Circumventing Water Scarcity in the Jordan Basin

2019 ◽  
pp. 403-425
Author(s):  
Michael Gilmont ◽  
Lara Nassar ◽  
Erica Harper ◽  
Nadav Tal ◽  
Steve Rayner
Keyword(s):  
Water Availability ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Specific Model ◽  
Economic Diversification ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Resource Endowment ◽  
Freshwater Resource ◽  
Food Imports

This chapter examines trends in water resources used in Jordan and Israel. Specifically it illustrates how these two economies have circumvented significant limits in their natural freshwater resource endowment to enable continued economic and population growth despite static or declining water availability. Using the concept of resource decoupling, it identifies four specific mechanisms by which economies can decouple their water needs from water availability, including economic diversification, food imports, agricultural water productivity, and nonconventional water resource development. Each of these mechanisms are illustrated for the two countries, including technical and political processes shaping their adoption. The chapter also critiques existing conceptualizations of decoupling relative to the water-specific model, highlighting the importance of understanding the unique characteristics of scarcity, flows, and substitutability of water at a global scale. Finally the chapter nests decoupling within the market modes framing this volume, before evaluating the risks and trade-offs inherent in decoupling strategies.

scholarly journals Evaluation of Virtual Water and Water Sustainability of Dairy Production in Trentino Alto Adige (North-Eastern Italy)

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1047
Author(s):  
Pier Paolo Miglietta ◽  
Federica De Leo ◽  
Benedetta Coluccia ◽  
Yari Vecchio ◽  
Fabian Capitanio
Keyword(s):  
Water Availability ◽  
Dairy Products ◽  
Virtual Water ◽  
Resource Depletion ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Dairy Production ◽  
Water Sustainability ◽  
Freshwater Resource ◽  
Total Turnover ◽  
Protected Designations Of Origin

Dairy products play a significant role in the human diet, but they are often associated with high freshwater resource depletion. In Italy, the dairy sector represents more than 12% of the total turnover of the agri-food sector. Trentino Alto Adige is the first Italian region in terms of number of dairy farms, but it does not register a quantitatively consistent dairy production. Notwithstanding, it is characterized mostly by small-scale farms whose strengths are the Protected Designations of Origin and typical mountain productions. The present study aims at: (i) accounting for the virtual water VW of the main dairy products (milk, butter and cheese) produced in Trentino Alto Adige; (ii) estimating the renewable water resources based on the water flow assessment of the study area; (iii) assessing water sustainability comparing the virtual water consumption of the dairy sector at a regional level to the water availability. The findings show that the consumptive virtual water related to dairy production represents about 1% of the water availability in Trentino Alto Adige. Italy’s domestic dairy production is expanding to meet the growing demand, but the expansion of dairy farming in water-stressed regions should be avoided, preferring instead suitable mountain regions where small-scale farms represent a lively entrepreneurial substrate.

scholarly journals Afforestation of Degraded Croplands as a Water-Saving Option in Irrigated Region of the Aral Sea Basin

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 1433
Author(s):  
Navneet Kumar ◽  
Asia Khamzina ◽  
Patrick Knöfel ◽  
John P. A. Lamers ◽  
Bernhard Tischbein
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Water Balance ◽  
Water Supply ◽  
Water Availability ◽  
Irrigation Water ◽  
Water Saving ◽  
Aral Sea ◽  
Water Balance Components ◽  
Study Region ◽  
Trade Offs

Climate change is likely to decrease surface water availability in Central Asia, thereby necessitating land use adaptations in irrigated regions. The introduction of trees to marginally productive croplands with shallow groundwater was suggested for irrigation water-saving and improving the land’s productivity. Considering the possible trade-offs with water availability in large-scale afforestation, our study predicted the impacts on water balance components in the lower reaches of the Amudarya River to facilitate afforestation planning using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). The land-use scenarios used for modeling analysis considered the afforestation of 62% and 100% of marginally productive croplands under average and low irrigation water supply identified from historical land-use maps. The results indicate a dramatic decrease in the examined water balance components in all afforestation scenarios based largely on the reduced irrigation demand of trees compared to the main crops. Specifically, replacing current crops (mostly cotton) with trees on all marginal land (approximately 663 km2) in the study region with an average water availability would save 1037 mln m3 of gross irrigation input within the study region and lower the annual drainage discharge by 504 mln m3. These effects have a considerable potential to support irrigation water management and enhance drainage functions in adapting to future water supply limitations.

