Developing procedures for assessment of ecological status of Indian River basins in the context of environmental water requirements

River basins / Ecology / Indicators / Environmental flows / Environmental management / Habitats / Biota / Fish / Ecosystems / India / Krishna River Basin / Chauvery River Basin / Narmada River Basin / Periyar River Basin / Ganga River Basin

Raising irrigation productivity and releasing water for intersectoral needs (RIPARWIN): RIPARWIN final technical report

River basinsHydrologyRiver basin managementRiver basin developmentDevelopment projectsWater allocationIrrigation waterProductivityIrrigation managementRiceTanzaniaGreat Ruaha River BasinUsangu River Basin

Decentralization of river basin management in Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe: an institutional economics analysis

Southern African countries have been experienced several problems regarding the management of their river basins. In order to mitigate these problems, during the past 15 years, most of the SADC countries have adopted comprehensive reforms in the water sector towards decentralization of river basin management through changing water related institutions. However, the impact of those institutions on decentralization process of river basin management is still largely unknown. Understanding the impact of institutions on decentralization process of river basin management could be of important value for policy makers and water managers. This paper analyses the impact of institutional factors on river basin decentralization process and its performance. The paper uses an institutional economic framework, where institutional factors are broken down into contextual factors and initial conditions; characteristics of decentralization process; characteristics of central government/basin-level relationships and capacities; and internal configuration of basin level institutional arrangements. The impact of the institutional reforms on decentralization process and performance of river basin management is studied by accessing the level of decentralization of Limpopo (Mozambique), Inkomati (South Africa) and Mzingwane (Zimbabwe) river basins given the institutional factors in the respective countries. The study uses secondary data collected from different sources and primary data collected from a survey conducted in the three river basins in the studied countries. The analysis show mixed results. While the Inkomati river basin is more decentralized, the decentralization process of Mzingwane and Limpopo river basins is lagging behind. Institutional factors showed to be determinants in river basin decentralization process and its performance. The advancement of decentralization process and its performance in Inkomati river basin is associated with the endowment of financial capacity as well as the involvement of river basin stakeholders in decentralization process, while the failure of decentralization process in Mzingwane and Limpopo river basins is mainly associated with top-down approaches used in decentralization process in these basins as well as the lack of financial endowment. (Résumé d'auteur

Implementing integrated river basin management: lessons from the Red River Basin, Vietnam

River basin management / Water resource management / Legal aspects / Water law / Water policy / Institutional reform / Organizational change / Institutions / Governance / Development projects / Participatory management / Vietnam / Red River Basin / Cau River / Nhue River / Day River

A river basin as a common-pool resource: a case study for the Jaguaribe basin in Brazil

Rainfall variability and the associated water stress are of major concern in semi-arid regions subject to conflicts between water users. To achieve sustainable and stable agricultural performance it is necessary to understand\ud the interaction between natural processes and human response. This paper investigates the applicability of common-pool resource (CPR) concepts to understand governance of water resources in semi-arid river basins. This is done by evaluating the governance of water resources in the Jaguaribe basin in the semi-arid Northeast of Brazil. The results show that common-pool resource concepts offer valuable insights for explaining variations in water resource use and availability at the river basin scale. The water system in a river basin can be characterized as one large CPR consisting of asymmetrically linked smaller CPR’s. This study showed that CPR concepts are useful for explaining agricultural productivity, stability and equitability in a semi-arid river basin. The asymmetry of a river basin CPR is the cause of unidirectional externalities towards downstream. The topography, the sequence of rainfall events and distribution of reservoir capacities in a river basin strongly\ud influence the extent to which convergence of resource flow can compensate for these externalities

Review of integrated approaches to river basin, planning, development and management

Piecemeal approaches to river basin development and management may not fully recognize the interactions and interdependence among components of a river basin system. River basin management that focuses on a single water use, on a single sector, or on the supply to particular segment of the basin population may inadvertently disrupt other sectors of the economy (in time or space). Hence, advocating for a systems approach to river basin development - for models that could help account for a river basin's key components and help address various objectives. The authors review the literature on such economic models, including models that deal with issues of water quality and quantity or with environmental considerations, recreational demand, countrywide planning, and multiple objective planning. Their review may serve as a source of references for those who need to consider whether they can use a model. Readers can evaluate the suitability, advantages, and disadvantages of particular modeling approaches for specific objectives.Water Conservation,River Basin Management,Water and Industry,Environmental Economics&Policies,Decentralization,Environmental Economics&Policies,Water Conservation,Water Supply and Sanitation Governance and Institutions,Water and Industry,Town Water Supply and Sanitation

