Sleeping with the enemy? Capturing internal risks in the logical framework of a water management project

Logframes are fundamental to contemporary development. However, there are ongoing debates about their efficacy. This paper pinpoints the limitations of the logframe approach in a water project in Central Asia. Issues surrounding logframes are identified. These include addressing internal risks; the use of baseline studies for the accuracy of assumptions; the ability to adapt under an inflexible budget; and linking the logframe and contract. Findings show that rigid planning may constrain effective project implementation. Greater flexibility through embedded learning and adaptation, adjustable budgets and meaningful mainstreaming of risks may equip projects to cope with uncertainties to achieve sustainability.     

Does 91% of the world’s population really have “sustainable access to safe drinking water”?

Halving the number of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water was a core target of the Millennium Development Goals. This led to an unprecedented effort in the water sector, improving the livelihoods of millions of people. While the goal has officially been accomplished, unsuitable benchmarks have led to overstatement of the results. Indicators overemphasize improved water sources, disregarding the fact that many continue to be contaminated, unreliable or unaffordable. The alleged success needs to be reframed to avoid confusion, prevent investments from being reallocated away from the water sector and obtain more accurate estimates of water access.     

A holistic water balance of Austria - how does the quantitative proportion of urban water requirements relate to other users?

Traditional water use statistics only include the blue water withdrawal/consumption of municipalities, industry and irrigated agriculture. When, however, green water use of the agricultural sector is included as well as the virtual water use/water footprint (WF), water use quantity statistics become very different. In common water use statistics, Austria withdraws in total about 2.5 km(3) per year, only 3% of available resources (total discharge 81.4 km(3) = surface and ground water). The total water consumption (0.5 km(3)) is less than 1% of available resources. Urban (municipal) water requirements account for 27% of total withdrawal or 33% of consumption. When agricultural green water use (cropland) is included in statistics, the fraction of municipal water requirements diminishes to 7.6% of total withdrawal and 2.5% of total consumption. If the evapotranspiration of grassland and alpine meadows is also included in agricultural green water use, this fraction decreases to 3.2% and 0.9% respectively. When the WF is assessed as base value for water use in Austria, the municipal water use represents 5.8% of this value. In this globalized world, these traditional water use statistics are no longer recommendable. Only a holistic water balance approach really represents water use statistics.     

Is it safe to eat fish from the Great Lakes? An adaptive modelling-monitoring framework to assess compliance with consumption advisories

In this study, we conducted a retrospective analysis of the spatio-temporal trends of fish contamination in the Canadian Great Lakes. We subsequently formulated consumption advisories that explicitly account for all sources of uncertainty, such as model error, sampling bias, and natural variability of fish assemblages. Our analysis generated exceedance frequency maps of the tolerable daily intakes (TDIs), which showed that mercury (Hg) concentrations are generally at a safer level for consumption, whilst polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) continue to result in restrictive advisories. Specifically, the initial decline in PCBs has transitioned into a steady state, possibly due to the combined effects of external contamination sources and internal abiotic and biotic factors. Our assessment of the PCB decline rates required to comply with TDI thresholds over the next twenty years suggest that a small degree of reduction is needed for Walleye (Sander vitreus) across all sampled sites, whereas much faster decay rates are needed for Lake Trout (Salvelinus namaycush), especially in lower Lake Huron, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario. We also detected a distinct Hg gradient whereby the southernmost waterbody, Lake Erie, had the lowest average concentrations, whereas the highest levels amongst the fish species sampled were registered in St. Lawrence River. Finally, we show the ability of our Bayesian approach to fish consumption advisories to produce time-specific, highly customizable, risk-assessment statements that account for the inherent variability in natural fish communities and the variant degree of empirical evidence about the contamination history in different locations around the Great Lakes.     

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.     

Nitrate estimation in the denitrifying post-filtration unit of a municipal wastewater treatment plant: the Viikinm?ki case

In this work we present and discuss the design of an array of soft-sensors to estimate the nitrate concentration in the denitrifying post-filtration unit at the Viikinm?ki wastewater treatment plant in Helsinki (Finland). The developed sensors aim at supporting the existing hardware analyzers by providing a reliable back-up system in case of malfunction of the instruments. In the attempt to design easy to implement and interpretable sensors, computationally light linear models have been considered. However, due to the intrinsic nonlinearity of the process, also nonlinear but still computationally affordable models have been considered for comparison. The experimental results demonstrate the potential of the developed soft-sensors and the possibility for an on-line implementation in the plant's control system as alternative monitoring devices.     

Correction to: How Does the Coupling of Real‑World Policies with Optimization Models Expand the Practicality of Solutions in Reservoir Operation Problems?

Water Resources Management -     

What is the Relative Effect of Space and Time to Explain the Braided River Width and Island Patterns at a Regional Scale?

