Sand Auditing for Sustainable River Sand Miningin Kerala, India– An Overview

Sand Auditing is the process that evaluates the health status of rivers subjected to sand mining. This study reviews the river sand audit methodology applied in Kerala, India, from 2011 to 2019 in terms of geographical coverage, results, and applications. It demonstrates the sand audit methodology, the agencies and authorities involved in implementation, and the current status of the State’s sand audit implementation. The current regulatory framework of Kerala that ensures sustainable sand mining and prevents illegal sand mining is also demonstrated. In total, 21 of the 44 Kerala’s rivers have been surveyed during 2011-2019, and the State’s agencies have hence acquired great experience and expertise in sand auditing. A major outcome of Kerala’s sand auditing is the collection of large datasets of river cross-sectional information that can be used, inter alia, in flood modeling studies to formulate sustainable river basin management strategies in Kerala.

ALANA RIVER BASIN MANAGEMENT

The main aim of this study is to highlight how the Alana River Basin (ARB) will meet future water needs and optimal monthly water distribution policies. The Water Evaluation and Planning System (WEAP) model was applied in order to determine the ARB and the operation plan policy using data for the past 16 years (2000-2015). The model result determined that the current regulations and practices regarding water use and pollution patterns are inadequate. An ideal scheme has been developed and implemented for various scenarios such as domestic water needs, irrigation water, and tourism. Four scenarios have been considered in this study, which are basic scenarios, a higher population growth scenario, a severe flow requirements scenario, and a scenario of adding dams. Comparisons show that the demand for water from April to September is high due to the agriculture season and the high temperature. The maximum demand for water is 3 million cubic meters, which occurs in August, while the proposed dam provides only 2 million cubic meters. In addition, the maximum demand for domestic water is 0.4733 MCM and the minimum is 0.36978 MCM, which is roughly the same level of water demand for every month. Accordingly, the government should start supplementing the Gali Bale dam. However, it is not a sufficient dam to cover the water demand, so the construction of additional dams is strongly suggested.

KEGIATAN LOMBA MENDONGENG SEBAGAI PEMBENTUKAN KARAKTER SISWA SEKOLAH DASAR DI KOTA PALEMBANG

ABSTRAKPesatnya kemajuan teknologi informasi dengan segala kemudahannya dalam menggali informasi-informasi tidak diimbangi dengan penanaman etika dan moral sebagai pembentukan karakter seorang anak. Kemampuan anak dalam menyaring informasi yang diperoleh dapat dilakukan dengan cara memberikan pendidikan karakter kepada anak sedini mungkin, salah satunya adalah melalui kegiatan mendongeng. Kegiatan mendongeng atau bercerita bertujuan sebagai media untuk menanamkan etika dan moral kepada anak. Melalui dongeng anak mendapatkan suatu pelajaran berupa hikmah, kesimpulan dan pesan moral yang berbudi luhur tanpa merasa digurui. Di samping itu, sebuah cerita yang disampaikan lebih berkesan dari pada sebuah nasehat murni atau tutur kata yang diucapkan secara langsung. Pentingnya kegiatan mendongeng sebagai sarana pembentukan karakter anak, maka penulis bersedia menjadi juri pada kegiatan lomba mendongeng yang diselenggarakan oleh Forum Koordinasi Pengelolaan Daerah Aliran Sungai Sumatera Selatan (Forum Das Sumsel) dalam rangka memperingati hari penanggulangan degradasi lahan dan kekeringan tahun 2020 dan hari lingkungan hidup tahun 2020 di objek wisata alam Punti Kayu Kota Palembang. Di samping sebagai juri, penulis juga diberi kesempatan untuk memaparkan materi pelaksanaan dan capaian yang diperoleh dari kegiatan ini. Kegiatan lomba mendongeng ini diikuti oleh 20 peserta yang merupakan perwakilan dari Sekolah Dasar yang tersebar di Kota Palembang. Capaian yang diperoleh dari kegiatan ini adalah menciptakan kepekaan anak terhadap lingkungan mereka, menanamkan nilai kebaikan dalam kehidupan mereka sehari-hari. Kata kunci: Pendidikan karakter; dongeng; edukatif; etika dan moral. ABSTRACTThe rapid advancement of information technology with all its convenience in digging up information is not balanced with the cultivation of ethics and morals as the formation of a child's character. The ability of children to filter the information obtained can be done by providing character education to children as early as possible, one of which is through storytelling activities. Storytelling or storytelling activities aim as a medium to instill ethics and morals in children. Through fairy tales, children get a lesson in the form of wisdom, conclusions and virtuous moral messages without feeling being taught. In addition, a story told is more memorable than a pure advice or spoken words directly. The importance of storytelling activities as a means of building children's character, the author is willing to be a jury in storytelling competitions organized by the South Sumatra River Basin Management Coordination Forum (Forum Das Sumsel) in commemoration of the day to overcome land degradation and drought in 2020 and the environmental day in 2020. 2020 at the Punti Kayu natural tourist attraction, Palembang City. In addition to being a judge, the author was also given the opportunity to explain the implementation material and the achievements obtained from this activity. This storytelling competition was attended by 20 participants who were representatives from elementary schools spread across the city of Palembang. The achievement obtained from this activity is to create children's sensitivity to their environment, to instill the value of goodness in their daily lives. Keywords: Character education; fairy tales; educational; ethics and morals.

