Water Resources Development in the SãTo Francisco River Basin (Brazil): Conflicts and Management Perspectives

Abstract

Water scarcity is matter of growing concern in Brazil, especially in the semi-arid, inland area of the Northeast, where the São Francisco River flows. This paper concentrates on the relations between the concrete experience of water resources development and the remaining demands for efficient water management in that river basin. The emphasis is on its Sub-Middle section, which since 1948 has been the preferential area for irrigation projects and hydropower generation. Recent modifications in the Brazilian legislation provide for a new approach to water resources policy, which is in favor of more decentralized and proactive forms of water management. In spite of such institutional evolution, conservative political groups in the SãTo Francisco River Basin have put obstacles before the transformation of established practices. In addition, there are other structural limitations contributing to hinder the adoption of a more comprehensive framework of water management. Resulting water conflicts have raised increasing demands for proper attention to the social, economic and environmental requirements of the sustainable management of water. The requisites for that go beyond the water question itself because they involve broader political and socio-economic controversies. At the local level, priority must be given to measures aimed at achieving water efficiency and conservation. It is fundamental to address the reduction of human vulnerability to climatic risks and to adopt alternatives of better utilization of water resources     

Stakeholder engagement in water governance as social learning: lessons from practice

ABSTRACT

The OECD Principles on Water Governance set out various requirements for stakeholder engagement. Coupled with conceptualizations of social learning, this article asks how we define and enact stakeholder engagement and explores the actual practice of engagement of stakeholders in three fields of water governance. The results suggest that a key consideration is the purpose of the stakeholder engagement, requiring consideration of its ethics, process, roles and expected outcomes. While facilitators cannot be held accountable if stakeholder engagement ‘fails’ in terms of social learning, they are responsible for ensuring that the enabling conditions for social learning are met.     

Forestry management and water law: comparing Ecuador and Arizona

ABSTRACT

This article compares public–private partnerships dedicated to improving forestry management to protect water in the Paute River basin in Ecuador (FONAPA) and the Verde River basin in Arizona (the Four Forest Restoration Initiative). Both programmes create incentives for improved forestry management and suggest lessons for water management in general but may face legal challenges that require reforms. While there is scope for mutual learning between the programmes, such cross-fertilization is inhibited by differences in the legal status of water and forest resources in the two systems.     

加强工程类采砂管理的思考与建议

近年来,随着沿江经济的快速发展,对河道和航道整治要求的提高,长江河道采砂管理工作面对的形势也不断变化。在社会普遍关注经营类采砂活动的同时,工程类采砂需求和管理也越来越普遍。《长江河道采砂管理条例》更多地是针对经营类采砂活动加以规范,就如何及时、有效地开展工程类采砂活动的管理工作,本文提出了建议、思考。     

Establishing Qualitative Hypotheses on the Influence of El Nifio On Metropolitan Adelaide Water Supply

ABSTRACT

The question is raised whether El Niño, as a symptom of the Southern Oscillation, has an influence on Metropolitan Adelaide water supply. To answer this, four qualitative hypotheses have been established in this paper to indicate that there is an influence. The four hypotheses are described as follows. As Niños and Australian droughts intensify, as represented by increasing negative intensity of the Southern Oscillation, there is a tendency for rainfall deficiency to increase over the catchments of the Mount Lofty Ranges supplying water to Metropolitan intake from the River Murray to supplement the supply deficiency of the Mount Lofty Range catchments. However, the Southern Oscillation may have an influence on River Murray flows into South Australia if such flows are not affected by regulation of up-stream storage. But for regulated River Murray flows into South Australia either at the Entitlement flow level or close to it, the influence of Niños on such regulated flows may be masked by regulation. Finally, as the Southern Oscillation increases in negative intensity, its area of influence could extend to South Australia besides northern and southern Australia. In this situation, below-averge annual rainfall in the Mount Lofty Ranges and below average annual River Murray flows into South Australia could occur in the same year.     

