The Challenge of Global Water Management

2001 ◽  
pp. 125-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlo C. Jaeger
Author(s):  
Christopher Spence ◽  
Jared D. Wolfe ◽  
Colin J. Whitfield ◽  
Helen Margaret Baulch ◽  
Nandita B. Basu ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Hussein A. Amery

Using a Malthusian framework, Chapter 3 draws parallels between political economy of the Southeast Anatolian (Güneydoğu Anadolu Projesi or GAP) dam project in Turkey that affects water flow to the downstream neighbors of Syria and Iraq on the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) nearing completion on the Blue Nile in Ethiopia – a project that will impound waters destined for Egypt. It finds that in each case, geographical and hydropolitical positioning are the essential elements of downstream state insecurity and therefore a significant causes of deteriorating relations within the respective river basins. While noting that although the riparian states in question have long histories of tension and distrust, the historical record shows that the vast majority of global water disputes are settled peacefully. The chapter presents evidence that in the lower riparian states, rapid population growth, infrastructure development, and climate change present adverse and cumulative effects on water supplies and water management. The author concludes with the argument that the convergence of these factors points to a likely future of water scarcity-induced conflict absent the introduction of policies to boost irrigation efficiency and improve water governance.


2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 849-851 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecilia Tortajada ◽  
Asit K. Biswas

The article outlines modern and perspective water security of mankind, which means the population's ability to have sustainable access to the necessary quantity of acceptable water quality to maintain the existence, well-being and socio-economic development; protection against water-related pollution and disasters; conservation of ecosystems and political stability. The article notes that despite of a huge volume of water on the planet, its fresh resources contained in surface runoff and being the main source of water supply are limited. The work examines geographical, economic, political, anthropogenic factors creating the background for a global water management problem and threat to the water security of mankind. The article analyzes regional water management problems of Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and other regions; the research underlines the presence of significant political and economic difficulties with the use of the river flow of international river systems. The article considers prospects of the global threat to water security for mankind and ways to overcome it. A high correlation between the growth of the world population and the growth of global water consumption is substantiated. The research shows that by 2030 the water-resource potential of mankind will practically lose the capacity for self-recovery. There should be a strategy to solve the problem and a mechanism to implement it, including the creation of the International Fund for the Streamlining of the Use of the World's Water Resources and the Institute for its Regulatory and Legal Support under the auspices of the United Nations; electronic department of the United Nations with the functions of monitoring the state of water resources and access to them by the population, development of international regulations on water use, creation of design estimates, financing of water projects of global or international importance, monitoring the implementation of water management measures.


2009 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 393-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Hensel ◽  
Marit Brochmann

AbstractAs global water scarcity increases, both scholars and leaders have suggested that water will be a leading cause of future armed conflict. Yet other scholars argue that states typically cooperate rather than fight to manage their shared water resources. We address these arguments by examining the management of internationally shared rivers in the Americas, Western Europe, and the Middle East from 1900–2001. We propose hypotheses on the factors that lead states to become involved in disagreements over shared rivers as well as the factors that lead them to negotiate over these disagreements. Heckman probit analysis suggests that water scarcity – found by past work to be an important influence on armed conflict over rivers – is also an important influence on peaceful efforts to settle river problems; river claims are more likely where water supply is lower and demand is greater, but negotiations are also generally more likely in these same situations. Furthermore, while the existence of river treaties does not prevent the emergence of river claims, the presence of at least one treaty over the specific subject of the claim provides an important starting point that greatly increases the likelihood of negotiations over such claims. We conclude that the more pessimistic views of water management are missing an important part of the story. States are much more likely to negotiate in the most dangerous situations, and institutionalization of river resources can make an important contribution to negotiations over any disagreements that do emerge.


2019 ◽  
pp. 65-88
Author(s):  
Edward B. Barbier

This chapter looks at the use of water in the modern economy, focusing on the period from the 1900s to the present day. Throughout human history, economic progress has been linked with increased water appropriation, control, and use. The global spread of industrialization from the 1900s onward further cemented this association. As a consequence, in today's economies, institutions, incentives, and innovations are geared toward finding and exploiting more freshwater resources. The result is an emerging global water crisis, which is predominantly a crisis of inadequate and poor water management. In the modern era, the global model for economic development has been the United States, and subsequently, many countries emulated the US approach to harnessing its water resources. Thus, how water management evolved in the US and other economies during the modern era has set the stage for today's water paradox.


2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucía Wright-Contreras

Using the lens of a transnational urban political ecology of water infrastructures in Vietnam, this article contributes to the understanding of the intersections between urbanization patterns, socioecological problems, financial schemes, and the power relations embedded in Hanoi’s urban water supply through politics of scale that aim to ensure safe drinking water. With the analysis of global water policies and their implications in the Southeast-Asian context, the objectives of this work are to (a) reveal the scalar nature of Hanoi’s water infrastructures by situating water management processes in a broader context of developmental issues, and (b) review lessons and prospects of past and future global targets of access to safe drinking water. The evidence of multilevel water governance processes and cross-sectoral challenges of safe water provision emphasizes the need for global networks of cooperation to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 6 and contribute to other sectors aiming to “transform our world.”


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