estudo estão sendo consideradas todas as componentes do saneamento básico: abastecimento de água, esgotamento sanitário, resíduos sólidos e drenagem de águas pluviais. O estudo conta com a participação de representantes das prefeituras municipais na elaboração do diagnóstico dos serviços e de sua gestão, com levantamento de dados por suas equipes, trabalho de campo desenvolvido pela UFBA e representantes das prefeituras e a realização de Seminário em cada município visando obter a percepção da população quanto aos problemas e gestão dos serviços de saneamento básico. Para a avaliação da gestão dos serviços públicos de saneamento básico são considerados cinco campos de análises: o planejamento, a regulação, a fiscalização, a prestação dos serviços e o controle social. Os dados secundários trabalhados e os levantamentos realizados mostram diversas deficiências na prestação dos serviços de saneamento básico e são importantes para a análise dos modelos de gestão a serem propostos para a tomada de decisão pelos municípios

This paper considers the impacts of land use and hydrological intensification on inland waters • Global issues are considered through the lens of Australian examples • Likely scenarios include wet regions becoming wetter, dry regions drier and storms more intense • The legacies of past land use change will need to be addressed • Proactive governance based on innovative science and adaptive management will be critical a b s t r a c t Intensification of the use of natural resources is a world-wide trend driven by the increasing demand for water, food, fibre, minerals and energy. These demands are the result of a rising world population, increasing wealth and greater global focus on economic growth. Land use intensification, together with climate change, is also driving intensification of the global hydrological cycle. Both processes will have major socio-economic and ecological implications for global water availability. In this paper we focus on the implications of land use intensification for the conservation and management of freshwater ecosystems using Australia as an example. We consider this in the light of intensification of the hydrologic cycle due to climate change, and associated hydrological scenarios that include the occurrence of more intense hydrological events (extreme storms, larger floods and longer droughts). We highlight the importance of managing water quality, the value of providing environmental flows within a watershed framework and the critical role that innovative science and adaptive management must play in developing proactive and robust responses to intensification. We also suggest research priorities to support improved systemic governance, including adaptation planning and management to maximise freshwater biodiversity outcomes while supporting the socioeconomic objectives driving land use intensification. Further research priorities include: i) determining the relative contributions of surface water and groundwater in supporting freshwater ecosystems; ii) identifying and protecting freshwater biodiversity hotspots and refugia; iii) improving our capacity to model hydro-ecological relationships and predict ecological outcomes from land use intensification and climate change; iv) developing an understanding of long term ecosystem behaviour; and v) exploring systemic approaches to enhancing governance systems, including planning and management systems affecting freshwater outcomes. A major policy challenge will be the integration of land and water management, which increasingly are being considered within different policy frameworks.

Could decentralized renewable energy technologies for water services help poor communities in developing countries better adapt to climate change? Could they promote equitable access under increasingly uncertain conditions?

Those are the questions four research teams set out to explore in Argentina, Mexico, and East and Southern Africa. While geographic, climatic, social, economic, and other conditions varied between the four regions, they faced similar challenges: water scarcity, lack of access to clean energy, and high vulnerability to climate change.

The lessons and recommendations of the research are presented in a synthesis report, The energy-water nexus in the context of climate change in developing countries: Experiences from Latin America, East and Southern Africa.” As the report notes, to date few countries have working examples of joint energy and water management policies. However, the results are positive when renewable energy technologies are successfully adopted for water services. For example, generating energy at the local or national level can increase energy security, create business opportunities and improve health and education.

The studies identify a number of barriers to the uptake of renewable energy for water supply, including the challenge of finding technologies that are affordable and socially and culturally appropriate. Imported technologies are often not suitable for local climate conditions and may not withstand increasing climatic variability. 

Looking ahead, the report highlights the need to establish strong research centres based in the South to tackle the complex interplay between water, energy, and climate change; inform policy and investment; and build the capacity of local practitioners.

Current efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions promote a transition to renewable energy. But if new green technologies could be used to supply water and increase resilience, they would play a key role in adaptation strategies.

W ater utilities in the United States struggle over how to set policies, design rate structures, and implement communication procedures that are effective and appropriate to their customer base. Adding to the complexity of these tasks is that water management requires local planning, and cookie-cutter strategies often fail to consider that customer characteristics and water demand vary from one town to the next, even within the same state or geographic region. For example, the same conservation initiative that succeeds at one utility may fail to reach its conservation goals or costs much more at a neighboring utility, solely because customers in the two communities have different water use patterns. Consequently, the revenue effects of the conservation initiative will be vastly different for the two utilities.

... Imperial College London, United Kingdom, Giles Atkinson, London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom, Ece Ozdemiroglu and ... A distinguishing feature of large-scale infrastructure projects is that, given lengthy construction periods, their benefits do not ...

The minimum, moderate and maximum temperature trends at seasonal time scale in 5 climatic zones using 37 meteorological stations in Zayandehrud river basin was studied regionally and the relationship to water resources, water uses of each zone and its possible effects were determined. The results showed that the majority of the climatic zones will have an increasing trend in spring, summer and fall and a decreasing trend in winter. The highest growth rate occurs in overnight temperature in spring and summer and daily temperature in fall. In winter, there is no significant difference between the slopes of temperature variables trend. The Most increasing slopes of the trend are seen in the northern part of the basin and during summer and the least decreasing slopes are in the northern and Northwestern parts of the basin during winter. The temperature rise in fall, spring and summer affect the reduction of water resources and increasing consumption in different areas. Among the various zones, the Eastern part of the basin will be faced with more water stress to meet their needs. The findings of this study can be effective for an identification of sensitive areas to climate change in the basin and planning to control water stress and achieving sustainable river basin management. Cloud coverage and rainfall associated defectively with the subtractive temperature span. Detailing long-term tendencys or determined moves in temperature and precipitation is significant for considerate the present and future alterations in nature. Monthly precipitation alterations may be optimistic or undesirable in various months of the year. While heating can possibly abridge the crop growth period, crop production and water efficiency of all crops are anticipated to reduction due to lower precipitation and higher water prerequisites under higher temperature. The Zayandeh-Rud River basin, Iran, is anticipated to encounter spatiotemporally heterogeneous temperature rise and precipitation decrease that will reduction water supply by mid-century. consequences propose that infrastructural recoveries, strict water request management and ecosystem-based regulatory prioritization, integrated by supply increase can temporarily reduce water stress in a basin.

