Challenges and Opportunities in GRACE-Based Groundwater Storage Assessment and Management: An Example from Yemen

Sustainable management of groundwater resources is often hampered by information asymmetries between abstracters and managers. At the same time, developments in satellite remote sensing, particularly estimates of groundwater storage using the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE), have dramatically improved water resource assessment. This study examines the potential for GRACE-based assessment of groundwater resources in the context of the persistent challenges of water management in Yemen, which suffers from acute groundwater depletion and water scarcity. By comparing GRACE estimates of groundwater storage change to observed well measurements in Yemen, this study indicates that GRACE can complement institutional water management reform by providing better water resources information, especially in combination with socioeconomic data visualized in a Geographic Information System (GIS). However, the case of Yemen also indicates that commonly accepted principles of water management must be adapted to harness the potential of GRACE-based groundwater storage assessment.     

Projecting River Basin Resilience in the Zambezi River Basin through Global Analyses and Basin Realities

Projecting future hotspots of hydropolitical tension in international river basins may help countries in preventing hydropolitical conflict. The Zambezi River Basin has been identified as a basin at risk of future hydropolitical conflict. This paper analyzes the basin’s hydropolitical resilience using two approaches: i) a global analysis of factors that indicate change and institutional capacity, and ii) an in-depth examination of its hydropolitical history and present-day status using interviews with basin stakeholders, academics, NGOs, and policy makers. Results of the global analysis indicate that the Zambezi River Basin has comparatively higher institutional capacity, lower to medium rates of new dam development, lower human development and security values, lower water scarcity, yet higher projected water variability. Examining the basin’s hydropolitical history shows that these results are contextually dependent. This paper argues that while global hydropolitical resilience analyses are valid for indicating areas of possible tension over shared water resources, tracing basins’ hydropolitical history puts the global results into context that is crucial to identify specific aspects of the basin that may push the basin into conflict.     

Water,Wastewater, and Environmental Security Problems: A Case Study of Mexico City and the Mezquital Valley

ABSTRACT

Increasing social tensions and conflicts can now be observed due to growing water scarcities and higher wastewater discharges in many parts of the world. These conflicts can be analyzed in two ways. First, a social conflict can be responsible for creating water scarcity by reducing accessibility, destroying water systems, and reducing water availability. Second, water resources scarcity, both in terms of quantity and quality, can often be the cause of conflicts in a society. The article focuses on the second type of conflict by analyzing several examples from Mexico: especially conflicts that have been generated by the use of the wastewaters of Mexico City for irrigation in the Mezquital Valley since 1912.     

Responding to the ‘Wicked Problem’ of Water Insecurity

This paper highlights key trends and projections in water scarcity, reviews the ways that water security and water scarcity are most commonly understood, and explores possible responses. Based on a selected review of the literature, an explanation is provided of ways that water pricing can be applied to respond to water insecurity from both a demand and supply perspective. ‘Hard’ and also ‘soft’ approaches that include stakeholder, policy and decision processes are briefly reviewed as ways to promote water security. Collectively, the paper provides a guide about how decision makers might efficiently and equitably respond to the ‘wicked problem’ of water insecurity.     

Participatory rural appraisal to assess groundwater resources in Al-Mujaylis,Tihama Coastal Plain,Yemen

A participatory rural appraisal (PRA) conducted in the Al-Mujaylis area, Tihama Coastal Plain, Yemen provided a contribution, as a bottom-up approach, to the assessment of the needs of communities and their views on how to avoid groundwater degradation. It was found that PRA tools could be applied usefully in an area with data scarcity and a culturally different context. It is concluded that adopting a research approach between top down and bottom up is most valuable and effective.     

Structuring water rights in China: a hierarchical framework

Abstract

The rapid development of China’s market economy compels the adoption of water rights and associated market mechanisms to optimize the allocation of water resources. The complexity of understanding and practising Chinese water rights is highlighted by the unique contextual characteristics of an authoritarian political regime, rapid socio-economic change and increasing scarcity of water resources. This article proposes a hierarchical framework to describe the particular water-rights structure in China based on natural resources institutional economics. It provides an analysis of emerging water markets and key factors affecting the formation of a modern water-rights system in contemporary China.     

