Overview of Water Policy Developments: Pre- and Post-2015 Development Agenda

The year 2015 marked the end of some important universal decisions regarding water developments. The International Decade for Action ‘Water for Life’ (2005–2015) was concluded so that a “Post-2015 Development Agenda” is now defined. 2015 was also the year when UN Millenium Goals (MDGs) came to an end to convert into the new Agenda, which is a process led by the United Nations (UN) to define the future global development framework. The proposed goal is now referred to as SDG’s or Sustainable Development Goals, that extend existing commitments such as the MDGs and the priorities of Rio + 20. SDG’s will balance the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development with a strong linkage between environment and socio-economic goals. They converge with the post-2015 development agenda, now called Agenda 30 as these goals will be valid until 2030. One of the major concepts of SDG’s is water security, which is the basic element of the Global Goal on Water. Water security is the capacity of a population to safeguard sustainable access to adequate quantities of acceptable quality of water for sustaining livelihoods, human well-being, and socioeconomic development, for ensuring protection against pollution and waterrelated disasters, and for preserving ecosystems in a climate of peace and political stability. This paper discusses the developments in water management within the last 30 years, which eventually led to the above concepts. A summary is provided on key events and documents of these past years to point out how the international community has reacted towards present and emerging needs of the society.     

Good transboundary water governance in the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals: a legal perspective

The goal of this article is to discuss whether the Sustainable Development Goals address the cooperation necessary to facilitate a system of transboundary water governance. For the purpose of this analysis, a Good Transboundary Water Governance Matrix has been developed. We find that transboundary water governance requires a holistic interpretation and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals understood as a whole. In particular, good governance and, ultimately, sustainable development require stakeholders to focus not only on water (Goal 6) but also on Goal 16, which focuses on international cooperation.     

长藤结瓜式水利系统配水过程优化研究

针对长藤结瓜式水利系统配水既要满足灌区的灌溉需水还要实现发电、供水等综合利用效益最大的特点,采用大系统分解协调理论构建了以发电效益最大为目标函数,灌溉、供水、航运等为约束条件的长藤结瓜式水利系统配水过程优化数学模型。结合数学模型的结构特点,提出了采用模拟迭代技术对模型进行求解的方法,并明确模型求解的主要步骤和流程。根据长藤结瓜水利系统配水过程优化模型及求解方法,结合江山市峡口灌区实际,对峡口灌区渠道的配水过程进行优化。结果表明采用本方法推荐的配水过程,在满足灌区灌溉、供水要求的基础上,可增加灌区内不同电站发电量2.40%~5.76%。     

The Abuja Ministerial Declaration on Water

Abstract

Africa faces major problems in its water resources sector, manifested in the periodic droughts and floods and compounded by population growth, urbanization, and environmental degradation. Africa has a large number of shared rivers, lakes, and aquifers, and the uses and protection of most are not regulated by any agreements between the riparian states. Where such agreements exist, they do not encompass all the riparians. A number of instruments were concluded by the African leaders with the view of addressing these problems. The most recent of those instruments is “the Abuja Ministerial Declaration on Water: A Key to Sustainable Development,” which was adopted in April 2002 and which establishes the African Ministerial Conference on Water. This article reviews the water resources problems in Africa and analyzes the various attempts to address them, including the Abuja Declaration.     

Equity in bulk water allocation: the case of the Mahaweli Ganga Development Project in Sri Lanka

This article evaluates the equity performance of bulk water allocation as an irrigation management strategy in the Mahaweli Ganga Development Project, Sri Lanka. Through semi-structured interviews with farmers and irrigation officials, the study collected local perceptions using seven indicators: water rights; decision-making process; contribution of resources for irrigation maintenance; water allocation rules; actual water distribution; information sharing; and conflict resolution. The results highlight gaps in the institution such as the need to enhance the water rights of landless farmers, further encourage crop diversification, increase transparency in decision making, instil a risk-management approach, and strengthen accountability.     