When the river does not naturally flow: a case study of unsustainable management in the Tagus River (Spain)

ABSTRACT

This article assesses the main problems facing the Spanish Tagus River basin, and the management that has caused (or allowed) them. It examines the economic, social, environmental and political-institutional dimensions of Tagus River management in terms of sustainable development. We find that the institutions responsible for designing and implementing water policy in the Tagus basin have been unsuccessful in balancing the three classic dimensions of sustainability, resulting in systematic and recurrent failure to comply with the European Water Framework Directive and the principles of sustainable development.     

Development of Flood Hazards Policy in the Indus River Basin of Pakistan, 1947–1996

ABSTRACT

Since independence in 1947, floods in the Indus River Basin in Pakistan have claimed more than 7,000 lives and caused massive infrastructure and crop losses. To date, flood damage reduction has received limited attention relative to the irrigation and hydropower subsectors in the basin. Nonstructural approaches to flood hazard mitigation have lagged behind engineering approaches. This article retraces the development offlood policies in Pakistan, from an early situation of risk acceptance to more recent strategies of risk management. It shows that an underlying problem, and future aim, for flood policy will lie in giving greater attention to mitigating social vulnerability to flood hazards in the basin.     

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE SENEGAL RIVER

ABSTRACT

This paper looks at the main political factors that were instrumental in design and implementation of the Diama and Manantali dams on the Senegal River. The rationale for making use of the valuable international resource is undermined by the political concessions, compromises, and accommodation the basin states and the donors who finance the projects need to make to sustain international cooperation among the three participating basin states of Mali, Mauritania and Senegal. At best there is an over-investment in physical works and at worst the dam projects are unnecessary at this time and will be an economic and social disaster. Planning of the projects was backwards in that it was oriented towards justifying a political decision made as long ago as 1962. While the river program is uneconomic and a number of the funding agencies were dissatisfied with parts or even all of it, the basin states, nevertheless, succeeded in obtaining the necessary concessionary finance by playing one donor off against another, with limited effect by controlling the type of technical information produced, and more successfully by taking political initiatives to circumvent the technical funding process and exploiting the political sympathies of the donor country political leaders.     

Identifying Water Security Issues at the Local Level

Abstract

Water security has been traditionally thought to be an issue for developing countries. In the United States, the Clean Water Act has made water quality and watershed management increasingly relevant to community decision makers. However, the extent to which local stakeholders perceive and understand water scarcity and quality constraints in the United States remains uncertain. The reported research uses a series of focus groups to evaluate their efficacy and for learning from local beneficiaries about local water security concerns for mid-Michigan's Red Cedar River. In Michigan, it appears that the water security issue is water quality. The findings show that focus groups are effective data collection tools and that Michigan stakeholders recognize water security problems, causes, and potential solutions.     

Spatial Imbalance And Institutional Issues Of Water Resources Management In Okinawa,Japan

ABSTRACT

A growing problem of spatial imbalance in the water economy of Okinawa has evolved with the rapid increase in population and income of the island This problem is compounded by the conflict between water institutions and actual practices that have evolved over its history of changing governance. This historical perspective involves the post-World War II reconstruction and water development impacts of the U.S. military during the occupation years (1945–1972) under the U.S. Civil Administration of the Ryukyus (USCAR), and the subsequent reversion of Okinawa to Japan in 1972 followed by thefurtherpromotion of economic development andgrowth under the national laws of Japan. The resulting institutional issues and uncertainties seriously constrain decision making at the planning and operating levels as illustrated in the case of the Hija River Comprehensive Development Plan. The practical value andfeasibility of enforcing water rights based on national level concepts (one-tenth probability drought year discharge and minimum river maintenance flow) must be rationalized with the insular conditions in Okinawa. This is a challengefor water policy in Japan.     

