scholarly journals Paradigms for water allocation in river basins: a society-science-practice perspective from Southern Africa

Water Policy ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 637-649 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Chomba ◽  
T. Hill ◽  
B. A. Nkhata ◽  
J. J. Förster
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Water Allocation ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Integrated Water Resources Management ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Paradigm Shifts ◽  
Science Practice ◽  
Water Users ◽  
Basin Scale

This paper seeks to complement ongoing discussions around water allocation by offering an analytic framework for examining the evolution of paradigms for water allocation in river basins. It traces this evolution from the hydraulic paradigm through to Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and the current water security paradigm. Using a society-science-practice interaction perspective, the paper draws attention to the governance processes of water allocation that underlie these paradigms using examples from river basins in southern Africa. It is argued that the process of allocating water resources is often influenced by societal priorities and values that do not necessarily result in maintaining ecosystem health and integrity. The efficacy of water allocation depends on the extent to which implementation takes into account the socio-political dynamics associated with collective action involving multiple water users. While paradigm shifts provide windows of opportunity for strengthening legislation, the mere adoption of paradigms should not be taken as a panacea for addressing challenges associated with water allocation in river basins. This is especially relevant for several countries in southern Africa that are undertaking water reforms with the view of strengthening allocation of water resources at basin scale.

scholarly journals Assessment of Integrated Water Resources Management Practice in Yatta Canal, Machakos District, Kenya

2008 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Lawrence N. Simitu ◽  
Patts M.A. Odira
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Water Resources Management ◽  
Water Allocation ◽  
Management Practice ◽  
Integrated Water Resources Management ◽  
Base Flow ◽  
Resources Management ◽  
Water Users

Yatta Canal is situated in Yatta division, Machakos district about 100 km from Nairobi along Thika- Garissa road. It is about 60 Km long and supplies water for domestic, livestock and irrigation use. Over the years, the water supply has been unreliable especially during dry season leading to conflicts between upstream and downstream consumers. Sometimes the Government has been forced to intervene to restore order. The study aimed at assessing the use of Yatta canal, based on the principles of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) which stipulates efficient use of water and involvement of all stakeholders in decision making for sustainability. Based on this concept, it was established that the current water demand outstrips supply and that there is inefficient water use especially for irrigation. Waterallocation process favours landowners, and stakeholders are not fully involved in planning, management and development. Further, women’s participation in decision-making is minimal. There is no environmental voice during water allocation and thus the reserve/ base flow in the canal has not been maintained. This means that IWRM concept has not been practiced and this has resulted to conflict among various water users. As Yatta canal gets water from Thika river, there is need to establish Thika river basin water users association where stakeholders can influence decisions on water allocation and management. This will create a forum to discuss efficient water use at all levels and promote internal policing to ensure fair allocation, thus minimizing conflicts and promoting the IWRM concept.

Integrated water resources management and infrastructure planning for water security in Southern Africa

2017 ◽  
Vol 100 ◽  
pp. 1-2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Mapani ◽  
Lapologang Magole ◽  
Hodson Makurira ◽  
Maideyi Meck ◽  
Theresa Mkandawire ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Resources Management ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Integrated Water Resources Management ◽  
Infrastructure Planning ◽  
Resources Management

scholarly journals Analysis of present IWRM in the Upper Brahmaputra and the Upper Danube River Basins

2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
W.-A. Flügel ◽  
A. Bartosch
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Sustainable Management ◽  
Integrated Water Resources Management ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
Danube River ◽  
Engineering Sciences ◽  
Basin Scale ◽  
Water Management Planning

Abstract. Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is a process which strives towards the sustainable management of water resources in river basins. The approach integrates insights and knowledge from various scientific disciplines comprising natural, socio-economic, and engineering sciences. These three pillars of sustainability are important components of this approach integrating the environmental, economic and social dimension. In the ideal IWRM case planning is based on the river basin scale and therefore is comparatively discussed herein for the two twinning BRAHMATWINN river basins, i.e. the Upper Danube River Basin (UDRB) in Europe and the Upper Brahmaputra River Basin (UBRB) in South Asia. In this chapter major challenges for the implementation of the IWRM process towards a sustainable management of water resources in the two UDRB and UBRB twinning river basins of the BRAHMATWINN project are analysed. The study revealed that in the UDRB the IWRM approach is already part of water management planning and the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) is a good example in this regard. Contrary in the UBRB the implementation of IWRM is just at the beginning phase, only recently is being discussed in the riparian states but has not been implemented in any way so far on the basin scale.

