The implication of climate variability on household water management; perception and practices among rural womenfolk in four communities in Ghana

Abstract. Extreme events are part of climate variability. Dealing with variability is still a challenge that might be increased due to climate change. However, impacts of extreme events are not only dependent on their variability, but also on management and governance. In Brazil, its semi-arid region is vulnerable to extreme events, especially droughts, for centuries. Actually, other Brazilian regions that have been mostly concerned with floods are currently also experiencing droughts. This article evaluates how a combination between climate variability and water governance might affect water scarcity and increase the impacts of extreme events on some regions. For this evaluation, Ostrom's framework for analyzing social-ecological systems (SES) was applied. Ostrom's framework is useful for understanding interactions between resource systems, governance systems and resource users. This study focuses on social-ecological systems located in a drought-prone region of Brazil. Two extreme events were selected, one in 1997–2000, when Brazil's new water policy was very young, and the other one in 2012–2015. The analysis of SES considering Ostrom's principle "Clearly defined boundaries" showed that deficiencies in water management cause the intensification of drought's impacts for the water users. The reasons are more related to water management and governance problems than to drought event magnitude or climate change. This is a problem that holdup advances in dealing with extreme events.

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Command-scale integrated water management in response to spatial climate variability in Lower Bari Doab Canal irrigation system

Water Policy ◽

10.2166/wp.2013.221 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 16 (2) ◽

pp. 374-396 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Muhammad Basharat ◽

Ata-Ur-Rehman Tariq

Keyword(s):

Water Management ◽

Climate Variability ◽

Irrigation System ◽

Indus Basin ◽

Integrated Water Management ◽

Canal Irrigation ◽

Irrigation Cost ◽

Groundwater Regime ◽

Basin Irrigation ◽

Scale Integration

Design and management of the Indus Basin Irrigation System are aimed at achieving equity in canal water supply. This concept, which is more than a century old, ignores the due aspect of groundwater management in today's perspective. Recent research has proved that variation in irrigation demand and rainfall within the irrigation units has given birth to varying stresses on groundwater. In response to spatial climate variability, reallocation of canal supplies from the head towards the tail of the Lower Bari Doab Canal (LBDC) command was evaluated in this study, with the objective of achieving equitable total irrigation costs. The ensuing groundwater regime was simulated for 50 years' time with a groundwater model. A 25% reallocation from head towards tail-end improves the standard deviation of total irrigation cost equity from 1905 to 241. This command scale integration of available water resources also demonstrated a net saving in groundwater pumping cost to the tune of 7.24 to 18.9%, in comparison with existing equitable canal supplies. With this approach, at least minimal or no waterlogging in the head-end area, even during wet years, and no groundwater mining in the tail-end, even during dry periods, are anticipated. In addition, this system-scale integrated water management would increase adaptive capacity to climate change adaptation.

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Editorial: Household water management: refining the dominant paradigm

Tropical Medicine & International Health ◽

10.1046/j.1365-3156.2003.01191.x ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 187-191 ◽

Cited By ~ 48

Author(s):

Thomas F. Clasen ◽

Sandy Cairncross

Keyword(s):

Water Management ◽

Household Water ◽

Dominant Paradigm

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Without households, water management is not integrated

Water Practice & Technology ◽

10.2166/wpt.2012.020 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

K. Harriden

Keyword(s):

Water Management ◽

Water Conservation ◽

Water Resource Management ◽

Relationship Building ◽

Conservation Practices ◽

Domestic Water ◽

Water Users ◽

Household Water ◽

Single Use ◽

Management Policies

With the institutional and personal relationship building vital to integrated water resource management (IWRM) in practice stopping at the community scale, households and householders are largely neglected from the framework. Domestic water users are viewed as a homogenous group requiring only continuous, single-use potable supply, with equal, unproblematic access to the supplied water. Reflecting the reality of few households, this construct contributes to the development of inappropriate and ineffective institutional water management policies and practices. Using evidence from Water Diaries conducted in the ACT region, including household adoption of water conservation practices and acceptance of water restrictions, this paper demonstrates that householders are active water managers. Outlining the benefits to IWRM of incorporating household water management expertise, this paper argues it is appropriate to formally include this sector in the IWRM framework.

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