Mapping a better future: how spatial analysis can benefit wetlands and reduce poverty in Uganda

This publication presents study carried on Ugandan abundant natural wealth. Its varied wetlands, including grass swamps, mountain bogs, seasonal floodplains, and swamp forests, provide services and products worth hundreds of millions of dollars per year, making them a vital contributor to the national economy. Ugandans use wetlands-;often called the country';s ";granaries for water";-;to sustain their lives and livelihoods. They rely on them for water, construction material, and fuel, and use them for farming, fishing, and to graze livestock. Wetlands supply direct or subsistence employment for 2.7 million people, almost 10 percent of the population. In many parts of the country, wetland products and services are the sole source for livelihoods and the main safety net for the poorest households. Sustainable management of Uganda';s wetlands is thus not only sound economic policy, it is also a potent strategy for poverty reduction. Recognizing this, Uganda';s Government was the first to create a national wetlands policy in Africa. Over the past decade, Uganda has also instituted the National Wetlands Information System, a rich database on the use and health of Uganda';s wetlands which in its coverage and detail is unique in Africa. This publication builds on those initiatives by combining information from the wetlands database with pioneering poverty location maps developed by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics. The new maps and accompanying analyses will help policy-makers classify wetlands by their main uses, conditions, and poverty profile and identify areas with the greatest need of pro-poor wetland management interventions. The information generated can also be fed into national poverty reduction strategies and resource management plans. This is an innovative, pragmatic approach to integrating efforts to reduce poverty while sustaining ecosystems which has implications for improving policy-making in Uganda and beyond

Evaluation of ECMWF medium-range ensemble forecasts of precipitation for river basins

Providing probabilistic forecasts using Ensemble Prediction Systems has become increasingly popular in both the meteorological and hydrological communities. Compared to conventional deterministic forecasts, probabilistic forecasts may provide more reliable forecasts of a few hours to a number of days ahead, and hence are regarded as better tools for taking uncertainties into consideration and hedging against weather risks. It is essential to evaluate performance of raw ensemble forecasts and their potential values in forecasting extreme hydro-meteorological events. This study evaluates ECMWF's medium-range ensemble forecasts of precipitation over the period 1 January 2008 to 30 September 2012 on a selected midlatitude large-scale river basin, the Huai river basin (ca. 270 000 km2) in central-east China. The evaluation unit is sub-basin in order to consider forecast performance in a hydrologically relevant way. The study finds that forecast performance varies with sub-basin properties, between flooding and non-flooding seasons, and with the forecast properties of aggregated time steps and lead times. Although the study does not evaluate any hydrological applications of the ensemble precipitation forecasts, its results have direct implications in hydrological forecasts should these ensemble precipitation forecasts be employed in hydrology

DSTS and Modeling Tools Report

MK16 Fostering Evidence-Based IWRM in the Stung Pursat Catchment (Tonle Sap Great Lake) CambodiaDecision Support Tools (DSTs) have been developed by various organisations (government agencies, international organizations, NGOs, universities, consultancy companies and think tanks) to facilitate decision making around a number of issues, including water governance and management. There are arange of DSTs, distinguished by their function, quality of services (accuracy and precision), ease of use, time of application (project planning, implementation, monitoring, etc.), data requirements, data generated and other factors. The main objective of this analysis is to assess currently available and relevant decision support tools (DSTs), and to highlight the method of selecting most appropriate tool

Multi-stakeholder Platform: An innovative mechanism for promoting integrated decision making in the Stung Pursat catchment

MK16: Fostering Evidence-Based IWRM in the Stung Pursat Catchment (Tonle Sap Great Lake) CambodiaIntroduced as an innovation in the Stung Pursat catchment of Cambodia, a MSP was piloted to promote integrated water resource management (IWRM). The “Fostering-Evidence-based IWRM in Stung Pursat catchment, Cambodia project1 (MK 16)” supported three MSP sessions in Pursat, and brought-together over 40 participants from government (national, provincial, and municipal), civil society organizations (including academic institutions), and community-based natural resource communities

Working Paper on Population Growth and Natural Resource Pressures in Pursat Catchment

MK16 Fostering Evidence-based IWRM in Stung Pursat Catchment (Tonle Sap Great Lake)This project examined the linkages between population and demand for food and water. Cambodia, in general, and Pursat Province in particular, have a complex and interesting mosaic of demographic attributes and development issues. The Tonle Sap basin and Pursat catchment possess the country’s largest potential water resources. These resources have the ability to support on-going economic development, including irrigation and agricultural production, fisheries and aquaculture, energy and forest products, navigation and other modes of transport, domestic and industrial water use and tourism

Report on Conflict Analysis and Power Relations in Pursat Catchment

MK16: Fostering Evidence-Based IWRM in the Stung Pursat Catchment (Tonle Sap Great Lake) CambodiaThe MK16 report analyses stakeholder roles, relationships, and views on water resources management in Cambodia in general, and Pursat specifically, for developing good IWRM structures that incorporates a shared understanding of the reality and complexity of different stakeholder interests and relationships. The analysis is designed to examine the degree of consistency or disparity between different stakeholders, and between formal stakeholder roles and actual practices.The Conflict/Difference and Power Relation Analysis in Pursat Catchment addresses the following research questions: 1. What are the key stakeholder roles, relationships, and perceptions in existing water governance arrangements, and how consistent are these perceptions among different stakeholders at different levels? 2. What are the consistencies and inconsistencies