The Yellow River: Managing the Unmanageable

Abstract

Hydrosolidarity in the Yellow River is a complex and difficult task, especially as this river has sediment problems that are unique in the world. The balancing of discharge needed for sediment management, relative to that needed for augmentation of water supply within and outside the basin, and for conservation of threatened ecosystems downstream presents a series of compromises that must rank as amongst the most challenging in basin-wide management of major world rivers. Until such time as south-to-north diversions are in place, the Yellow River is the only major water supply to the North China Plain, where water scarcity is now estimated to be some 40 km³ annually, representing 70 percent of the flow of the Yellow River. The hydrological management of Yellow River erosion involves three major factors: erosion and sediment transport, flooding, and river desiccation in the downstream reaches. This paper outlines several major development projects in the Yellow River basin that are attempting to achieve hydrosolidarity while, at the same time, providing needed water supplies to water-scarce parts of the basin.     

钱塘江涌潮对风场响应的三维数值研究

台风作用下钱塘江涌潮观赏性强,破坏力大。结合台风期实测潮汐资料分析,基于三维数学模型研究了顺风和逆风条件下恒定风况对钱塘江涌潮水流的影响,得到了不同风况对涌潮高度、流速、传播速度和涌潮潮景的影响程度。顺风作用导致涌潮高度、流速和传播速度均增大,风速愈大,增加幅度愈大,涌潮流速沿水深分布愈不均匀。在顺风30 m/s风况下,盐官涌潮高度增加5%,涌潮流速增大33%,涌潮传播速度加快37%;顺风作用下,老盐仓回头潮更强,回头潮水位更高,反映了台风期间老盐仓经常出现回头潮翻越海堤堤顶的情况。逆风作用与顺风作用相反。计算结果与实际情况在定性上一致。     

Sustainability Issues in Water Management

In the 1992 Rio World Summit on Environment and Development/UNCED), water resources are indicated to remain at the core of sustainable development and, thus, they are to be managed and developed on a sustainable basis. Sustainability is a philosophical concept and thus difficult to measure. Yet, we need to describe it on rather precise terms to assess whether our water management practices are sustainable and to ensure sustainability in decision making for management. To this end, a number of sustainability criteria have been defined, based on quantifiable measures, without overlooking immeasurable aspects of sustainable development. This paper considers economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainability as the basic criteria to be pursued in evaluating how effective our water management plans are in achieving sustainability. On the other hand, actual case studies are needed to test the usefulness of selected criteria by using computer-based interactive optimization and simulation models with associated databases embedded into a decision support system (DSS). The study herein intends to present such a case study based on economic, social and environmental criteria to assess sustainability in management of the Gediz River Basin in Turkey. Various management scenarios developed for the basin are evaluated within a DSS while ensuring multi-stakeholder involvement in defining the three sustainability criteria. The case study is a result of the analyses carried out in SMART (Sustainable Management of Scarce Resources in the Coastal Zone) and OPTIMA (Optimization for Sustainable Water Resources Management) projects funded respectively by the 5^th and 6^th Framework Programmes of the European Union.     

基于定点连续观测的钱塘江涌潮特性研究

本文基于天文大潮期间钱塘江涌潮河段定点连续实测的最新资料,对钱塘江涌潮的潮位、潮流、盐度和浊度等特性参数进行分析研究。潮位、平均流速、垂向分层流速和盐度、浊度变化数据表明:涨落潮期间该河段的潮位呈双峰变化过程,涌潮抵达时水位骤然升高,之后下降,约40.0 min后,水位再次开始升高至高潮位,涌潮到达约3.5 h之后逐渐变为憩流;涌潮Fr为1.10,涌潮形态呈现为波状涌潮且水波较弱。涌潮到达瞬间,流场整体发生转向,流速大于涌潮前流速,且底层流速增大幅度大于表、中层,流速分层不明显。盐度在涌潮到达后约40.0 min后开始明显增大,与流速的改变相比存在一定的滞后,主要因为潮流入侵引起盐度增加。底层浊度随涌潮的到达而同步升高,主要是涌潮导致流场剧烈变化,引起床面冲刷和大量细颗粒泥沙悬浮;之后,浊度随涨潮流减弱而逐渐减小,憩流时达到最小,而后随着流速转向及退潮流增大而再次增大。该研究为钱塘江涌潮特性分析和钱塘江取水及岸滩冲淤防护等工程提供了科学依据。     