Policy Options to Improve Water Allocation Efficiency: Analysis on Egypt and Morocco

Abstract

Because of political risk, economic feasibility, and cultural concerns, it has been a great challenge for economists to provide palatable remedies to governments to promote water allocation efficiency. Considering the limitation of water pricing to irrigation water, this research addresses questions of which strategic policy alternatives to water pricing might improve irrigation water allocation efficiency. An empirical framework is provided to compare irrigation policies for allocating scarce water to agricultural production in Egypt and Morocco. Partial-equilibrium agricultural sector models specific to Egypt and Morocco were employed for policy tests. Consumer and producer surplus from agricultural based commodities is maximized subject to various resources, technical, and policy constraints. Positive Mathematical Programming (PMP) was used to calibrate the model. Water pricing policy, water complementary input factor tax policy, and output tax policy are tested using these two agricultural sector models. Results suggest that effective policy depends on the social, economic, and environmental contexts of specific regions. For countries like Egypt where most agricultural land is irrigated, taxes on Nitrogen (N) fertilizer and energy and output tax on water-intensive and low profit crop production may be more effective than others. For the Moroccan case, taxation on crop inputs and outputs not only affect water use in the public irrigation sector, but also private irrigation sector and rain-fed as a whole. Water pricing and output tax policies are better suited and effective than water complementary input factor taxation. Findings from Morocco might be generalized to other countries with similar irrigation characteristics and diversity in irrigated (public and private) and rain-fed land. The results for both countries demonstrate that some of the strategic irrigation policies can work towards directing cropping decisions to less water intensive crops and also generating revenues for governments in situations where governments choose not to price water.     

Analysis of Agricultural Water Allocation and Returns in the Sultanate of Oman

Water is the most important determinant of agricultural production in Oman. Remarkable public and private investments have been drawn into water resources development and into the modernization of the farming techniques in order to strengthen the contribution of agriculture to the national economy. In spite of these technological improvements and significant investments, water allocation remains a major policy issue. This paper discusses current water use and explores alternatives for improved allocation of agricultural water. Available data suggest that physical and economic returns to water are low. Improvement of returns to water resources could come from producing higher quality and higher value crops for domestic and foreign markets using improved irrigation techniques. This trend needs to be enforced by stringent water conservation measures in order to reach a long-term sustainable water use.     

基于洛伦兹曲线的甘肃省用水结构分析

辨析区域用水结构特征,对于优化区域水资源配置、社会经济与生态环境协同发展具有重要意义。利用洛伦兹曲线、基尼系数、洛伦兹不对称系数等方法,对甘肃省各区域近10 a来用水结构时空分布特征、均衡差异性、主要用水指标(万元GDP用水量、万元工业增加值用水量、人均综合用水量和净灌溉用水量)进行研究,并对研究结果进行定量分析。结果表明:甘肃省用水结构存在显著差异,工业用水、城镇公共用水、居民生活用水基尼系数均＞40%,超过了“警戒线”,空间分布极不均匀;生态环境用水、农业用水空间分布相对合理,但仍未达到“空间均衡”的治水目标;工业用水、城镇公共用水、居民生活用水具有明显的空间分布不均匀性,总体呈现出由类型用水量较大区域主导的非对称性特征。研究结果与实际情况基本吻合,表明该研究思路和研究方法可为区域水资源优化配置、用水结构分析提供一定的参考。     

西部开发、南水北调和水资源配置的综合思考

西部开发、南水北调和水资源合理配置是我国新世纪初的重大建设任务.西部开发是涉及全国、贯串古今的大课题;南水北调是西部开发和合理配置水资源的重要途径和设施;水资源合理配置是调水决策的基础和规划工作的核心.文章论述三者相互连通结合的关系,阐述现代水利科学技术对支持保证重大建设成功的必要性和迫切性.     

灌溉水资源危机产生的原因及其对策

干旱是我国农业生产的最大威胁，灌溉水资源不足，已经成为粮食产量提高的主要限制因素。本文分析了灌溉水资源危机产生的原因，即城市和工业用水挤占，流域水资源调度失控和灌溉不当造成的水量浪费，并根据存在问题，对相应对策提出了个人见解。     

Remote Sensing and Economic Indicators for Supporting Water Resources Management Decisions

This paper demonstrates that combining spatial land surface data with socio-economic analysis provides a number of indicators to strengthen decision making in integrated water and environmental management. It provides a basis to: track current water consumption in the Inkomati Basin in South-Africa; adjust irrigation water management; select crop types; facilitate planning; estimate crop yields before harvesting, and consequently to forecast market price development. Remote sensing data and economic analysis can also be used to study the spatial distribution of water consumption as an indicator of equity in access to water resources. It even enables identification of farms that consume more irrigation water than formally allocated. Finally, it provides a basis to assess the cost-effectiveness of various ways to reduce agricultural water consumption. So, this approach is potentially useful for determining water consumption, refining water allocation policies, and determining the potential for water transfers through mechanisms such as water trading.     