Burden-shifting of water quantity and quality stress from mega-city Shanghai

Much attention has been paid to burden-shifting of CO2 emissions from developed regions to developing regions through trade. However, less discussed is that trade also acts as a mechanism enabling wealthy consumers to shift water quantity and quality stress to their trading partners. In this study we investigate how Shanghai, the largest mega-city in China, draws water resources from all over China and outsources its pollution through virtual quantity and quality water flows associated with trade. The results show that Shanghai’s consumption of goods and services in 2007 led to 11.6 billion m3 of freshwater consumption, 796 thousand tons of COD, and 16.2 thousand tons of NH3-N in discharged wastewater. Of this, 79% of freshwater consumption, 82.9% of COD and 82.5% of NH3-N occurred in other Chinese Provinces which provide goods and services to Shanghai. Thirteen Provinces with severe and extreme water quantity stress accounted for 60% of net virtual water import to Shanghai, while 19 Provinces experiencing water quality stress endured 79% of net COD outsourcing and 75.5% of net NH3-N outsourcing from Shanghai. In accordance with the three ‘redlines’ recently put forward by the Chinese central government to control water pollution and cap total water use in all provinces, we suggest that Shanghai should share its responsibility for reducing water quantity and quality stress in its trading partners through taking measures at provincial, industrial and consumer levels. In the meantime, Shanghai needs to enhance demand side management by promoting low water intensity consumption

Many Rivers to Cross: Evaluating the Benefits and Limitations of Strategic Environmental Assessment for the Koshi River Basin

This paper assesses the value of using Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) to account for the spatially and temporally diverse and diffuse impacts of hydropower development in South Asia’s Koshi basin. A policy and practice review and key stakeholder interviews identified opportunities for SEA to improve existing planning procedures, but also barriers to effective adoption. Whilst stakeholders are interested in employing SEA to evaluate cumulative impacts, institutional blockages and an economic development imperative for power generation leave little space for consideration of alternative scenarios as part of SEA. The analysis is conducted through the formulation and application of a conceptual framework for SEA best practice which is then used to identify priority next-steps for SEA in the region

Quantification of effects of climate variations and human activities on runoff by a monthly water balance model: A case study of the Chaobai River basin in northern China

The Chaobai River basin in northern China consists of two major tributaries, the Chao River and Bai River. Monthly observations of precipitation, streamfiow, and panevaporation data are available for 35 years (1961-1966 and 1973-2001). Using the annual time series of the observed streamfiow, one break point at 1979 is detected and is adopted to divide the data set into two study periods, the "before" and "after" periods marking the onset of significant anthropogenic alteration of the flow (reservoirs and silt retention dams, five times increase in population) and significant changes in land use (conversion to terraced fields versus sloping fields). The distributed time-variant gain model (DTVGM) was used to evaluate the water resources of the area. Furthermore, the Bayesian method used by Engeland et al. (2005) was used in this paper to evaluate two uncertainty sources (i.e., the model parameter and model structure) and for assessing the DTVGM's performance over the Chaobai River basin. Comparing the annual precipitation means over 13 years (1961-1966 and 1973-1979), the means of the second period (1980-2001) decreased by 5.4% and 4.9% in the Chao River and Bai River basins, respectively. However, the related annual runoff decreased by 40.3% and 52.8%, respectively, a much greater decline than exhibited by precipitation. Through the monthly model simulation and the fixing-changing method, it is determined that decreases in runoff between the two periods can be attributed to 35% (31%) from climate variations and 68% (70%) from human activities in the Chao River (Bai River). Thus, human impact exerts a dominant influence upon runoff decline in the Chaobai River basin compared to climate. This study enhances our understanding of the relative roles of climate variations and human activities on runoff. © 2009 by the American Geophysical Union.published_or_final_versio

Adaptation or conflict? Responses to climate change in water management in Bangladesh

The potential of climate change to impact local conflict and cooperation over natural resources has received relatively little attention. Bangladesh floodplains are highly vulnerable to environmental stresses that are worsening with climate change, and community organisations have to respond to water insecurity − seasonally too little or too much. Two case studies based on action research in contrasting water and climate stressed floodplain environments in Bangladesh investigate local conflicts over water management that worsened when water regimes changed. By overcoming conflicts and improving adaptation for all local actors the cases reveal the importance of local knowledge, innovations in institutions, external facilitation, and incentives provided by disadvantaged groups who contribute towards costs in return for a share in decision making power and better adapted water management. The cases show how community organisations diversified their responsibilities and took up the challenge of water management to address local priorities and overcome conflicts. Without a more flexible and enabling approach, public investments in adaptation are likely to focus on strengthening existing water management infrastructure without understanding local social interactions and complexity. This may strengthen elite dominance and local conflicts if there is no comparable investment in developing robust and fair local institutions