Effects of Long-Term Variability on Water Resources Management Along the Boteti River in Botswana

2019 ◽  
pp. 25-47
Author(s):  
Dominic Mazvimavi ◽  
Moseki R. Motsholapheko
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Resources Management ◽  
Aquatic Plants ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Okavango Delta ◽  
Crop Cultivation ◽  
Resources Management ◽  
Water Flows ◽  
Downstream Section

This chapter examines how the availability and non-availability of river flows has affected benefits realized by communities residing along the Boteti River in Botswana. The Boteti River, which is about 350 km long, derives all its flows from outflows of the Okavango Delta and then discharges into the Makgadikgadi Pans. Peak outflows from the delta occur during the dry season, June to October, and during wet years such as from 1974 to 1982, water flows along the whole river from the delta to the Makgadikgadi Pans. Since 1991, outflows from the delta have only covered about 50 km, with the rest of the river being dry. There has been lack of flows on the downstream section in some years (e.g., 1929-39, 1941-47). Communities residing along the 50 km stretch that is annually flooded benefit from the river through livestock watering, flood recession crop cultivation, fishing, and harvesting of aquatic plants for food and construction. These benefits were not realized by those residing along the rest of the 300 km stretch that was not receiving flows from the delta during the 1991-2008 period.

Modèle de simulation de la gestion hydrologique

1988 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 206-215
Author(s):  
J. Llamas ◽  
R. Fernandez ◽  
A. Galvache
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Resources Management ◽  
Flood Control ◽  
Optimal Management ◽  
Hydro Power ◽  
Resources Management ◽  
Management Procedures ◽  
Historical Management ◽  
Different Levels

In this article, a general methodology for simulation of water resources management is suggested. The research has been conducted in three different levels: a deep analysis of the historical management procedures, the development of some alternative ways to optimal management, and the establishment of planning criteria at short, middle, and long term. The main constraints, divided into three categories according to the severity of probable losses, have been defined as a function of several expected goals: hydro power, flood control, recreational activities, etc. The model was applied with excellent results to the upper region of the St. François river basin (Québec, Canada). Key words: simulation, resources management, mathematical models, optimization.

Effects of Interactions Between Society and Environment on Policy in Water Resources Management: Exploring Scenarios of Natural and Human-Induced Shocks

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iolanda Borzì ◽  
Murugesu Sivapalan ◽  
Brunella Bonaccorso ◽  
Alberto Viglione
Keyword(s):  
Resource Management ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Water Resource ◽  
Water Resources Management ◽  
Water Resource Management ◽  
Water Dynamics ◽  
Resources Management ◽  
Sustainable Water Resources Management

<p>In many regions of the world, water supply is threatened by natural hazards such as floods and droughts, as well as by shocks induced by anthropogenic changes to water use. Lack of anticipation and/or preparation for these events can lead to delayed or insufficient responses to sudden or developing water crises, that sometimes can produce irrecoverable damage to the environment. In this work, a socio-hydrological approach to sustainable water resources management of the Alcantara River Basin in Sicily (Italy) is adopted that explicitly takes into account feedbacks between the natural and the human components that might arise from shocks to the water management system, including possible evolution of policy responses. The Alcantara River Basin is a groundwater-fed catchment which supplies many villages on the Ionian coast up to Messina city, mainly through the Alcantara aqueduct, but also agricultural areas and industries, including hydropower plants. It also hosts the Alcantara Fluvial Park, an important natural reserve. The Alcantara aqueduct also supplied the city of Messina during a temporary failure of its main aqueduct caused by a landslide in October 2015. The main purpose of the work is to use the socio-hydrological model as a “screening tool” to frame water resource management issues in a broad way and provide guidance to the community to identify aspects of societal behavior that need to evolve towards sustainable water resource management in order to withstand future shocks. This has been done by scenario simulations in conditions of a natural shock affecting the system (i.e. drought) and of a human-induced one (i.e. increase in groundwater extraction). Sensitivity analysis of the model social parameters revealed how the value attributed by the society to the environment and water resources use, its capacity to remember previous water crises and, in particular, its previous responses to shocks, can affect the system in a way that can produce paradoxical effects. Results show how a rapid decision-making strategy that may work in the short term, can be counter-productive when viewed over the long term and how a do-nothing decision during a water crisis could be highly damaging to the environment. For the above-mentioned reasons, this socio-hydrological approach can be considered as a useful tool to understand human-water dynamics and to support decision-makers in water resource management policies with a broad and long-term perspective.</p>