In many regions in Iran, groundwater is withdrawn in an exceeded manner. In more than 200 plainsfrom 620 plainsin this country, the level of groundwater is declining. Since 1972, artificial feeding projects have become a major concern with the objective of maintaining the balance of groundwater. As to the structure and construct, it can be claimed that the most common methods of artificial feeding structures the basin and earthworks applied. The water price per m³varies in various areas, whilein the West of Iran, where due to high precipitation water abundance is prevailing, thus, lower price compared to arid and semi-arid areas. According to this study, the average price of extracted water per m³ is about 500 Rls. The findings of this study indicate that, in many aquifers (about 200 aquifers) the groundwater withdrawal should be reduced. The artificial feeding projects should be implemented in areas that have been subject to study and are economically efficient. It is recommended to consider the issues related with hydrogeology and hydrology in these studies and to discharge the sediments periodically in order to enhance the efficiency of the projects. Since the aquifers are very deep in Iran,by considering the volume of pores, the feeding should be in a volume that it may increase the groundwater level.

For over five decades, the New River has served as a component of the waste infrastructure of the Imperial and Mexicali Valleys and is considered one of the most polluted rivers in North America. Located within the transnational Salton Sea watershed, which overlaps California and Baja California, the river's toxic flow includes biological contaminants from millions of gallons of treated and untreated sewage, hazardous waste from industry, and various pollutants from agricultural and urban runoff. California has officially designated the river as a ''drainage ditch'' through Senate Bill 387, passed in 2005. The same year, the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA) State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) invited various stakeholders to participate in New River problem-solving through a Regional Advisory Committee (RAC) as part of the SWRCB's Environmental Justice New River Pilot Project (EJNRPP). Participants in the RAC include the non-profit Calexico New River Committee (CNRC) representing the strongest local leadership. To what extent can environmental justice policy address water pollution problems along the borderlands? How is regional collaboration shaping the objectives of the CNRC and SWRCB, two key players involved in the EJNRPP? I contend that the precautionary approach (PA) and cumulative impacts (CI) are strategically employed concepts with which stakeholders prioritize divergent goals in the process of collaborating to address New River pollution. Furthermore, I assert that the Pilot Project is fraught with significant limitations given the political momentum of the CNRC and binational nature of the water resource of concern.

The aim of this paper is to analyse the policy of water resources development implemented in the semiarid watershed of the Segura river during the last century, consisting of irrigation development promotion by means of the provision of new resources. The way in which this policy was implemented generated important conflicts among users, severely damaged riverine ecosystems and, paradoxically, created new water demands, perpetuating an outdated model of management.

This paper indicates the influence of paradigms and theories on the development of South Africa’s National Water Resource Strategy, Second Edition. Five paradigms exist: positivism, postpositivism, interpretivism/constructivism, critical theories and the participatory paradigm. I use the PULSE3 framework for analysis that I developed to analyse the NWRS2. I found that positivism is the dominant paradigm influencing the NWRS2. I furthermore analyse the strategy through two alternative theories: agential power and the ambiguity theory of leadership. These theories are interpretivist/constructivist type theories. My argument is for the integration of paradigms through the utilisation of analytic eclecticism. In light of positivism’s dominance, I conclude that water research can be more innovative through the integration of paradigms and alternative theories.

O livro baseia-se na experiência do mundo real e não numa balburdia (gobbledgook) teórica, por meio do que estabelece a orientação não analítica do texto. O resultado é um livro  com uma grande quantidade de informações sobre a água, caracterizando-se com um panorama do campo de estudos articulado em torno da água, no que é de grande utilidade para o policy maker.

In the many challenges that face Asia's river basins, the Indonesian experience of managing water resources through three types of RBOs may contribute to the discussion. Indonesia applies three types of RBOs: central government RBO, provincial government RBO and corporate RBO; from whom one can take conclusion on important aspects, that are useful in choosing the correct type or combination between various types (council, government, corporate etc.).  Cooperation between the three types of RBOs in Indonesia (central government, provincial government and corporate RBO) is an important part of undertaking integrated water resources management at a basin context. In order to provide better services, comprising both fee abstracted water services for commercial users and non-commercial services, the corporate-type of RBO like Jasa Tirta I Public Corporation is required to take far-reaching decisions and timely implementation (as well as comprehensive investments) within water supply; power generation; maintaining storage capacity; flood protection; and morphological management.

In recent decades, network industries around the world have gone through periods of de- and re-regulation. With vast amounts of sometimes conflicting research carried out into specific network industries, the time has come for a critical over-arching assessment of this entire industry in order to provide a platform of understanding to aid future research and practice. This comprehensive resource provides an orientation for academics, policy makers and managers as to the main economic, regulatory and commercial challenges in the network industries. The book is split into sections covering market, policy, regulation, management perspectives, whilst all of the key network industries are covered, including energy, transport, water and telecommunications. Overseen by world-class Editors and experts in the field, this inter-disciplinary resource is essential reading for students and researchers in international business, industrial economics and the industries.