Socio-hydrological approach to understand conflict and cooperation dynamics in transboundary rivers

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
jing wei ◽  
Mohammad Ghoreishi ◽  
Felipe Souza ◽  
You Lu ◽  
Fuqiang Tian
Keyword(s):  
Hydrological Regime ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Feedback Loops ◽  
Transboundary Rivers ◽  
Socioeconomic Conditions ◽  
Transboundary River ◽  
Conflict And Cooperation ◽  
Transboundary River Basins ◽  
Transboundary Watersheds

<p>Transboundary river basins share a complex network of environmental, economic, political, social and security interdependencies. Consequently, transboundary river systems are characterized by evolving conflict and cooperation dynamics between riparian states. The current literature on transboundary watersheds does not identify the key feedback loops between interconnected political, cultural, institutional and socioeconomic factors. This work compares sociohydrological models of three transboundary rivers (Nile River, Columbia River, and Lancang-Mekong River) with distinct characteristics in terms of hydrological processes and socioeconomic conditions. Conflict/cooperation dynamics within these three models were found to be driven by hydrological regime, economic benefits, power imbalance and institutional capacity. By comparing the contextual factors of the emergent conflict/cooperation dynamics across these three river basins, our synthesis study aims to present a general framework that explains how conflict/cooperation dynamics emerge from the interaction between human and hydrological systems.</p>

Gestion des bassins hydrographiques transfrontaliers et institutionnalisation

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 54-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucile Medina
Keyword(s):  
El Salvador ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Border Area ◽  
Logical Approach ◽  
Transboundary River ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Shared Management ◽  
Transboundary River Basins ◽  
Transboundary Watersheds ◽  
Del Rio

The Grupo Gestor Binacional de la Cuenca del Río Goascorán (GGBCG) was created in 2007 as an original initiative managing a shared basin in the Eastern part of El Salvador-Honduras boundary. In less than twenty years, the issue of confrontation in this border area has led to a logical approach to reconciliation and cooperation through shared management of the Río Goascorán basin. This article analyzes the ways in which the actors involved understand this cooperation. The initiative that is studied is part of a regional context that is of interest for the management of transboundary river basins. Several elements relevant to the analyzed case are addressed, including the difficulty of cross-border action and shared management, the turnover of the actors involved, and the forms of institutionalization on which the management of transboundary watersheds can be based. Spanish Este artículo se interesa en la conformación del Grupo de Gestión Binacional de la Cuenca del Río Goascorán (GGBCG) en el año 2007, como una iniciativa original de gestión de una cuenca compartida en la parte oriental de la frontera Honduras-El Salvador. El artículo muestra cómo en menos de veinte años, la problemática de enfrentamiento en este sector fronterizo dio lugar a una lógica de acercamiento y de cooperación por medio de la gestión compartida de la cuenca del Río Goascorán. También se analizan las formas en que los actores involucrados conciben la cooperación alrededor de la cuenca. El presente artículo resalta varios elementos de reflexión a través del caso analizado: la dificultad de la acción transfronteriza y de la gestión compartida; la renovación de los actores involucrados; así como las formas de institucionalización sobre las cuales puede basarse la gestión de cuencas transfronterizas que invitan a interrogarse sobre la conformación del GGBCG. French Cet article s'intéresse à la constitution depuis 2007 d'un Grupo Gestor Binacional de la Cuenca del Río Goascorán (GGBCG) comme initiative originale de gestion d'un bassin partagé sur la partie orientale de la frontière Honduras-El Salvador. L'article montre comment, en moins de vingt ans, la problématique d'affrontement sur ce secteur frontalier longtemps en litige a laissé la place à une logique de rapprochement et de coopération par le biais de la gestion partagée du bassin du Río Goascorán. Il analyse également les formes sous lesquelles les acteurs impliqués conçoivent la coopération autour du bassin. L'initiative étudiée s'inscrit dans un contexte régional d'intérêt pour la gestion des bassins hydrographiques transfrontaliers. Cet article met en lumière plusieurs éléments de réflexion à travers le cas analysé : la difficulté de l'action transfrontalière et de la gestion partagée ; le renouvellement des acteurs mobilisés ; les formes d'institutionnalisation sur lesquelles peut reposer la gestion de bassins transfrontaliers, que la création du GGBCG invite à interroger.