Why Is Water Pricing Ineffective for Deficit Irrigation Schemes? A Case Study in Southern Spain

This paper explores the impact on water demand of the adoption of deficit and precision irrigation as a farmer’s attempt to respond to water scarcity by maximising water productivity. The case study is characterised by the intensive use of deficit irrigation techniques in olive groves, which account for 50% of all irrigated land in southern Spain. These technologies have an important influence on the structure of the water demand. This study reveals that following the adoption of such technologies, water demand does not respond to moderate changes in water price, unless price increases become so great that they reach a threshold price representing a disproportionate and unaffordable social impact. This fact has significant consequences for water policy as water pricing becomes an ineffective instrument for managing water demand in a context characterised by resource scarcity and farmers’ adoption of deficit irrigation techniques.     

Temporal and Spatial Assessment of Supply and Demand of the Water-yield Ecosystem Service for Water Scarcity Management in Arid to Semi-arid Ecosystems

Water scarcity is one of the problems affecting people’s livelihoods in arid and semi-arid areas, requiring a sustainable balance between water demands and water resources. This study was carried out to assess temporal and spatial distribution of water supply and demand in order to help managers to overcome water scarcity in Jiroft basin, southeastern Iran. Spatial supply and demand of water were mapped and standardized rainfall index (SPI) was used to assess drought for a 20 years period (1994–2014). Supply and demand of water were matched in 23% of the basin area, mostly concentrated in the cold zones. Water supply was reduced up to 80% during dry years, declining water supply-demand matching to 5% of the basin area. Shrub-grass rangelands and deciduous woodlands were the most valuable land covers for conservation with $ 1,100 and $ 936 per hectare water prices respectively. Water value dropped more than 72% in mismanaged ecosystems (p?<?0.01). Our finding showed that water supply-demand ratio can be used as a proxy of ecosystem health and water-yield, which can provide a good information for water resources managers to reduce the threats of water scarcity in arid and semi-arid regions.

     

A Metric Model on Identifying the National Water Scarcity Management Ability

Our planet is getting thirstier and thirstier. Water scarcity has become an increasingly hard but urgent problem. The world's water situation engenders little optimism. About one quarter of the world's population is experiencing water scarcity. Moreover, water resources are unevenly distributed and extremely scarce in Africa and the Middle East. Water scarcity further incurs many international issues such as international conflicts, environmental refugees and disease caused by water pollution, which have made a more unstable world. To make contributions to solve the water problems, this study proposed a metric model to identify the ability of each country to manage water scarcity, and offered solutions to a country considered water over-loaded. In this paper, we developed our metric, Total Scarcity Metric, and divided it into Physical Scarcity Metric ( affected by environmental factors and population) and Economic Scarcity Metric ( affected by social factors other than population) by the two causes of water scarcity. This paper made some adjustments to an indicator we found widely-used in the literatures, and determine Physical Scarcity Metric based on it. Based on that result, Pakistan was chose as a sample region for further analysis, and Pakistan still has a long way to go. This model will prove to be advantageous for a region’s authoritative figures to consult with when in pursuit of obtaining a higher level of water resources allocation. It also can serve as a public rationale to support certain superficially incomprehensive judgments made by the administration.     

Public-Private Partnership in the Water Supply and Sanitation Sector: The Experience of the Republic of Yemen

The objective of this paper is to provide information on the institutional development of the water supply and sanitation (WSS) sector in Yemen, its achievements, challenges and constraints. In 1997 the government of Yemen approved its water supply and sanitation reform agenda in the form of a Council of Ministers decree and since then the implementation of the reform agenda has started with technical and financial assistance from Germany, the Netherlands, the World Bank and other donors in addition to the contribution from the government of Yemen. The main principles of the reform agenda are these: the separation of the executive from the regulatory functions; decentralization of service provision and corporatization through the establishment of autonomous WSS corporations; the establishment of a regulatory agency; capacity building and human resources development; and public-private partnership (PPP). This paper gives a summary of what has been achieved in the implementation of the reform agenda in general and concentrates on the pilot case of the first PPP initiative in Sana'a, the capital of Yemen. The paper takes us through the stages of PPP option study right through to the preparation of the request for proposals, which was completed in August 2002.     

