scholarly journals Integrated Policy Solutions for Water Scarcity in Agricultural Communities of the American Southwest

Systems ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 26
Author(s):  
Saeed P. Langarudi ◽  
Connie M. Maxwell ◽  
Alexander G. Fernald
Keyword(s):  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
American Southwest ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Agricultural Communities ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
Agricultural Community ◽  
Integrated Policy ◽  
Future Viability ◽  
Policy Solutions

The conventional approach of policy interventions in water management that focus on the portions of the system that directly relate to water often lead to unintended consequences that potentially exacerbate water scarcity issues and present challenges to the future viability of many rural agricultural communities. This paper deploys a system dynamics model to illustrate how expanding the policy space of hydrology models to include socioeconomic feedbacks could address these challenges. In this regard, policies that can potentially mitigate general water scarcity in a region of the American Southwest in southern New Mexico are examined. We selected and tested policies with the potential to diminish water scarcity without compromising the system’s economic performance. These policies included supporting choices that reduce or limit the expansion of water-intensive crops, promoting workforce participation, encouraging investment in capital, and regulating land use change processes. The simulation results, after the proposed boundary expansion, unveiled intervention options not commonly exercised by water decision-makers, bolstering the argument that integrated approaches to water research that include socioeconomic feedbacks are crucial for the study of agricultural community resilience.

Water scarcity and sustainability in the arid area of North America: Insights gained from a cross border perspective

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandro Yáñez-Arancibia ◽  
John W. Day
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
North America ◽  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Economic Change ◽  
American Southwest ◽  
Arid Area ◽  
Border Region ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Sharp Focus ◽  
The Face

The arid border region that encompasses the American Southwest and the Mexican northwest is an area where the nexus of water scarcity and climate change in the face of growing human demands for water, emerging energy scarcity, and economic change comes into sharp focus.

A Symmetry Analysis of Design Structure: 1,000 Years of Continuity and Change in Puebloan Ceramic Design

2010 ◽  
Vol 75 (4) ◽  
pp. 743-772 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorothy K. Washburn ◽  
Donald W. Crowe ◽  
Richard V.N. Ahlstrom
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Structure Design ◽  
American Southwest ◽  
Agricultural Communities ◽  
Continuity And Change ◽  
15Th Century ◽  
Design Structure ◽  
Settlement Type ◽  
Ceramic Design

This paper postulates that cultural entities with long term structural integrity are characterized by symmetrical relationships between and among the constituent sectors of society. We demonstrate how such social relationships are embedded in the symmetrical arrangements of motifs in geometric design. We test this premise with an analysis of 1000 years of ceramic design from the northern American Southwest, AD 600-1600, with a description of the continuities and changes in the plane pattern symmetries that structure design. Two major points of change in symmetry use at c. AD 900 and AD 1300 correlate with changes in settlement type from pithouses to unit pueblos and from unit pueblos to multi-storied plaza oriented pueblos that accompanied adjustments to changes in environmental conditions. We propose that in the American Southwest the predominant use of bifold symmetry is a structural metaphor for the reciprocal social relationships basic to the organization of small puebloan agricultural communities and that the changes in these symmetries reflect the changing integration of the household into an increasingly complex social system. This interpretation of the meaning of design structure is derived from cosmological principles embedded in 20th century ritual songs of the Hopi, descendents of the prehistoric puebloans, as well as depicted in images in their 15th century kiva wall murals. We present this interpretation of the sequence of pueblo development in the American Southwest in terms of the changing symmetrical nature of the social relationships that integrated the agricultural communities as an example of the insights possible with this new approach to design analysis.

scholarly journals Subdivision of joint tenure in agricultural communities: customary land rights management in Slovenia

2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (04) ◽  
pp. 508-544
Author(s):  
Marjan Čeh ◽  
Helena Žužel ◽  
Simon Mansutti
Keyword(s):  
Real Estate ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Agricultural Communities ◽  
Agricultural Community ◽  
Agrarian Communities ◽  
Customary Rights ◽  
Land Subdivision ◽  
The Common ◽  
Customary Land ◽  
The Individual

