scholarly journals Analysis of long-term strategies of riparian countries in transboundary river basins

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fahimeh Mirzaei-Nodoushan ◽  
Omid Bozorg-Haddad ◽  
Vijay P. Singh ◽  
Hugo A. Loáiciga
Keyword(s):  
Water Use ◽  
Evolutionary Game ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Cooperative Strategy ◽  
Stable Point ◽  
Water Sharing ◽  
Transboundary River ◽  
Transboundary River Basins ◽  
Over Time

AbstractTransboundary river basins give rise to complex water-sharing decision making that can be analyzed as a game in the sense of dynamic game theory, as done in this work. The sharing of transboundary water resources depends on the long-term shifting interactions between upstream and downstream countries, which has received limited research attention in the past. The water-sharing strategy of a riparian country depends on the strategies of other countries over time. This paper presents an evolutionary game method to analyze the long-term water-sharing strategies of countries encompassing transboundary river basins over time. The method analyzes the evolutionary strategies of riparian countries and investigates evolutionary stable strategies (ESSs) considering the payoff matrix. The evolutionary game method is applied to a river basin shared by three countries assuming two types of benefits and one type of cost to countries as decision variables of a game that reflects water use, economic and political gains, and socio-economic losses of countries. Numerical examples illustrate the strategies resulting from the evolutionary game processes and the role of several parameters on the interaction between riparian countries. The countries’ strategies are analyzed for several levels of benefits and costs, and the convergence of the strategies to a stable point is assessed. Results demonstrate the role that the upstream country’s potential benefits and the cost of conflict (i.e., non-cooperation) to other countries has on reaching a stable point in the game. This work’s results show the potential benefit to the upstream country under cooperative strategy must exceed its benefits from water use under non-cooperative strategy to gain the full stable cooperation of downstream countries. This work provides a method to resolve water-sharing strategies by countries sharing transboundary river basins and to evaluate the implications of cooperation or non-cooperation.

scholarly journals Water stress in global transboundary river basins: significance of upstream water use on downstream stress

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 014002 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Munia ◽  
J H A Guillaume ◽  
N Mirumachi ◽  
M Porkka ◽  
Y Wada ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Stress ◽  
Water Use ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Transboundary River ◽  
Transboundary River Basins

scholarly journals How downstream sub-basins depend on upstream inflows to avoid scarcity: typology and global analysis of transboundary rivers

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hafsa Ahmed Munia ◽  
Joseph Guillaume ◽  
Naho Mirumachi ◽  
Yoshihide Wada ◽  
Kummu Matti
Keyword(s):  
Water Use ◽  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Global Analysis ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Transboundary Rivers ◽  
Transboundary River ◽  
Transboundary River Basins ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Local Water

Abstract. Countries sharing river basins are often dependent upon water originating outside their boundaries; meaning that without that upstream water, water scarcity may occur, with flow-on implications for water use and management. We develop a formalisation of this concept using water stress and shortage as indicators of water scarcity, and including both persistent and occasional scarcity. Dependency occurs if water from upstream is needed to avoid either persistent or occasional water scarcity. This can be diagnosed by comparing different types of water availability on which a sub-basin relies, starting with reliable local runoff (available even in a dry year), followed by less reliable local water (available in the wet year), reliable dry year inflows from possible upstream area, and finally less reliable wet year inflows from upstream. At the same time, possible upstream water withdrawals reduce available water downstream, influencing the latter two water availabilities. In this paper, we further present a typology describing how scarcity and dependency evolve in transboundary river basins, and use this typology for a global analysis of transboundary river basins at the scale of sub-basin areas (SBAs). Four groups of SBAs are identified that experience scarcity and dependency differently depending on their i) location in the basin, and ii) hydro-climate characteristics, specifically the level of reliable support provided by natural upstream inflows. Each group has its own set of transitions in scarcity and dependency category, driven by changes in local water demand and/or upstream withdrawals. Our results show that almost one billion people (33 % of the total transboundary population) live in SBAs that are dependent on upstream water to avoid stress because of their own water use, while 500 million people (17 % of the total transboundary population) live in SBAs dependent on upstream water to avoid possible shortage. The identification of groups and their transitions enables discussion of the pathways SBAs might take in future, potentially contributing to further refined analysis of inter and intrabasin hydro-political power relations and strategic planning of management practices in transboundary basins.

Environmental Water Stress in Transboundary River Basins

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tales Carvalho-Resende
Keyword(s):  
Water Stress ◽  
Surface Water ◽  
Environmental Water ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Water Quantity ◽  
Natural Flow Regime ◽  
Transboundary River ◽  
Transboundary River Basins ◽  
Natural Flow ◽  
Water Uses

The Environmental Water Stress in Transboundary River Basins indicator focuses on the water quantity aspect and considers hydrological alterations from monthly dynamics of the natural flow regime due to anthropogenic water uses and dam operations. For more information, visit: http://twap-rivers.org/ Basin Stress Surface water Transboundary