scholarly journals Water-Energy Nexus in Shared River Basins: How Hydropower Shapes Cooperation and Coordination

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Phimthong Kouangpalath ◽  
Karen Meijer
Keyword(s):  
River Basins ◽  
Transboundary Rivers ◽  
Transboundary Water ◽  
Energy And Environment ◽  
Transboundary River ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Hydropower Plants ◽  
Water Energy Nexus ◽  
Transboundary River Basins ◽  
The Individual

AbstractThe construction of hydropower plants on transboundary rivers is seldom done with equal benefits to all riparians, and therefore presents coordination and cooperation challenges. Without a supra-national authority in charge of transboundary river basins, coordination between sectors (water, energy and environment) and cooperation between countries largely depends on willingness of the individual nation states and the power relations between these countries. This paper discusses how the interests and relative power positions of actors in transboundary water management shape the outcomes, and what roles are played by River Basin Organisations and foreign investors (especially in hydropower development). These issues are illustrated with examples from the Mekong river in Southeast Asia (Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam), the Euphrates-Tigris (Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Kuwait) and the Çoruh in Turkey and Georgia.

Conflict and Cooperation Analysis on Transboundary River Basins Using News Media Text Mining Approach

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liying Guo ◽  
Fuqiang Tian ◽  
Jing Wei ◽  
You Lu
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Water Conflict ◽  
Transboundary Water ◽  
Transboundary River ◽  
Conflict And Cooperation ◽  
The Past ◽  
Transboundary River Basins ◽  
Water Problems

<p>Transboundary water problems are complex systems, which involve interdependence and interconnectedness between elements, uncertainty and feedbacks between processes, and emergence and adaptation through evolution of the systems. There is nearly no way to formulate transboundary water problems in an equation fitting-one-size-for-all. As nature-human coupled systems, transboundary water problems should consider actual stakeholders and parties in context-specific situations as well as natural conditions.</p><p>News media are good recorders for us to have an insight into the transboundary water problems down-to-earth. Local news media are the first-hand and direct reflections of societal values among the riparian countries and stakeholders, and are documentaries of what is going on in transboundary river basins. International news media are also good sources to know about how people in the world perceive transboundary river issues from the perspectives as “outsiders”. Therefore, text analysis of news articles concerning conflict and cooperation on transboundary river basins can tell us a whole story about the past history and on-going “real” life in the basins.</p><p>To uncover the patterns and dynamics of conflictive and cooperative events on a global scale, people usually read news articles, extract information manually in the past, which is tedious and time-commanding. In the era of big data, we collect large news media datasets automatically, and employ machine learning techniques to do data mining out of those news media data. The aim of our research is to minimize manual labor in searching, filtering, reading and understanding the related news media articles by computer, and to provide potent tools for researchers to retrieve useful information  in the related areas. To validate our methodology, we look Mekong River Basin and Brahmaputra River Basin as case studies into details. To apply our methodology in a global scale, we intend to draw a world map with a timeline to show how water conflict, and cooperation occurs, grows, and transforms. By capturing characteristics of the life cycles of water conflict and cooperation, we aim to throw light upon water management in transboundary river basins, provide some hints for water resources decision-makers, and enhance global water security.</p>

scholarly journals How downstream sub-basins depend on upstream inflows to avoid scarcity: typology and global analysis of transboundary rivers