This paper presents the process of real estate reallocation as a mass cadastral subdivision process of agrarian communities’ customary rights. The agricultural communities have existed for centuries and have been jointly owning and using the common land. Such gatherings were developed mainly due to the unique requirements deriving from land use and relief characteristics, such as joint forest management on mountain slopes. The main objective of this research has been to analyse the process of real estate subdivision, which has its legal background in Slovenian legislation. In this paper, the process of cadastral subdivision of land owned by agricultural communities is presented as a mass cadastral land subdivision process: from preparatory work to the new geometric structure of the common land. The cadastral, organisational, and engineering role of the chartered surveying engineer and the surveying company is examined. An aim of the paper is, inter alia, to develop a conceptual model of the process that will serve as a basis for optimisation, for a more just and more efficient distribution of assets among community members. The course of the individual steps of the community established land subdivision is shown with unified modelling language (UML) activity diagrams. As a case study, we have considered the subdivision of the property of the agricultural community of Zgornja Sorica in Slovenia.

scholarly journals Integrating equality in evaluation of water access for irrigation in an Andean community

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-58
Author(s):  
Lina G. Terrazas V. ◽  
◽  
Laura Forni ◽  
Marisa Escobar A. ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Demand ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Scenarios ◽  
Water Access ◽  
Agricultural Communities ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
Poverty And Inequality ◽  
Access To Water ◽  
Demand Coverage ◽  
Andean Community

Development statistics for Bolivia reflect considerable inequalities among people, for instance, poverty rates are much higher in rural agricultural communities, where living conditions depend to a great extent on access to water resources. Many policy interventions ignore the principle of equality, and in some cases even exacerbate differences. In this paper, we examine water access for irrigation in an Andean community, integrating a perspective of equality based on data disaggregation. By analyzing the available data, we identified that tenure of rights and distribution priority are the main criteria that control water access in the community. Based on these criteria, water demand was disaggregated into 28 groups and the system was simulated using the Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) software, which allowed us to assess water demand coverage. Some groups receive less than 20% of their water demand, while others receive almost 100%. These inequalities are hidden in an aggregated model, which shows that the entire system never receives less than 60% of water demand. An evaluation of future climate change scenarios showed that water demand coverage could decline a further 15% in the dry season. The implementation of planned strategies, however, could counteract that decline by increasing supply and storage facilities; the model showed that implementing these strategies could raise water demand coverage up to 80% for some groups; however, others still face shortages. This study highlights methods and tools in planning that can strengthen existing equality approaches, and increase the efficiency in reducing poverty and inequality through water management.

scholarly journals Interbasin water transfer in a changing world: A new conceptual model

2021 ◽  
pp. 030913332110650
Author(s):  
Edward Rollason ◽  
Pammi Sinha ◽  
Louise J Bracken
Keyword(s):  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Conceptual Models ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Temporal Distribution ◽  
Water Transfer ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Global Issue ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Interbasin Water Transfer ◽  
Water Scarce

Water scarcity is a global issue, affecting in excess of four billion people. Interbasin Water Transfer (IBWT) is an established method for increasing water supply by transferring excess water from one catchment to another, water-scarce catchment. The implementation of IBWT peaked in the 1980s and was accompanied by a robust academic debate of its impacts. A recent resurgence in the popularity of IBWT, and particularly the promotion of mega-scale schemes, warrants revisiting this technology. This paper provides an updated review, building on previously published work, but also incorporates learning from schemes developed since the 1980s. We examine the spatial and temporal distribution of schemes and their drivers, review the arguments for and against the implementation of IBWT schemes and examine conceptual models for assessing IBWT schemes. Our analysis suggests that IBWT is growing in popularity as a supply-side solution for water scarcity and is likely to represent a key tool for water managers into the future. However, we argue that IBWT cannot continue to be delivered through current approaches, which prioritise water-centric policies and practices at the expense of social and environmental concerns. We critically examine the Socio-Ecological Systems and Water-Energy-Food (WEF) Nexus models as new conceptual models for conceptualising and assessing IBWT. We conclude that neither model offers a comprehensive solution. Instead, we propose an enhanced WEF model (eWEF) to facilitate a more holistic assessment of how these mega-scale engineering interventions are integrated into water management strategies. The proposed model will help water managers, decision-makers, IBWT funders and communities create more sustainable IBWT schemes.

scholarly journals Towards a Circular Economy: Using Stakeholder Subjectivity to Identify Priorities, Consensus, and Conflict in the Irish EPS/XPS Market

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (23) ◽  
pp. 6834
Author(s):  
Jeffrey E Black ◽  
Kathrin Kopke ◽  
Cathal O’Mahony
Keyword(s):  
Circular Economy ◽  
Q Methodology ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Expanded Polystyrene ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Marine Litter ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
Single Use ◽  
Industry Policy