乌苏市地表水质量评价

本文分析了新疆塔城地区乌苏市地表水水质状况。通过河流水质资料从矿化度、总硬度、高锰酸盐指数、五日生化需氧量、挥发酚等参数分析反应其变化趋势,分析其水质现状。从而判定乌苏地表水是否符合国家《地表水环境质量标准》(GB3838-2002)的Ⅲ类标准,是否可以满足生活、工业用水、农田灌概以及渔业养殖等多种用途的水质要求。结果表明,新疆塔城地区乌苏市地表水水质现状为Ⅰ―Ⅲ类,符合国家《地表水环境质量标准》(GB3838-2002)的Ⅲ类标准。     

Real and Ideal Institutional Frameworks for Managing the Common Arab-Israeli Water Resources

The Oslo A and B agreements of September 1993 and September 1995 were the beginning of a process aimed at a peaceful resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The Israeli-Jordanian Treaty of 1994 addresses issues of water sharing between the two parties. In 1995, Israel and the Palestinians signed an Agreement on Water and Sewage as part of their Interim Agreement. In February 1996, Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinians agreed to a “Declaration of Principles for Joint Development of Water Resources.” The purpose of this paper is to compare the components of the two Agreements with an “ideal” institution for management of shared water resources. The “ideal” institution was formulated by 23 water experts who were interviewed on this issue. The main finding is that in most respects, expert opinions did not differ significantly from the Israeli-Jordanian Treaty of Peace and the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement.     

Estimating the Potential Impacts of Irrigation Water Pricing Using Multicriteria Decision Making Modelling. An Application to Northern Greece

A great challenge of the current European water policy is the implementation of volumetric water pricing in the agricultural sector, especially of Mediterranean countries, where irrigation is a necessary precondition of agricultural production and farmers’ income, but also the major consumer of water. The overall aim of the present work is to develop a methodology that will be suitable for the estimation of the potential environmental, economic and social impacts of irrigation water pricing. For this purpose, Multi-Attribute Utility Theory is implemented in order to simulate agricultural decision making at various water pricing scenarios. Water demand functions are then elicited, by means of the best crop and water allocation (farmers’ decisions) in each scenario. The European Water Framework Directive recommends that any issue concerning water resources management (including water pricing policies) should be developed at the river basin level. In this framework, a cluster analysis is performed to partition the river basin area (namely, Loudias River Basin, located in Northern Greece) into a small number of homogeneous sub-regions. The differential impact of water pricing in each region is then analyzed, and finally, an average water demand function is formulated for the whole river basin.     

An Indicator Based Assessment for Water Resources Management in Gediz River Basin,Turkey

In this study, a water resources management model that facilitates indicator-based decisions with respect to environmental, social and economic dimensions is developed for the Gediz River Basin in Turkey. The basic input of the proposed model is the quantity of surface water that is greatly allocated to irrigation purposes; therefore, supply and demand interrelations in agricultural water use constitute the main focus of the study. The model has been applied under three different hydro-meteorological scenarios that reflect baseline as well as better and worse conditions of water supply and demand, not only to reach an assessment of water budget, but also to evaluate the impacts of proposed management alternatives under different conditions. The Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) software is used as a simulation and evaluation tool to assess the performance of possible management alternatives, which is measured by nine proposed indicators. The results of the study have indicated that the Gediz River Basin is quite sensitive to drought conditions, and the agricultural sector is significantly affected by irrigation deficits that increase sharply in drought periods. Even if the optimistic scenario is assumed to occur, it is not possible to observe a significant improvement in the water budget; however, the negative impacts of climate change can possibly exacerbate the water crisis. The indicators also verified that, efficient water management is crucial to ensure the sustainable use of water resources with respect to environmental, social and economic dimensions.     

河南省典型枯水年水资源脆弱性评价及贡献因子识别

水资源脆弱性评价是水安全的重要度量方式,水资源安全是区域可持续发展的基础。以河南省18个市区为研究单元,从自然条件、社会经济、供用耗水等3个子系统选取指标建立评价体系,运用熵权法、线性加权法求解其典型枯水年水资源脆弱性,从城市、区域、全省角度分析水资源子系统指数、脆弱性指数,并采用贡献度模型识别了水资源脆弱性主要贡献因子,以期为河南省水资源管理提供科学依据。结果表明:（1）整体上看,3个子系统水资源脆弱性指数大小排序为自然条件>供用耗水>社会经济;城市和区域的水资源子系统指数、脆弱性指数存在一定的差异,且有自西南向东北逐渐增大的趋势;全省水资源为Ⅲ级中等脆弱性。（2）18个市区及全省水资源脆弱性3个子系统贡献度排序为自然条件>供用耗水>社会经济;水资源脆弱性的主要贡献因子集中在自然条件子系统的4个指标。此外,社会经济子系统中的亩均化肥折纯量和供用耗水子系统中的人均综合用水量、亩均灌溉用水量也是主要贡献因子。最后,提出“多渠道供水,提高供水侧能力”“合理扩张城镇、优化人口经济结构,提高城市水平”“提高用水效率,节约用水”的差异化“降脆”策略,以实现水资源可持续发展。     