Water Resources and Governance Approaches: Insights for Achieving Water Security

Integrated river basin management (IRBM) has been proposed as a means to achieve water security (WS), maximizing economic and social well-being in an equitable manner and maintaining ecosystem sustainability. IRBM is regulated by a governance process that benefits the participation of different actors and institutions; however, it has been difficult to reach a consensus on what good governance means and which governance perspective is better for achieving it. In this paper, we explore the concept of “good water governance” through the analysis of different governance approaches: experimental (EG), corporate (CG), polycentric (PG), metagovernance (MG) and adaptive (AG) governances. We used the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) water governance dimensions (effectiveness, efficiency and trust and engagement) as a “good enough water governance” that regards water governance as a process rather than an end in itself. Results indicate that each of the five governance theories presents challenges and opportunities to achieve a good governance process that can be operationalized through IRBM, and we found that these approaches can be adequately integrated if they are combined to overcome the challenges that their exclusive application implies. Our analysis suggests that a combination of AG and MG encompasses the OECD water governance dimensions, in terms of understanding “good enough water governance” as a process and a means to perform IRBM. In order to advance towards WS, the integration of different governance approaches must consider the context-specific nature of the river basin, in relation to its ecologic responses and socioeconomic characteristics.

Three decades of pastoralist settlement dynamics in the Ethiopian Omo Delta based on remote sensing data

River deltas provide important livelihoods to local populations, but at the same time are under increasing anthropogenic pressure. The opening of the Gibe III dam on the Omo River in Ethiopia in 2016 attracted international attention due to the importance of the free-flowing River for pastoralist communities in the Omo Delta. Sustainable river basin management requires spatially explicit, long-term information about human settlements to mitigate negative impacts on people’s livelihoods. Based on remote sensing time-series, and supplemented with ground-truthing, we mapped settlement-dynamics of the pastoralist Dasanech tribe. The inhabited area more than doubled from 1992 to 2009. From 2009 to 2019, settlements became more permanent and concentrated in the North of the Delta. Our results indicate that the Omo Delta has overall gained in importance as a livelihood area, but that the livelihoods of the traditionally nomadic people are shifting in the context of increasing investment in infrastructure. Management of future river flow at dams should consider the location and the trajectory of change in downstream settlements.

Narratives underlying research in African river basin management

River modifications through hydropower dams and other infrastructure have far-reaching economic, ecological and social effects that are viewed in highly contrasting ways depending on underlying narratives. As part of a Euro-African research consortium funded by the European Commission we studied pathways for sustainable river basin management in the Omo-Turkana basins in Ethiopia and Kenya. Based on a literature review, stakeholder workshops, targeted interviews and considering our own positionality, we identified underlying narratives related to (a) economic transformation and modernization, (b) indigenous rights and (c) nature conservation, which were all connected through water, energy, food and ecosystems within a (d) landscape nexus. Yet, we also identified a (e) living museum narrative suggesting that international advocacy for indigenous rights and nature conservation is a means through which Western societies want to preserve African societies in an “undeveloped” state. National governments use this narrative to silence external critique, while the tourism industry promotes it to advertise visits to pastoralist tribes. This narrative reveals powerful, yet largely ignored hindrances for collaborative projects resulting from cultural and historical biases in Euro-African collaborations. Based on our analysis, we argue that international research projects in sustainability sciences need to increase the transparency of open and hidden narratives that influence research directions and power relationships between scientific partners, also those using mostly technically-driven approaches. We emphasize that African landscapes are not to be viewed as living museums, and collaborative research should be based on fairness, respect, care, and honesty to allow for multiple narratives that underlie research.

Water Framework Directive (An “Open up” Tool for Public Participation in Water Policy)

The new EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) 2000/60 prescribes an adaptive water governance system and has been the European Union's most comprehensive tool for the management and protection of water resources. This article analyses how WFD encourages the active involvement of “all interested parties” and represents how public participation has a key role in successful implementation. The aim of this paper is to understand the functioning and effectiveness of the new model introduced to address the lack of implementation of EU environmental rules, as WFD since its introduction in 2000, requires member states to design and implement river basin management plans via participatory processes. Moreover, we have identified that Common Implementation Strategy of WFD was designed as a tool for public participation and stakeholder involvement to river basin management planning and how participatory approaches are implemented as the new "governance" within the EU in the field of environmental policy.