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hafsa Ahmed Munia ◽  
Joseph Guillaume ◽  
Naho Mirumachi ◽  
Yoshihide Wada ◽  
Kummu Matti
Keyword(s):  
Water Use ◽  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Global Analysis ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Transboundary Rivers ◽  
Transboundary River ◽  
Transboundary River Basins ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Local Water

Abstract. Countries sharing river basins are often dependent upon water originating outside their boundaries; meaning that without that upstream water, water scarcity may occur, with flow-on implications for water use and management. We develop a formalisation of this concept using water stress and shortage as indicators of water scarcity, and including both persistent and occasional scarcity. Dependency occurs if water from upstream is needed to avoid either persistent or occasional water scarcity. This can be diagnosed by comparing different types of water availability on which a sub-basin relies, starting with reliable local runoff (available even in a dry year), followed by less reliable local water (available in the wet year), reliable dry year inflows from possible upstream area, and finally less reliable wet year inflows from upstream. At the same time, possible upstream water withdrawals reduce available water downstream, influencing the latter two water availabilities. In this paper, we further present a typology describing how scarcity and dependency evolve in transboundary river basins, and use this typology for a global analysis of transboundary river basins at the scale of sub-basin areas (SBAs). Four groups of SBAs are identified that experience scarcity and dependency differently depending on their i) location in the basin, and ii) hydro-climate characteristics, specifically the level of reliable support provided by natural upstream inflows. Each group has its own set of transitions in scarcity and dependency category, driven by changes in local water demand and/or upstream withdrawals. Our results show that almost one billion people (33 % of the total transboundary population) live in SBAs that are dependent on upstream water to avoid stress because of their own water use, while 500 million people (17 % of the total transboundary population) live in SBAs dependent on upstream water to avoid possible shortage. The identification of groups and their transitions enables discussion of the pathways SBAs might take in future, potentially contributing to further refined analysis of inter and intrabasin hydro-political power relations and strategic planning of management practices in transboundary basins.

scholarly journals Sharing water and benefits in transboundary river basins

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane Arjoon ◽  
Amaury Tilmant ◽  
Markus Herrmann
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Benefit Sharing ◽  
Sharing Rule ◽  
Efficient Manner ◽  
Transboundary River ◽  
Water Users ◽  
Transboundary River Basins ◽  
Equitable Sharing

Abstract. The equitable sharing of benefits in transboundary river basins is necessary to solve disputes among riparian countries and to reach a consensus on basin-wide development and management activities. Benefit sharing arrangements must be collaboratively developed to be perceived not only as efficient, but also as equitable in order to be considered acceptable to all riparian countries. The current literature mainly describes what is meant by the term benefit sharing in the the context of transboundary river basins and discusses this from a conceptual point of view, but falls short of providing practical, institutional arrangements that ensure maximum economic welfare as well as collaboratively developed methods for encouraging the equitable sharing of benefits. In this study we define an institutional arrangement that distributes welfare in a river basin by maximizing the economic benefits of water use and then sharing these benefits in an equitable manner using a method developed through stakeholder involvement.We describe a methodology in which (i) a hydrological model is used to allocate scarce water resources, in an economically efficient manner, to water users in a transboundary basin, (ii) water users are obliged to pay for water, and (iii) the total of these water charges are equitably redistributed as monetary compensation to users in an amount determined through the application of a sharing method developed by stakeholder input, thus based on a stakeholder vision of fairness, using an axiomatic approach. The whole system is overseen by a river basin authority. The methodology is applied to the Eastern Nile River basin as a case study. The described technique not only ensures economic efficiency, but may also lead to more equitable solutions in the sharing of benefits in transboundary river basins because the definition of the sharing rule is not in question, as would be the case if existing methods, such as game theory, were applied, with their inherent definitions of fairness.