In European Seas, plastic litter from fishing activities, river transport, and poor waste management is one of the fastest growing threats to the health of the marine environment. Extruded polystyrene (XPS) and expanded polystyrene (EPS), specifically, have become some of the most prominent types of marine litter found around Europe’s coastlines. To combat this problem, the European Commission has ratified a series of regulations and policies, including the Single-Use Plastics Directive and the EU Action Plan for the Circular Economy. However, in order to ensure that the benefits of such regulations and policies are realized at a scale that can adequately address the scope of the problem, decision-makers will need to integrate the opinions, values, and priorities of relevant stakeholders who operate across the EPS/XPS product lifecycle. In this study, we apply a 35-statement Q-methodology to identify the priorities of stakeholders as they relate to the Irish EPS/XPS market and the wider societal transition to a circular economy. Based on the responses of nineteen individuals representing industry, policy-makers, and community leaders, we identified three distinct perspectives: System Overhaul; Incremental Upgrade; and Market Innovation. The results demonstrate that the type and format of policy interventions linked to Ireland’s EPS/XPS circular economy are heavily contested, which presents significant challenges for driving the debate forward. These results provide valuable information on viewpoints that can be used by different stakeholders at national and EU levels to address areas of conflict, ultimately fostering the development of more effective, broadly supported co-developed policies.

scholarly journals Group multicriteria model for allocating resources to combat drought in the Brazilian semi-arid region

Water Policy ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 1145-1160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Edson Espíndola Gonçalo ◽  
Danielle Costa Morais
Keyword(s):  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Arid Region ◽  
Rio Grande ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
The Public ◽  
The World ◽  
Multicriteria Model ◽  
Semi Arid Region ◽  
Semi Arid ◽  
Made In

AbstractThe world is facing a growing water scarcity problem in the most diverse regions. The Rio Grande do Norte (RN), a Brazilian semi-arid region, is facing its severest drought in the last 100 years. Given this context, managing water resources and combating the effects of the drought have become even more important. Decisions made in this context may involve multiple criteria established by more than one decision-maker. To tackle this issue, a multicriteria model for group decisions is proposed in order to rank the municipalities of the region and thus guide the public administration's efforts in tackling the drought and mitigating its effects. The applicability of the model is exemplified by studying the Apodi-Mossoró river basin, for which the PROMETHEE GDSS method was selected and the preferences of three decision-makers were calculated.

scholarly journals Innovation and institutions from the bottom up: an introduction

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 975-1001 ◽  
Author(s):  
DAVID A. HARPER
Keyword(s):  
New Combination ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Institutional Rules ◽  
Specific Policy ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
Composition And Structure ◽  
Constituent Elements ◽  
Innovation Processes ◽  
Policy Solutions

AbstractThis introduction canvasses broad themes relating to the nexus of innovation and institutions. It first examines the notion of a “new combination” – a core analytical concept in economic theories of innovation and explanations of emergent novelty through bottom-up processes. Following Schumpeter, different theorists have made different claims about the composition and structure of new combinations. Possible constituent elements include factors of production, capital goods, routines, information, ideas, technologies, and property rights. The article then looks synoptically at the institutional dimensions of innovation from alternative perspectives that focus upon different kinds of institutional rules and policy solutions to innovation problems. Neoclassical and evolutionary approaches tend to emphasize specific policy interventions in markets to channel behavior toward particular desired outcomes, whereas institutional and Austrian approaches tend to focus upon general institutional rules (e.g. property and contract) that frame markets and innovation processes. Finally, this article summarizes the papers in the special issue.

scholarly journals Experience is Key: Examining the Relative Importance of Factors Influencing Individuals’ Water Conservation

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1870 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derrick Holland ◽  
Kristina Janét ◽  
Asheley Landrum
Keyword(s):  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Message Framing ◽  
Policy Decision ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Individual Factors ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Attitudes And Behaviors ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Resource Managers

Conservation of our global natural resources is one of the most pressing concerns facing our international society. One of these crucial resources is water. The current study sought to understand how individual factors such as experience with water scarcity, message framing, and ideology can impact perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors related to water conservation. Through the utilization of an online experiment, the current findings suggest that higher levels of experience with water scarcity predict more concern, more positive credibility perceptions of water conservation messages, and a higher likelihood of conserving water in the future. Message framing, specifically gain frames, predicted more concern and more positive perceptions of message credibility, and ideology only predicted perceptions of message credibility. Implications for global communities, resource managers, and policy decision-makers are discussed.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document