The Role of Virtual Water Flows in Physical Water Scarcity: The Case of Central Asia

Water scarcity in Central Asia was analyzed by using two water scarcity indices at the scale of sub-basin areas (SBAs): water stress index (consumption-to-availability ratio) and water shortage index (water availability per capita). These indices were calculated for a baseline scenario that included virtual water flows, and again for a scenario where international trade was eliminated, thus assessing the role of virtual water flows in water scarcity. Over 80% of the study area population suffers from water stress and approximately 50% from water shortage as well. Removing virtual water flows considerably decreased water scarcity for approximately half the population. Reducing the exports of water-intensive products could thus be an option, along with other more traditional measures, for alleviating water scarcity in Central Asia.     

厄瓜多尔中部山地灌溉发展规划

厄瓜多尔中部山地水资源相对缺乏,供需矛盾比较突出,受旱灾威胁较为严重,而该区域又是厄瓜多尔农业发展的重点区域,灌溉发展需求很大。在分析厄瓜多尔中部山地灌溉现状的基础上,结合流域水土资源条件和粮食安全需求,提出了厄瓜多尔中部山地灌溉发展总体布局。通过骨干蓄引提调工程,以及塘坝、集雨等小微型工程的建设,结合灌区节水改造与续建配套等措施,区域新增年灌溉供水能力12.3亿m3,使有效农牧灌溉面积从现状的34.8万hm~2增加至2035规划年的50.7万hm~2。     

A Comparison of Water Policies for Sustainable Irrigation Management: The Case of India and Australia

A comparative analysis of irrigation related issues and effectiveness of water policies in India and Australia is conducted to help share the learning from each other’s experience in sustainable irrigation management. Keeping in pace with the global trend of implementing a sustainable water management program, India has adopted the concept of participatory irrigation management (PIM) while Australia has adopted irrigation management transfer (IMT) program. PIM in India is regarded as experimentation in diverse socio-economic settings with mixed results while IMT in Australia has achieved a high level of water use efficiency. Australian irrigation industry is currently driven by market mechanisms where water trading is expected to lead to greater efficiency. However, there are concerns that sole reliance on water use (or economic) efficiency objective may conflict with the objectives of social equity and ecological sustainability. Similar to Australia, there is an opportunity for water markets in India. However, conflict in the objectives of efficiency, equity and sustainability constrain the debate of establishing water markets in India. The comparative analysis indicates that despite both countries have a common goal of sustainable water management, their strategies differ. Nevertheless, India can emulate many of the Australian experiences in water policy reforms, entitlements, institutional arrangements, and corporate style of management while Australia can adopt the best Indian traditions of decentralized participatory and community management for sustainable irrigation water management.     

Nexus meets crisis: a review of conflict,natural resources and the humanitarian response in Darfur with reference to the water–energy–food nexus

Darfur has been widely used as a case study by both those arguing for causality between environmental scarcity and war and those disputing it. This article challenges that approach by drawing on debates taking place within Darfur, reflecting on both the conflict and the humanitarian response. It argues that reviewing Darfur on its own terms makes a stronger basis to identify transferable lessons for interventions elsewhere. It considers water, food and energy, and finds that supporting governance is an essential theme for promoting economic recovery and laying a foundation for a well-managed water–energy–food nexus.     

Clarifying Regional Water Scarcity in Agriculture based on the Theory of Blue,Green and Grey Water Footprints

Water scarcity mitigation in regional agricultural systems contributes to water use efficiency improvement. Blue (WSI_blue), green (WSI_green) and grey (WSI_grey) water scarcity indices were proposed to describe various water stresses in detail and further determine the type of regional water scarcity. WSI_blue and WSI_green reveal resource-based water scarcities, and WSI_grey characterizes environment-based water shortages. Provincial water scarcity indices of China from 2000–2014 were calculated and analyzed in the current paper. The results indicated that the national WSI, WSI_grey, WSI_blue and WSI_green values are 0.84, 0.16, 0.39 and 0.89, respectively. China is facing a high water stress, manifested as a resource-based water shortage. Northwest and Northeast China experience a severe water quantity scarcity with high WSI_blue and WSI_green values, and the central and eastern regions exhibit a high WSI_grey value. Eastern China faces both serious resource-based and environmental water shortages. The constructed blue, green and grey water scarcity indices compensate for the inability of the existing index to determine the type of water shortage and indicate the reason for water scarcity. They also provide a targeted guiding significance for the formulation of effective measures to improve agricultural water resource management and alleviate regional water scarcity.