Exploring the Politics of Institutional Fragmentation in Transboundary River Basins

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Bréthaut ◽  
Laura Turley
Keyword(s):  
River Basins ◽  
Transboundary Rivers ◽  
Specific Context ◽  
Institutional Fit ◽  
Transboundary River ◽  
Regulatory Frameworks ◽  
Transboundary River Basins ◽  
Fertile Ground ◽  
Independent Decision ◽  
Institutional Fragmentation

Institutional fragmentation has been less addressed by research when considering the specific context of transboundary river basins, settings that are often characterized by multiple regulatory frameworks as well as by a great range of uses and users of the river that intervene at different institutional levels. Considering that such contexts represent fertile ground for reinforced use rivalries and exacerbated power relations, it is key to focus on the very nature and results of such institutional fragmentation; in other words, it is necessary to explore the politics of institutional fragmentation in transboundary rivers. Three main bodies of literature are suggested as insightful perspectives to provide enhanced understanding of such contexts: (a) institutional fit literature: challenges of fits between institutions and ecosystems, (b) legal pluralism: interplay and co-existence of different normative orders, (c) polycentric governance: coordination modalities between different and independent decision-making centers.

scholarly journals Sharing water and benefits in transboundary river basins

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 2135-2150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane Arjoon ◽  
Amaury Tilmant ◽  
Markus Herrmann
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Benefit Sharing ◽  
Sharing Rule ◽  
Efficient Manner ◽  
Transboundary River ◽  
Water Users ◽  
Transboundary River Basins ◽  
Equitable Sharing

Abstract. The equitable sharing of benefits in transboundary river basins is necessary to solve disputes among riparian countries and to reach a consensus on basin-wide development and management activities. Benefit-sharing arrangements must be collaboratively developed to be perceived not only as efficient, but also as equitable in order to be considered acceptable to all riparian countries. The current literature mainly describes what is meant by the term benefit sharing in the context of transboundary river basins and discusses this from a conceptual point of view, but falls short of providing practical, institutional arrangements that ensure maximum economic welfare as well as collaboratively developed methods for encouraging the equitable sharing of benefits. In this study, we define an institutional arrangement that distributes welfare in a river basin by maximizing the economic benefits of water use and then sharing these benefits in an equitable manner using a method developed through stakeholder involvement. We describe a methodology in which (i) a hydrological model is used to allocate scarce water resources, in an economically efficient manner, to water users in a transboundary basin, (ii) water users are obliged to pay for water, and (iii) the total of these water charges is equitably redistributed as monetary compensation to users in an amount determined through the application of a sharing method developed by stakeholder input, thus based on a stakeholder vision of fairness, using an axiomatic approach. With the proposed benefit-sharing mechanism, the efficiency–equity trade-off still exists, but the extent of the imbalance is reduced because benefits are maximized and redistributed according to a key that has been collectively agreed upon by the participants. The whole system is overseen by a river basin authority. The methodology is applied to the Eastern Nile River basin as a case study. The described technique not only ensures economic efficiency, but may also lead to more equitable solutions in the sharing of benefits in transboundary river basins because the definition of the sharing rule is not in question, as would be the case if existing methods, such as game theory, were applied, with their inherent definitions of fairness.

Environmental Water Stress in Transboundary River Basins

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tales Carvalho-Resende
Keyword(s):  
Water Stress ◽  
Surface Water ◽  
Environmental Water ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Water Quantity ◽  
Natural Flow Regime ◽  
Transboundary River ◽  
Transboundary River Basins ◽  
Natural Flow ◽  
Water Uses

The Environmental Water Stress in Transboundary River Basins indicator focuses on the water quantity aspect and considers hydrological alterations from monthly dynamics of the natural flow regime due to anthropogenic water uses and dam operations. For more information, visit: http://twap-rivers.org/ Basin Stress Surface water Transboundary

Risk and Opportunity Assessment for Water Cooperation in Transboundary River Basins in South Asia

2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (7) ◽  
pp. 2187-2205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Subash Prasad Rai ◽  
William Young ◽  
Nayan Sharma
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Transboundary River ◽  
Transboundary River Basins ◽  
Water Cooperation
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