River basin planning project: social learning (Science Report SC050037/SR1)

This report documents the findings of a 12-month Environment Agency science project on social learning for river basin planning. Our aim was to use social learning approaches and soft system methods to inform the development of the River Basin Planning Strategy and improve the effectiveness of the Environment Agency's Water Framework Directive (WFD) Programm

THE RIVER BASIN APPROACH IN TOURISM PLANNING

The article describes advantages and disadvantages in tourism planning, using the river basins as background territory and borders. Tourism development planning is taking place according administrative territorial borders till nowadays in Latvia and in other tourism destinations in abroad. According tourist and visitor needs and environmental friendly approach it is more appropriate to use river basins in tourism planning. Tourists are not interested in administrative borders, but in qualitative tourism products and services. Tourism industry is integrated sector including: traffic, communication, accommodation, energy, public catering, attractions, travel and destination organizers and institutional support to industry. Tourism planning in administrative borders supports fractioned human, nature and financial resources, which finally gives weak and unpopular tourism products. The author has selected as case study for tourism planning Daugava river basin, exactly Ogre – Daugava’s right side tributary - basin. Daugava river basin is in 15th place in ecoregion “Baltic Province” and in 5th place in ecoregion “Baltic Sea” according Water structure directive EEC 2000/60/EC; 11 annex. In year 2003 there is finished project “Daugava basin area management plan” which focuses on planning issues according river basins (Daugava project Latvia Sweden, 2003). The author has selected tributary Ogre basin (area 1730km2), it is 3rd largest river in Latvia (188km) and one of the most attractive rivers for water tourists. It is crucial to develop and strengthen tourism services along the Ogre river, if local enterprises want to receive profit from water tourism. One legal accommodation and two places for tents are situated in Ogre riverbanks. In the course of tourism planning at least primary problems must be solved: lack of toilets, collection of waste, types of water transport. The article prepared using practical observation of the Ogre river basin, interviews with local enterprisers and water tourists in the area. The main conclusions are lack of understanding role of river basin in sustainable way and administrative obstacles for common cooperation. Tourism planning according river basins approach gives preconditions for elaboration sustainable tourism development services and tourism products.

Description of the hydrochemical regime of the Dnister river (by basic ions)

In this part of the Dniester, water mineralization increases: Dniester - medium (379-428 mg/L); Dniester - lower (425-526 mg/L). Mineralization of the Dniester River water decreases during the spring flood (305-425 mg/L) and increases during the winter low-water period (399-526 mg/L). The average annual ion runoff (Σi) of the Dniester River is 4374.103 tons. For ionic runoff, the same proportion remains for seasons as for water runoff. The ion runoff in the Dniester basin is 60.8 t/km2 per year, which is 2.3 times higher than the ion runoff in the Dnipro basin (26.8 t/km2), but 1.6 times less than in the Danube basin (95.2 t/km2). In general, this is a high indicator of chemical erosion in the river basin

Institutional and policy analysis of river basin management: the Brantas river basin, East Java, Indonesia

The authors describe and analyze an unconventional approach to river basin management in a developing country undergoing rapid economic, political, and institutional change. The founding of the Brantas River Basin Management Corporation (Perum Jasa Tirta I - PJT 1), a national state-owned company for river basin management, initiated an emphasis on river basin management to operate and maintain existing infrastructure, plan and implement the allocation of water, and address problems that affect basin-level water resources. The Brantas River basin is located within the province of East Java in Indonesia. It has an area of approximately 11,800 square kilometers and makes up 25 percent of East Java's land area. The basin's population, which amounts to nearly 15 million, has increased by 53.4 percent over the past 30 years and represents 42.4 percent of East Java's population with a density of 1,249 per square kilometer. A shift has taken place in Indonesia since the mid-1990s from emphasizing infrastructure development to strengthening institutional aspects (hydrology, flood fighting, flood warning, flood management, and so on). The institutional arrangement for water resources management in the Brantas basin through a state-owned corporation is an interesting model. PJT I has achieved results in implementing a reasonably good system of water allocation and management and a reliable flood forecasting system, as well as maintaining major infrastructure in fairly good condition. Managing water quality, catchment conditions, and the river environment, however, are the responsibility of many entities, and there is need for greater coordination and authority to address these issues.Water Supply and Sanitation Governance and Institutions,Town Water Supply and Sanitation,Drought Management,Water and Industry,Water Conservation