Tag: water management
Land and Water Management T4FS Project Phase II
Challenges to the sustainable use of water resources in the Ili River basin of Central Asia
Water is a scarce resource in Central Asia, and many catchments span international boundaries, among them that of the Ili River, which is shared by China and Kazakhstan. Since 1970, the natural hydrological regime of the Ili River, both absolute flow rates and cycles, has changed due to construction of reservoirs such as that at Kapchagai, as well as natural climatic cycles and the growth of water consumption in the basin. Using data from Kazhydromet, we calculated that flow rates below Kapchagai dam averaged 468 m3/sec before construction of the dam, 366 m3/sec while the reservoir was being filled, and 489 m3/sec between 1988 and 2013. The dam has profoundly altered the annual cycle of flows in the river, with reductions in the summer and increases in the winter, when water is released to produce hydropower. The effects of these changes are being heightened by China’s increasing diversion of the river’s water. The sustainable use of decreasing water resources to conserve the biodiversity of the Ili-Balkhash basin’s ecosystems mandates a solution to the water allocation challenge between China and Kazakhstan. This will require a basin-wide approach that includes modernization of water distribution systems and careful consideration to relative priority needs for food, hydropower, and communal uses in both countries.
Enhancing Teff (Eragrostis tef) Production and Productivity through Water and Nitrogen Management in Northern Ethiopia
The availability of soil nutrients and water is the major determinant for crop production under resource-constrained smallholder rain-fed farming systems in northern Ethiopia. In view of climate change projections, in-depth understanding of the agronomic practices, particularly water and nutrient management options, is urgently needed in order to improve and stabilize crop yields, and thus, achieve food security. An experiment was carried out for two years in northern Ethiopia to investigate the optimum amount of irrigation water and the optimum rate of nitrogen fertilizer under two different soil types, viz., Cambisols and Vetisols, for teff (Eragrostis tef) produc-tion. The experiment had three water level treatments and three nitrogen applications arranged in a randomized, complete block design. The results showed that teff responded well to the applica-tion of supplemental irrigation water and nitrogen fertilizer in both Cambisols and Vertisols, while increased water application without increased N did not increase teff yield, and vice versa. This study does not recommend a higher rate of N (i.e., above 60 kg ha-1) due to a severe lodging problem associated with higher N levels during good seasons and limited N uptake during periods of inadequate soil moisture availability in low rainfall seasons.
Opportunities and constraints for climate adaptation in regional water and land use planning
Whereas the literature on adaptation is rich in detail on the impacts of, vulnerability to, and constraints of climate adaptation, less is known about the conditions that facilitate adaptation in practice. We examined the constraints and opportunities for adaptation in water and land use planning in three regions: the Guadiana River Basin in Spain and Portugal, the Tisza River Basin in Hungary and western Inner Mongolia in China. We analysed the conditions that either facilitate or constrain adaptation in relation to (1) adaptation actors, (2) adaptation strategies, and (3) adaptation objectives. Many adaptation assessments concentrate on climate impacts and the potential of adaptation strategies. The conditions that enable people to act on adaptation are less studied. Yet these have been identified as particularly important for successfully implementing adaptation. We find that adaptation is enhanced by pilot projects that test and debate new ideas through collaboration between recognized actors from civil society, policy, and science. Promising for adaptation is the integration of (traditional) agro-environmental land use systems that regulate regional climate impacts with new technologies, organizational responsibilities and financial instruments. A key challenge is to create flexible and equitable financial instruments that facilitate benefit and burden sharing, social learning, and that support a diverse set of potentially better adapted new activities rather than compensate for climate impacts on existing activities.
Stakeholder Approach to Risk Informed and Evidence Based Decision Making (SHARED) for Resilience
Decision-makers from the household to state level frequently have to make decisions within a context of risks, uncertainties, multiple possible outcomes and stakeholder groups with varied interests. It is therefore reasonable for them to be concerned about the risk that an investment or intervention could fail to achieve its objectives. This happens because the uncertainties surrounding the impacts of a proposed development intervention during project assessment are usually not addressed. These uncertainties can be high where information on the parameters of interest and how they will evolve under future change is scarce. For instance, there is a severe lack of data on the ecological, socioeconomic, cultural and political parameters that would influence the complex dynamics of environmental systems.Decision analysis aims to assist decision-makers in making rational decisions in situations where they are faced with imperfect information. It is concerned with identifying the most promising course of action, while recognizing risks and uncertainties. Initially, analyses are based on the current state of knowledge about particular variables of interest, before any measurements are taken. This knowledge is used for probabilistic simulations of the full range of plausible system outcomes of particular interventions, which aid in prioritizing decision options based on their likely outcomes or impacts. This is achieved by including decision-makers, various stakeholders and end-users in conducting ex-ante impact assessments using quantitative impact pathways and probabilistic estimates of all relevant benefits, costs, risks and uncertain variables. Business decision analysis methods offer a promising way forward, because they have been designed for aiding businesses in making decisions on risky projects with limited research budgets. To achieve this, a key objective of decision analysis is capturing the current state of uncertainty.
Water, Water Lords, and Caste: A Village Study from Gujarat, India
Access to and distribution of water is deeply intertwined with structures of power. Strategies of accumulation by dispossession have acquired sustained significance under contemporary regimes of global capitalism (Harvey 2003 Harvey, David. 2003. The New Imperialism. London: Oxford University Press. [Google Scholar]; Swyngedouw 2005 Swyngedouw, Erik. 2005. “Dispossessing H2O: The Contested Terrain of Water Privatization.” Capitalism Nature Socialism 16 (1): 81–98. doi: 10.1080/1045575052000335384[Taylor & Francis Online], [Google Scholar]). Water politics tends to involve a range of interaction patterns in water management, including negotiation, struggle, and also less explicit and longer term disputes and controversies (Mollinga 2008 Mollinga, Peter Paul. 2008. “Water, Politics and Development: Framing a Political Sociology of Water Resources Management.” Water Alternatives 1 (1): 7–23. [Google Scholar]). At the level of the state, water shapes national economies and determines geopolitical boundaries (Mosse 1999 Mosse, David. 1999. “Colonial and Temporary Ideologies of Community Management: The Case of Tank Irrigation Development in South India.” Modern Asian Studies 33 (2): 303–338. doi: 10.1017/S0026749X99003285[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]; Wade 1987 Wade, Robert. 1987. Village Republics: Economic Conditions for Collective Action in South India. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [Google Scholar]; Wittfogel 1957 Wittfogel, Karl August. 1957. Oriental Despotism: From Comparative Study of Total Power. New Haven: Yale University Press. [Google Scholar]). Similarly, at the heart of water governance and management challenges, in particular those related to social equity and justice in most developing countries, is the question of access to and control of water, which is often hampered by exclusionary political and economic practices (Ioris 2007 Ioris, Antonio A. R. 2007. “The Troubled Waters of Brazil: Nature Commodification and Social Exclusion.” Capitalism Nature Socialism 18 (1): 28–50. doi: 10.1080/10455750601164618[Taylor & Francis Online], [Google Scholar]).
Adoption of natural resource management technologies: experiences and lessons from Uganda
Rainwater harvesting and water catchment improvement interventions in Laga Badana Bush Bushel Intervention sites Ras Kamboni- Jubbaland, Somaliland. Baseline assessment report.
The main objective of the baseline survey was to assess the current situation of water availability, types of water sources existing and the techniques used for rain water harvesting in the area. Additionally, the assessment determined the potential opportunity for communities to support in improving the water availability in the area. To realize the objectives of the assessment, consultants for SCRS interviewed various parts of the community (local authorities, community elders and women) in the area.