scholarly journals Bright and Blind Spots of Water Research in Latin America and the Caribbean

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alyssa J. DeVincentis ◽  
Hervé Guillon ◽  
Romina Díaz Gómez ◽  
Noelle K. Patterson ◽  
Francine van den Brandeler ◽  
...  

Abstract. Water resources management is threatened by climatic, economic, and political pressures, and these challenges are on particular display in Latin America and the Caribbean. To assess the region's ability to manage water resources, we conducted an unprecedented literature review of over 20,000 multilingual research articles using machine learning and an understanding of the socio-hydrologic landscape. Results reveal that the region's vulnerability to water-related stresses, and drivers such as climate change, is compounded by research blind spots in niche topics (reservoirs and risk assessment) and sub-regions (Caribbean nations), and by its reliance on an individual country (Brazil). A regional bright spot, Brazil produces well-rounded water-related research but its regional dominance suggests that funding cuts there would impede scientifically-informed water management in the entire region.

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (8) ◽  
pp. 4631-4650
Author(s):  
Alyssa J. DeVincentis ◽  
Hervé Guillon ◽  
Romina Díaz Gómez ◽  
Noelle K. Patterson ◽  
Francine van den Brandeler ◽  
...  

Abstract. Water resources management in Latin America and the Caribbean is particularly threatened by climatic, economic, and political pressures. To assess the region's ability to manage water resources, we conducted an unprecedented literature review of over 20 000 multilingual research articles using machine learning and an understanding of the socio-hydrologic landscape. Results reveal that the region's vulnerability to water-related stresses, and drivers such as climate change, is compounded by research blind spots in niche topics (reservoirs and risk assessment) and subregions (Caribbean nations), as well as by its reliance on an individual country (Brazil). A regional bright spot, Brazil, produces well-rounded water-related research, but its regional dominance suggests that funding cuts there would impede scientifically informed water management in the entire region.


Author(s):  
Alyssa J. DeVincentis ◽  
Hervé Guillon ◽  
Romina Díaz Gómez ◽  
Noelle K. Patterson ◽  
Francine van den Brandeler ◽  
...  

Water Policy ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 587-600
Author(s):  
Adrian Cashman

At the global level, it appears that acceptance for integrated water resources management (IWRM) has been growing. In a status report by the United Nations in 2012, 82% of the 134 nations which responded indicated that they had embarked on reforms to achieve integrated approaches to water resources management. Over the last decade in the Caribbean there have been similar IWRM agendas. However, so far efforts to embed IWRM in the region have yielded few results. Hence it is appropriate to ask what has been the progress with adopting an integrated approach to water management in the Caribbean and are there lessons that can be learnt? The paper seeks to provide some answers to those two questions. An overview of the various national and regional IWRM initiatives over the last decade provides the basis on which the evaluation of the successes or otherwise is made. This is complemented by an assessment of the enabling conditions and the extent to which they have been able to support developments. The analysis of contributing factors uses a stakeholder characterisation typology developed by Mitchell and Agle. Finally, the need for ‘brokering’ actors as an integral part of policy reform is identified as a necessary element of success.


Author(s):  
Christopher Sabatini

Calculations of national interest and foreign policies are shifting in Latin America and the Caribbean. Those changes stem from the rise of the Global South, the perceived decline of U.S. power, and the proliferation of multiple connections and relations, including new regional multilateral groups. Those variables, however, are shaped by individual country legacies and a regional reflex toward national sovereignty and solidarity. This newfound diplomatic muscularity will shrink as the region’s and China’s economies cool, but the sense of independence and the region’s contestation of U.S. policies will continue.


Water Policy ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 859-870 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Senecal ◽  
Chandra A. Madramootoo

While many countries and regional authorities in the Caribbean have embraced the concept of integrated water resources management (IWRM) and recognized its guiding principles as beneficial, few have possessed the capacity to implement it since its enunciation in the Dublin Principles of 1992. The Caribbean Water Initiative (CARIWIN) endeavoured over a 6-year period, 2006–2012, to build capacity in a collaborative process with national governments and regional and international agencies. The result of this collaborative process was the selection of three Caribbean-specific tools to support the implementation of the key components of IWRM. These tools were National Water Information Systems, the Caribbean Drought and Precipitation Monitoring Network, and Community Water Strategies. This paper describes these three tools and the process promoted through CARIWIN for their successful adoption and implementation, i.e. a program including professional development, institutional partnerships, research, and dissemination of knowledge.


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