Economic Diversification, Homogeneity of Interests, and the Impartiality of Government

2021 ◽  
pp. 377-398
Author(s):  
Petrus Olander
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Institutional Reform ◽  
Scholarly Work ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Economic Diversification ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Government Institutions ◽  
Competing Interests ◽  
Sectoral Structure ◽  
Government Power

Can economic diversification constrain elites from shaping government institutions to their own advantage? This chapter reviews scholarly work that suggests it can. Elites frequently use government institutions to cement their position and enrich themselves at the expense of others, but to overcome opposition to their own advancement they must form coalitions. The ability to form coalitions is conditioned by the compatibility of underlying interests; the more diverse the economy, the less cohesive the underlying interests are, making it harder for the elites to form collusive coalitions. This chapter outlines political theory and recent research on the role played by diverse and competing interests in shaping the exercise of government power, democratization, and institutional reform. Considering the sectoral structure of the economy can help us better understand ongoing economic and political processes such as reconcentration of economic activities, the position of transient labor, and state-led efforts for economic diversification.

scholarly journals Advancing Relevance, Credibility, Legitimacy, and Effectiveness as a Heuristic for Local-Parallel Scenarios

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas A. Cradock-Henry ◽  
Bob Frame
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Scenario Development ◽  
Personal Time ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Economic Trends ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Competing Priorities

The parallel scenario process provides a framework for developing plausible scenarios of future conditions. Combining greenhouse gas emissions, social and economic trends, and policy responses, it enables researchers and policy makers to consider global-scale interactions, impacts and implications of climate change. Increasingly, researchers are developing extended scenarios, based on this framework, and incorporating them into adaptation planning and decision-making processes at the local level. To enable the identification of possible impacts and assess vulnerability, these local-parallel scenarios must successfully accommodate diverse knowledge systems, multiple values, and competing priorities including both “top down” modeling and “bottom-up” participatory processes. They must link across scales, to account for the ways in which global changes affect and influence decision-making in local places. Due to the growing use of scenarios, there is value in assessing these developments using criteria or, more specifically, heuristics that may be implicitly acknowledged rather than formally monitored and evaluated. In this Perspective, we reflect on various contributions regarding the value of heuristics and propose the adoption of current definitions for Relevance, Credibility, and Legitimacy for guiding local scenario development as the most useful as well as using Effectiveness for evaluation purposes. We summarize the internal trade-offs (personal time, clarity-complexity, speed-quality, push-pull) and the external stressors (equity and the role of science in society) that influence the extent to which heuristics are used as “rules of thumb,” rather than formal assessment. These heuristics may help refine the process of extending the parallel scenario framework to the local and enable cross-case comparisons.

scholarly journals Increased water use efficiency and water productivity of arabidopsis by abscisic acid receptors from Populus canescens

2019 ◽  
Vol 124 (4) ◽  
pp. 581-589 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Papacek ◽  
Alexander Christmann ◽  
Erwin Grill
Keyword(s):  
Abscisic Acid ◽  
Water Use Efficiency ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Enhanced Expression ◽  
Physiological Analysis ◽  
Specific Receptors ◽  
Use Efficiency ◽  
Aba Receptors

Abstract Background and Aims Water deficit is the single most important factor limiting plant productivity in the field. Poplar is a crop used for second-generation bioenergy production that can be cultivated on marginal land without competing for land use in food production. Poplar has a high demand for water, which makes improving its water use efficiency (WUE) an attractive goal. Recently, we showed that enhanced expression of specific receptors of arabidopsis for the phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) can improve WUE in arabidopsis and water productivity, i.e. more biomass is formed per unit of water over time. In this study, we examined whether ABA receptors from poplar can enhance WUE and water productivity in arabidopsis. Methods ABA receptors from poplar were stably introduced into arabidopsis for analysis of their effect on water use efficiency. Physiological analysis included growth assessment and gas exchange measurements. Key Results The data presented here are in agreement with the functionality of poplar ABA receptors in arabidopsis, which led to ABA-hypersensitive seed germination and root growth. In addition, arabidopsis lines expressing poplar RCAR10, but not RCAR9, showed increased WUE by up to 26 % compared with the wild type with few trade-offs in growth that also resulted in higher water productivity during drought. The improved WUE was mediated by reduced stomatal conductance, a steeper CO2 gradient at the leaf boundary and sustained photosynthesis resulting in an increased intrinsic WUE (iWUE). Conclusions The analysis is a case study supporting the use of poplar ABA receptors for improving WUE and showing the feasibility of using a heterologous expression strategy for generating plants with improved water productivity.