Legal personality and economic livelihood of the Whanganui River: a call for community entrepreneurship

ABSTRACT

Legislation in New Zealand dictates that the Whanganui River is a living entity and a legal person. Guardians uphold the river’s environmental, social, cultural and economic well-being. We provide a conceptual discussion of the river’s economic well-being, understood as the mutual enhancement of natural and human elements through community entrepreneurship that is based on human and non-human capabilities. We discuss human economic activity that preserves the right of the river to be free from pollution and form an integral part of the Māori culture and tradition, the improvement of Māori living conditions, and their rights to self-determination and prior consent.     

Future Function of the Danube River in United Europe

Abstract

The Danube River is the major navigational river in the central and south-eastern parts of Europe. A vision on the future role of the Danube River in the United Europe must aim to satisfy the evolving human needs in the region. A new, special type of unification of the majority of European countries has already begun and will likely lead to more rational, effective, widespread, and beneficial impacts on regional populations through such functions as comprehensive water resources development. An enoromous water resources development will occur in the Danube River Basin in the next two centuries, provided that Europeans succeed in uniting and remaining united.     

Floodplain Residents' Preferences for Non-Structural Flood Alleviation Measures in the Red River Basin,Manitoba, Canada

Abstract

Based on the assumption that there is a general gap in information about social aspects of flood/floodplain management, the authors undertook several surveys on rural and urban residents' preferences for selected non-structural flood alleviation measures in the Red River basin, following the 1997 flood of the century. In addition to regular multiple choice and preference scaling questions, each survey contained a discrete choice experiment (a stated preference approach) which allows explicit modeling of tradeoffs. For this purpose, respondents were shown a set of choice cards displaying varied profiles of hypothetical flood/floodplain management policies and each of the respondents was asked to select the most preferred profile from a set. The survey on emergency flood evacuation indicated that in their preferences for evacuation procedures, residents were sensitive to the level of risk present. The majority of the residents preferred voluntary evacuation at the 50 percent risk of hazardous flooding, but had no objection to mandatory evacuation at a 99 percent level of risk. The choice experiment was less successful in modeling preferences for floodproofing policies. In that case, the majority of respondents consistently preferred the option of floodproofing their homesteads, irrespective of the incentives that other policy options had provided. Some of the additional survey questions suggested that the absence of a typical tradeoff behavior might have been due to the fact that a government policy on floodproofing had already been announced. The latter might have unduly influenced the responses to the hypothetical scenarios. We conclude the paper by suggesting that social science research can make significant contributions to the management and policy design of non-structural flood alleviation measures, especially when investigating management options and outcomes in a tradeoff context.     

Distance Learning in Support of Water Resources Management: An Online Course on Decision Support Systems in River Basin Management

This paper presents the conceptualisation, design and implementation of an online course on the topic of Decision Support Systems in River Basin Management. The need for development of such a course has been recognised, as activities in the field of water resources planning and management increasingly depend on decision support methods such as simulation, optimisation and Multi Criteria Analysis (MCA). The online learning approach is particularly needed for continuous professional development and life-long learning of professionals active in this field, and especially for those coming from developing countries. The course was developed and implemented following the competence-based learning approach, supported by the EU FP 7 educational research project named TenCompetence, which also provided the learning platform for deploying and delivering the course. The paper presents the course design, implementation and evaluation by the course participants, with special focus on the course content and the developed learning resources. Participants’ evaluations show high appreciation for the course, but they also highlight areas for future improvements.     

Informal water markets and community management in peri-urban Luanda,Angola

ABSTRACT

The majority of Angola’s peri-urban population still rely on informal mechanisms for water supply. This water is expensive and of poor quality, representing a significant household expenditure for the urban poor. The article uses qualitative tools and tracking of the supply chain to analyze the scope of the informal water economy in Luanda. Marketing water at the local household level involves significant trading in social capital. A financially sustainable model of community water management that builds on this neighbourhood social capital has been adopted by the government for implementation across the country.