Gestion des bassins hydrographiques transfrontaliers et institutionnalisation

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 54-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucile Medina
Keyword(s):  
El Salvador ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Border Area ◽  
Logical Approach ◽  
Transboundary River ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Shared Management ◽  
Transboundary River Basins ◽  
Transboundary Watersheds ◽  
Del Rio

The Grupo Gestor Binacional de la Cuenca del Río Goascorán (GGBCG) was created in 2007 as an original initiative managing a shared basin in the Eastern part of El Salvador-Honduras boundary. In less than twenty years, the issue of confrontation in this border area has led to a logical approach to reconciliation and cooperation through shared management of the Río Goascorán basin. This article analyzes the ways in which the actors involved understand this cooperation. The initiative that is studied is part of a regional context that is of interest for the management of transboundary river basins. Several elements relevant to the analyzed case are addressed, including the difficulty of cross-border action and shared management, the turnover of the actors involved, and the forms of institutionalization on which the management of transboundary watersheds can be based. Spanish Este artículo se interesa en la conformación del Grupo de Gestión Binacional de la Cuenca del Río Goascorán (GGBCG) en el año 2007, como una iniciativa original de gestión de una cuenca compartida en la parte oriental de la frontera Honduras-El Salvador. El artículo muestra cómo en menos de veinte años, la problemática de enfrentamiento en este sector fronterizo dio lugar a una lógica de acercamiento y de cooperación por medio de la gestión compartida de la cuenca del Río Goascorán. También se analizan las formas en que los actores involucrados conciben la cooperación alrededor de la cuenca. El presente artículo resalta varios elementos de reflexión a través del caso analizado: la dificultad de la acción transfronteriza y de la gestión compartida; la renovación de los actores involucrados; así como las formas de institucionalización sobre las cuales puede basarse la gestión de cuencas transfronterizas que invitan a interrogarse sobre la conformación del GGBCG. French Cet article s'intéresse à la constitution depuis 2007 d'un Grupo Gestor Binacional de la Cuenca del Río Goascorán (GGBCG) comme initiative originale de gestion d'un bassin partagé sur la partie orientale de la frontière Honduras-El Salvador. L'article montre comment, en moins de vingt ans, la problématique d'affrontement sur ce secteur frontalier longtemps en litige a laissé la place à une logique de rapprochement et de coopération par le biais de la gestion partagée du bassin du Río Goascorán. Il analyse également les formes sous lesquelles les acteurs impliqués conçoivent la coopération autour du bassin. L'initiative étudiée s'inscrit dans un contexte régional d'intérêt pour la gestion des bassins hydrographiques transfrontaliers. Cet article met en lumière plusieurs éléments de réflexion à travers le cas analysé : la difficulté de l'action transfrontalière et de la gestion partagée ; le renouvellement des acteurs mobilisés ; les formes d'institutionnalisation sur lesquelles peut reposer la gestion de bassins transfrontaliers, que la création du GGBCG invite à interroger.

Do treaties matter? Climate change, water variability, and cooperation along transboundary river basins

2019 ◽  
Vol 69 ◽  
pp. 162-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shlomi Dinar ◽  
David Katz ◽  
Lucia De Stefano ◽  
Brian Blankespoor
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Transboundary River ◽  
Transboundary River Basins

scholarly journals A coupled modeling framework for sustainable watershed management in transboundary river basins

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (12) ◽  
pp. 6275-6288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hassaan Furqan Khan ◽  
Y. C. Ethan Yang ◽  
Hua Xie ◽  
Claudia Ringler
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Watershed Management ◽  
Water Resource ◽  
Ecosystem Health ◽  
Water System ◽  
River Basins ◽  
System Model ◽  
Transboundary River ◽  
Transboundary River Basins ◽  
Water Uses

Abstract. There is a growing recognition among water resource managers that sustainable watershed management needs to not only account for the diverse ways humans benefit from the environment, but also incorporate the impact of human actions on the natural system. Coupled natural–human system modeling through explicit modeling of both natural and human behavior can help reveal the reciprocal interactions and co-evolution of the natural and human systems. This study develops a spatially scalable, generalized agent-based modeling (ABM) framework consisting of a process-based semi-distributed hydrologic model (SWAT) and a decentralized water system model to simulate the impacts of water resource management decisions that affect the food–water–energy–environment (FWEE) nexus at a watershed scale. Agents within a river basin are geographically delineated based on both political and watershed boundaries and represent key stakeholders of ecosystem services. Agents decide about the priority across three primary water uses: food production, hydropower generation and ecosystem health within their geographical domains. Agents interact with the environment (streamflow) through the SWAT model and interact with other agents through a parameter representing willingness to cooperate. The innovative two-way coupling between the water system model and SWAT enables this framework to fully explore the feedback of human decisions on the environmental dynamics and vice versa. To support non-technical stakeholder interactions, a web-based user interface has been developed that allows for role-play and participatory modeling. The generalized ABM framework is also tested in two key transboundary river basins, the Mekong River basin in Southeast Asia and the Niger River basin in West Africa, where water uses for ecosystem health compete with growing human demands on food and energy resources. We present modeling results for crop production, energy generation and violation of eco-hydrological indicators at both the agent and basin-wide levels to shed light on holistic FWEE management policies in these two basins.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document