Relating Crop Water Consumption to Irrigation Water Supply by Remote Sensing

A new set of irrigation performance indicators based on remote-sensing estimates of evapotranspiration is introduced. These evapotranspiration indicators are the relative evapotranspiration or crop stress and the water efficiency as well as their uniformity. With a remote-sensing evapotranspiration algorithm (SEBAL) maps of actual crop water consumption are derived. These maps are one of the inputs in the evapotranspiration indicators, together with GIS data (digitized irrigation unit boundaries) and field data (irrigation delivery schedule and water flow). This approach is applied on the Rio Tunuyan irrigation scheme, Mendoza, Argentina, which is served by surface water and privately owned ground water pumps. A homogeneous pattern of actual crop water consumption is detected from the highest irrigation level till the lowest (farm) level (coefficient of variance from 8.6% to 6.1% and 14.0% of secondary, tertiary and pixel level, respectively). Considering that a rotational irrigation schedule at tertiary and farm level is present, the results indicate that ground water supply through extraction and capillary rise equalize the spatial patterns in crop water consumption. The latter is proved by a comparison between (i) the areal water consumption from remote-sensing measurements, (ii) the areal water supply and (iii) additional field information on ground water extraction and capillary rise.     

Probability Analysis of Crop Water Stress Index: An Application of Double Bounded Density Function (DB-CDF)

Soil moisture is an uncertain variable due to rainfall randomness. Furthermore, its density function is hybrid in nature, with spikes at maximum and minimum soil moisture (saturation and field capacity). Both of these properties are also considered for crop water stress index. The crop water stress index can be used to show the sensitivity of a crop to deficit irrigation. In this paper, a new methodology is proposed to probability analysis of water stress index using Double Bounded Density Function (DB-CDF) and moment analysis of crop water stress index. For this purpose, two equations were developed for the first and second moments of water stress index. To find out the value of the proposed moment equations, they are used as constraints in a stochastic model of crop water allocation as developed previously by Ganji and Shekarrizfard (Water Resour Manage 25:547–561, 2010). After verification of the model, the DB-CDF of soil moisture stress index was estimated using the value of proposed moments in the growing periods. The results show that in case of deficit irrigation, the probability of crop water stress occurrence is high and as a consequence, any unpredictable water shortage leads to yield reduction. The application of the proposed methodology is novel and has not been reported in the literature to date.     

Use of bankruptcy methods for resolving interprovincial water conflicts over transboundary river: Case study of Indus River in Pakistan

Sustainable transboundary water governance is often challenged by conflicts between agents, which necessitates the design of cooperative and self‐enforcing alternatives to facilitate equitable water distribution. A pervasive and critical problem related to many transboundary rivers is that the total allocation or demand of riparian states is usually much more than that of the total available water. This problem is a major cause of disputes, both nationally and internationally. A key challenge concerns how to allocate the available water among riparian states with competing and often conflicting needs under an uncertain supply–demand gap. To address this pervasive allocation problem related to transboundary rivers, the bankruptcy method is used. The bankruptcy method distributes water among riparian states when their total demand exceeds the total available water. We investigate the utility of this method in the Indus River – a river that is shared among the four provinces of Pakistan, namely, Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) – using five commonly used bankruptcy rules and the Shapely value. Two new bankruptcy rules namely the “groundwater‐based rule” and “the proposed rule” are also proposed to address the usage of groundwater: the land affected by salinity and the gross domestic product (GDP) of each province. Additionally, this paper introduces a new method to compare and contrast the bankruptcy rules, the Shapely value and the two proposed rules. The findings suggest that the groundwater‐based rule has the lowest dispersion and is the preferred method for water allocation in the Indus River Basin. The use of the bankruptcy rules, the Shapely value and the two proposed methods has the potential to address the supply–demand mismatches of shared rivers. The proposed framework for selecting the best rule is recommended as an effective tool to facilitate negotiation over practical water allocation within transboundary river basins.