Do generalisations of global trade-offs in plant design apply to an Australian sclerophyllous flora?

2010 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trevor L. Meers ◽  
Tina L. Bell ◽  
Neal J. Enright ◽  
Sabine Kasel
Keyword(s):  
Functional Groups ◽  
Arbuscular Mycorrhizal ◽  
Functional Trait ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Plant Design ◽  
Annual Life Cycle ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Global Trends ◽  
Ant Dispersal ◽  
Trade Offs

Functional-trait analysis at a global scale has found evidence for evolutionary specialisation of species into those designed to acquire resources rapidly and those designed to conserve resources. The present study aimed to determine whether such a trade-off exists in sclerophyllous vegetation in Australia. We measured 10 traits for 167 plant species. The first axis of a principal components analysis represented a trade-off between resource acquisition and resource conservation, consistent with global trends. Common traits shared by resource-conservative species included low specific leaf area (SLA), resprouting, ant-dispersal, and ericoid mycorrhizal and ectomycorrhizal associations. These attributes were typical of 3 of 13 functional groups produced by cluster analysis (eucalypts, ant-dispersed shrubs, ericoid heaths) that had the lowest SLA, and were almost exclusively native shrubs and trees. Resource-acquisitive species had high SLA, a small stature, annual life cycle, arbuscular mycorrhizal or non-mycorrhizal associations, and small, wind-dispersed seeds. These attributes are similar to those identified for species with a ruderal strategy and were typical of the functional groups representing wind-dispersed composites, AM annuals and non-mycorrhizal annuals that had the highest SLA and were dominated by introduced species. Comparable trait associations have been found in other studies, suggesting that similar processes drive plant design at a global scale. However, there were some patterns specific to the flora studied that were attributable to adaptations to suit the nutrient-poor soils and arid conditions typical of the Australian environment.

GEPIC – modelling wheat yield and crop water productivity with high resolution on a global scale

2007 ◽  
Vol 94 (2) ◽  
pp. 478-493 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junguo Liu ◽  
Jimmy R. Williams ◽  
Alexander J.B. Zehnder ◽  
Hong Yang
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Wheat Yield ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Crop Water ◽  
Crop Water Productivity

scholarly journals Can the Nile Generate Output, Income and Employment in Egypt? A Mixed Multiplier Analysis

New Medit ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Water Availability ◽  
Agricultural Development ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Winter Season ◽  
Agricultural Activities ◽  
Multiplier Analysis ◽  
Production Factors ◽  
Nile Water ◽  
Multiplier Effects ◽  
High Output

Nile water availability is one of the major constraints for agricultural development in Egypt. This study conducts a mixed multiplier analysis, under water and land constraints, to identify the seasonal agricultural activities with high output and income multipliers. It uses a 2008/09 SAM for Egypt with detailed representation for Nile-related production factors employed by agricultural activities across irrigation seasons. The results demonstrate the significance of addressing Nile water constraints not only for agriculture, but also for the overall economy. Policies that enhance water productivity, particularly in winter season, generate outstanding increases in output, income, and employment through sizable multiplier effects.

scholarly journals Potential of the economic valuation of soil-based ecosystem services to inform sustainable soil management and policy

PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e8749
Author(s):  
Bartosz Bartkowski ◽  
Stephan Bartke ◽  
Katharina Helming ◽  
Carsten Paul ◽  
Anja-Kristina Techen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Economic Valuation ◽  
Soil Management ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Management Policy ◽  
Valuation Theory ◽  
Valuation Methods ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Sustainable Soil Management

The concept of ecosystem services, especially in combination with economic valuation, can illuminate trade-offs involved in soil management, policy and governance, and thus support decision making. In this paper, we investigate and highlight the potential and limitations of the economic valuation of soil-based ecosystem services to inform sustainable soil management and policy. We formulate a definition of soil-based ecosystem services as basis for conducting a review of existing soil valuation studies with a focus on the inclusion of ecosystem services and the choice of valuation methods. We find that, so far, the economic valuation of soil-based ecosystem services has covered only a small number of such services and most studies have employed cost-based methods rather than state-of-the-art preference-based valuation methods, even though the latter would better acknowledge the public good character of soil related services. Therefore, the relevance of existing valuation studies for political processes is low. Broadening the spectrum of analyzed ecosystem services as well as using preference-based methods would likely increase the informational quality and policy relevance of valuation results. We point out options for improvement based on recent advances in economic valuation theory and practice. We conclude by investigating the specific roles economic valuation results can play in different phases of the policy-making process, and the specific requirements for its usefulness in this context.

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