     

Simple Myths and Basic Maths About Greening Irrigation

Greening the economy is mostly about improving water governance and not only about putting the existing resource saving technical alternatives into practice. Focusing on the second and forgetting the first risks finishing with a highly efficient use of water services at the level of each individual user but with an unsustainable amount of water use for the entire economy. This might be happening already in many places with the modernization of irrigated agriculture, the world’s largest water user and the one offering the most promising water saving opportunities. In spite of high expectations, modern irrigation techniques seem not to be contributing to reduce water scarcity and increase drought resiliency. In fact, according to the little evidence available, in some areas they are resulting in higher water use. Building on basic economic principles this study aims to show the conditions under which this apparently paradoxical outcome, known as the Jevons’ Paradox, might appear. This basic model is expected to serve as guidance for assessing the actual outcomes of increasing irrigation efficiency and to discuss the changes in water governance that would be required for this to make a real contribution to sustainable water management.     

Challenges to Manage the Risk of Water Scarcity and Climate Change in the Mediterranean

The Mediterranean region is undergoing rapid local and global social and environmental changes. All indicators point to an increase in environmental and water scarcity problems with negative implications towards current and future sustainability. Water management in Mediterranean countries is challenged these pressures and needs to evolve to reach the target of increasing population with reliable access to freshwater established by the Millennium Development Goals. This paper first reviews and evaluates current and future social and environmental pressures on water resources, including climate change. The results show that pressures are not homogeneous across the region and sectors of water use. Second the paper evaluates the adaptation strategies to cope with water scarcity, including technology, use of strategic groundwater, and management. Finally, the paper proposes a framework for managing the risk of water scarcity based on preparedness rather than a crisis approach. The importance of local management at the basin level is emphasized, but the potential benefits depend on the appropriate multi-institutional and multi-stakeholder coordination.     

Diagnosing Causes of Water Scarcity in Complex Water Resources Systems and Identifying Risk Management Actions

From the water management perspective, water scarcity is an unacceptable risk of facing water shortages to serve water demands in the near future. Water scarcity may be temporary and related to drought conditions or other accidental situation, or may be permanent and due to deeper causes such as excessive demand growth, lack of infrastructure for water storage or transport, or constraints in water management. Diagnosing the causes of water scarcity in complex water resources systems is a precondition to adopt effective drought risk management actions. In this paper we present four indices which have been developed to evaluate water scarcity. We propose a methodology for interpretation of index values that can lead to conclusions about the reliability and vulnerability of systems to water scarcity, as well as to diagnose their possible causes and to propose solutions. The described methodology was applied to the Ebro river basin, identifying existing and expected problems and possible solutions. System diagnostics, based exclusively on the analysis of index values, were compared with the known reality as perceived by system managers, validating the conclusions in all cases.     

The Economic Value of Allocating Water to Post-Mining Lakes in East Germany

This paper reports a contingent valuation study to value the economic benefits of a post-mining lake-district in East Germany. Lusatia Region faces serious water scarcity problems as the closure of mining pits in 1990 led to the termination of groundwater discharge into rivers. The water conflict centres around traditional water users whose water demand is no longer met and the rehabilitation of mining pits in form of a new lake-district. Current water allocation policy for the Elbe catchment places lowest priority on filling mining pits with river water, even though freshwater is essential for good lake water quality. Commissioned by the government, this study aims to determine the non-market benefits that would be generated by good water quality in the lake-district in order to re-assess the distribution of water among all water users in the Elbe catchment. Our findings show that the annual non-market benefits of the lake-district is significant and lies between 10.4 and 16.2 million euros. Apart from recreational benefits, people also obtain non-use values for the lake-district. Furthermore, two challenges for CV became apparent: fuzzy future benefits (potential improvement to the regional economy) significantly influenced WTP estimates, and WTP stated by users interviewed on site and at home varied significantly.     

Water for agricultural development: Opportunities and constraints

Globally around 70% of all water used is for agricultural development. Thus, if the world's food crisis is to be successfully resolved, enough water of appropriate quantity and quality will be necessary. Water scarcity is already a serious issue in many arid and semi‐arid countries, and the problem is likely to intensify significantly in the future. Agriculture also affects water quality in many ways. The paper analyses the present’ status of the impacts of use of pesticides and nitrate fertilizers from different parts of the world.