Several decades of human activities have severely impacted braided rivers worldwide. Despite their widespread disappearance, some remnant braided sectors are still held in the French Rhone basin, mainly in the south‐east of France. In this paper, we analyse the evolutionary pattern of 53 braided reaches, focusing on the active channel width and island patterns, by comparing aerial photographs from the 1950s and 2000s (Institut Géographique National). Because different braided patterns exist (e.g. bar versus island‐braided), we tested the relative effect of geographical and temporal factors. The hypothesis is that three main biogeomorphological braided types exist (i.e. defined through the presence, the amount and the relative size of vegetated islands), based on the combined effect of the following: (i) their position along the river network (i.e. river gradient, altitude and sediment regime) and (ii) the temporal effect represented by the time since the last large flood, that is, the recent flood history. Our results show that even if the regional context (climate and sediment regime mainly) plays a key role, the temporal factor, represented by recent flood history, seems to heavily influence the response of the width pattern and vegetation recovery. Local factors (i.e. topography and groundwater) may also have an impact, but their influence has no effect at the regional level. These results support braided river management (conservation and/or restoration actions) in the Rhone basin and provide a better understanding of the range of braided rivers' functioning. Further studies (e.g. multidate retrospective survey) are needed to better understand the role of flood events on braided pattern and vegetation recovery. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Why doesn’t every family practice rainwater harvesting? Factors that affect the decision to adopt rainwater harvesting as a household water security strategy in central Uganda

ABSTRACT

This article investigates the reasons householders do, and don’t, adopt domestic rainwater harvesting (DRWH). Using a mixed-methods research approach, we collected data in three districts in central Uganda. Factors that emerged as important with respect to uptake of DWRH to address water shortage, especially at the household scale, include the work of intermediary organizations, finance mechanisms, life course dynamics and land tenure.     

Has a non‐native cichlid of the genus Amatitlania (Actinopterygii,Cichlidae) adapted to the headwaters in Brazilian semi‐arid?

Several fish species from Central America and other regions have been introduced into Brazil. In this study, we evaluated the bioecological aspects of a non‐native cichlid of the genus Amatitlania (convict cichlid) and its possible establishment in high‐altitude forest enclaves of semi‐arid Northeastern Brazil. Specimens of Amatitlania nigrofasciata (Günther, 1867) were captured in a local stream displaying abiotic conditions like those of its natural range of distribution. The individuals collected were predominantly adult, insectivorous and displayed normal length–weight relationships, although we observed some phenotypical plasticity (variation in body depth, and a morphologically abnormal dorsal fin in three cases). Our results indicate that A. nigrofasciata has successfully colonized an Atlantic forest enclave in the Brazilian semi‐arid region, making it necessary to adopt measures to prevent the species from spreading to other water bodies in the surroundings.     

Remote sensing and GIS techniques for assessment of the soil water content in order to improve agricultural practice and reduce the negative impact on groundwater: case study, agricultural area ?tefan cel Mare, C?l?ra?i County

Traditional agricultural practices based on non-customized irrigation and soil fertilization are harmful for the environment, and may pose a risk for human health. By continuing the use of these practices, it is not possible to ensure effective land management, which might be acquired by using advanced satellite technology configured for modern agricultural development. The paper presents a methodology based on the correlation between remote sensing data and field observations, aiming to identify the key features and to establish an interpretation pattern for the inhomogeneity highlighted by the remote sensing data. Instead of using classical methods for the evaluation of land features (field analysis, measurements and mapping), the approach is to use high resolution multispectral and hyperspectral methods, in correlation with data processing and geographic information systems (GIS), in order to improve the agricultural practices and mitigate their environmental impact (soil and shallow aquifer).     

What does Integrated Water Resources Management from Local to Global Perspective Mean? Qatar as a Case Study,the Very Rich Country with No Water

Management of water resources is a very challenging issue, particularly in regions of the world where water is almost absent. In the Gulf Region, this issue is especially complex due to harsh-arid environments and increasing anthropogenic input of pollutants from the energy industry. The emergence of nations rich in oil and gas, such as Qatar, but poor in water resources requires new and dynamic systems and plans for managing limited water resources in times of extreme growth, such plans are discussed in this paper. The State of Qatar’s average annual evaporation rate is 30 times more than precipitation and the country depends on desalinated water to meet 99 % of its municipal water needs. Additionally, increasing population growth coupled with tremendous urbanization and industrialization add more stress to the existing renewable water resources, and newly produced water, namely desalted seawater and treated wastewater. Absence of water tariff and a water pricing system along with a lack of conservation awareness places Qatar as one of the highest water consuming countries in the world. Municipal water consumption per capita per day reached 500 L/ca.d for the year 2013. Dumping of sea to build new cities and construct towers makes the area very susceptible to salt water instruction, a phenomenon that does not only affect the groundwater aquifer system but also the construction materials and building deformations. Currently, Qatar uses the most advanced technologies for treating wastewater; however, the pure treated wastewater is not considered a viable water resource and is not used in areas of critical water demand such as agriculture and landscaping. Social, religious, and local marketing views limit the current use of treated wastewater. Integrated water and wastewater management strategies are absent and the national players of the two sectors -water and wastewater-are different. Current plans for integrated water resources management (IWRM) cannot answer the basic questions, what to manage and in which scale; is it the brackish and unused groundwater or the desalinated water from the existing technologies, the supply or the demand or all? This paper tries to highlight some facts related to Qatar’s water situation as an arid Gulf State and introduces potential ideas for IWRM. The critical aspects of IWRM discussed herein are relevant to a number of nations in the global community dealing with issues of extreme water insecurity.