scholarly journals Changes in Dry-Season Water Availability and Attributions in the Yellow River Basin, China

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fubo Zhao ◽  
Shuai Ma ◽  
Yiping Wu
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Resources Management ◽  
Water Availability ◽  
Yellow River ◽  
Yellow River Basin ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
The Yellow River ◽  
Water Fluxes ◽  
Resources Management ◽  
The Yellow River Basin

Global warming will significantly change patterns of precipitation (P) and evapotranspiration (E) and thus the surface water availability (P minus E, P–E). Changes in P–E will challenge freshwater supply, food security, and sustainability of the ecosystems. Therefore, understanding the spatiotemporal change in P–E and its drivers is key for water resources management. Here, we quantified the changes in water availability during the driest month of the year and identified its drivers in the Yellow River Basin (YRB), China, during 1982–2016. Our results showed that 89.6% of the YRB showed declining dry-season water availability in 2000–2016 compared with 1982–1999, although the total dry-season water resources (defined as the proportion of the sum of monthly P–E to the P) remained nearly unchanged due to the increased P. Changes in seasonal P and E contributed to 87.0 and 99.0% declines in dry-season water availability, respectively, demonstrating the key role of E in net seasonal water fluxes. Increased air temperature (41.8%), vegetation greening (30.8%), and vapor pressure deficit (19.2%) were the main factors driving changes in E in the YRB during the study period. Our study highlighted a drier dry season in the YRB during 1982–2016 and illustrated that climate and vegetation changes played important roles in driving changes in dry-season water availability. Seasonal water fluxes must be considered in future water resources management in the YRB, especially in the context of climate warming and revegetation programs.

Stakeholders’ perceptions on water resources management in the Okavango Delta, Botswana

2019 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 283-296
Author(s):  
Reniko Gondo ◽  
Oluwatoyin Dare Kolawole ◽  
Joseph E. Mbaiwa ◽  
Moseki R. Motsholapheko
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Resources Management ◽  
Okavango Delta ◽  
Resources Management

Sustainable Water Resources Management: Issues and Principles of Water Governance in the Okavango Delta, Botswana

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 198-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reniko Gondo ◽  
Oluwatoyin D. Kolawole
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Resources Management ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Okavango Delta ◽  
Resources Management ◽  
Sustainable Water Resources Management ◽  
Sustainable Water Resources

In the recent times, there is an increased awareness about the importance of water management as population growth, new technologies, increased food consumption, land use and economic activities, among others, continue to exacerbate competition among water users in their bid to access natural resources. Thus, water governance encompasses the allocation and management of aquatic resources within the context of a multilayered, competing demand for water resources. Employing a critical review of relevant literature and guided by the legal pluralism conceptual framework and situated within the Dublin water management principles, this article examines key principles and pertinent issues in sustainable water resources management in the Okavango Delta, Botswana; the delta is widely recognized as a wetland of international significance. Findings reveal that demographic and socio-economic factors such as age, education, religion, culture, gender and income play significant roles in household water management decision making. The results also show that although the water legislative environment in Botswana is characterized by outdated Water Acts, efforts and commitment from the government are underway to revise these Acts. This article argues that whilst water research scholars and policymakers continue to make advocacy for water governance at different levels, the local-level water governance needs to be accorded more priority in rural areas in Botswana.

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