scholarly journals An Optimal Water Resource Allocation Mechanism Based on Ex-Post Verification and Reward in Huangbai River

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 1588
Author(s):  
Hui Zhang ◽  
Jiaying Li
Keyword(s):  
Resource Allocation ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Resource ◽  
Water Allocation ◽  
Allocation Rule ◽  
Allocation Efficiency ◽  
Water Resource Allocation ◽  
Water Users ◽  
Ex Post ◽  
Demand Information

Under the current administrative system (AS) in China, the water resources governor allocates limited water resources to several users to realize the utility of water resources, leading to a principal–agent problem. The governor (referred to as the principal and she) wishes to maximize water resource allocation efficiency, while each user (referred to as the agent and he) only wishes to maximize his own quota. In addition, the governor cannot know water demand information exactly since it is the water users’ private information. Hence, this paper builds an ex ante improved bankruptcy allocation rule and an ex post verification and reward mechanism to improve water allocation efficiency from the governor’s perspective. In this mechanism, the governor allocates water among users based on an improved bankruptcy rule before the water is used up, verifies users’ information by various approaches, and poses a negative reward to them if their information is found to be false after the water is used up. Then, this mechanism is applied to Huangbai River Basin. Research results show that the improved allocation rule could motivate users to report demand information more honestly, and ex post verification could motivate water users to further report their true information, which, as a result, could improve the water allocation efficiency. Furthermore, this mechanism could be applied to the allocation of other resources.

Integrated Water Resources Management for Sustainable Development in Eastern and Southern Africa Editorial

2021 ◽  
pp. 103068
Author(s):  
Annatoria Chinyama ◽  
Bloodless Rimuka Dzwairo ◽  
Jean-Marc Mwenge Kahinda ◽  
Maurice Monjerezi ◽  
Theresa Mkandawire ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Resources Management ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Integrated Water Resources Management ◽  
Resources Management ◽  
Eastern And Southern Africa

scholarly journals Modeling for transboundary water resources planning and allocation

2008 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 475-509 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Juízo ◽  
R. Lidén
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
System Analysis ◽  
Model Performance ◽  
Yield Model ◽  
Water Users ◽  
Development Scenarios

Abstract. International water resources agreements for transboundary rivers in southern Africa are based on system analysis models for water planning and allocation. The Water Resources Yield Model (WRYM) developed in South Africa has so far been the only model applied in official joint water resources studies aimed to form water-sharing agreements. The continuous discussion around the model performance and growing distress over it being South African, where it was originally developed, while South Africa is one of the interested parties in the process, results in an increased controversy over the system analysis results that are often only meant to guide in selecting the options for water resources management in a given set of scenarios. The objective of this study was therefore to assess the model performance of two other models; WAFLEX and WEAP21 in the Umbeluzi River Basin system where the WRYM was previously applied as part of a Joint River Basin Study. A set of basin development scenarios was equally tested in the three models and the results compared. The results show that the three models all are possible tools for system analysis of river basins in southern Africa, although the structure and complexity of the models are different. The obtained level of satisfaction for specific water users could, however, vary depending on which model was used, which causes uncertainties. The reason for the diverse results is the structurally different ways of describing allocation and prioritization of water in the three models. However, the large degrees of freedom in all system models cause even larger uncertainty in the results since the model user can, intentionally or unintentionally, direct the results to favor certain water users. The conclusion of this study is therefore that the choice of model does not per se affect the decision of best water allocation and infrastructure layout of a shared river basin. The chosen allocation and prioritization principles for the specific river basin and the model user's experience and integrity are more important factors to find the optimal and equitable allocation.

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