Author: Jacques Ganoulis Publisher: Springer ISBN: 3319786253 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 222
Book Description
Attending water security is an important challenge and a major systemic risk humanity faces in the years to come. This is due to population increase, over-consumption of water, especially in agriculture, climate change and various forms of water pollution. The issue becomes more complicated in transboundary water catchments that cover almost half of the world’s land surface, with about 60% of global river flow and 40% of the world’s population. Also, in many parts of the planet, like Saharan Africa, population depends on groundwater resources located in transboundary aquifer systems. These facts illustrate the importance of the book's subject, which is the governance of transboundary waters, both surface and groundwater. The book is written by two distinguished scientists, who, having worked in various international institutions, like UNESCO, GEF, UNEP and at the European Commission, have both an extended expertise on how to bridge the gap between science and political decision-making, which is the main factor for an effective governance of water resources. What is new in the book is the integrated analysis of transboundary governance of both surface water and groundwater, as it occurs in reality. In current literature, groundwater is still often missing for the benefit of surface water or, on the contrary, it is treated separately from surface water. The most important feature of the book is to distinguish between the real and a "good" or an effective transboundary water governance and to provide practical tools, methodologies and examples for its implementation in the field. Published timely during 2018, the book will contribute to address successfully practical problems of governance of transboundary waters that represent a very important part of our precious fresh water resources.
Author: Paula Hanasz Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 1351599313 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 314
Book Description
International organisations such as the World Bank began to intervene in the transboundary water governance of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna river basin in the mid-2000s, and the South Asia Water Initiative (SAWI) is its most ambitious project in this regard. Yet neither SAWI nor other international initiatives, such as those of the Australian and UK governments, have been able to significantly improve transboundary water interaction between India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. This book identifies factors that contribute to water conflicts and that detract from water cooperation in this region. It sheds light on how international organisations affect these transboundary water interactions. The book discusses how donor-led initiatives can better engage with transboundary hydropolitics to increase cooperation and decrease conflict over shared freshwater resources. It is shown that there are several challenges: addressing transboundary water issues is not a top priority for the riparian states; there is concern about India’s hydro-hegemony and China's influence; and international actors in general do not have substantial support of the local elites. However, the book suggests some ways forward for improving transboundary water interaction. These include: addressing the political context and historical grievances; building trust and reducing power asymmetry between riparian states; creating political will for cooperation; de-securitising water; taking a problemshed view; strengthening water sharing institutions; and moving beyond narratives of water scarcity and supply-side solutions.
Author: Shakeel Hayat Publisher: CRC Press ISBN: 1000072444 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 229
Book Description
The four decades long ideological-based insurgencies and conflict in the Kabul River Basin (KRB) have seriously hampered the relations and foreign policies of both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Consequently, it restricts them to solve various bilateral issues including transboundary waters. This lack of cooperation over shared water resources is one of the barriers to achieve inclusive and sustainable development. Additionally, it has contributed to the prevailing anarchic situation where each country does what it wants. The absence of a formal water-sharing mechanism coupled with poor water management practices within both the riparian counties are resulting various flow and administration-related challenges. Moreover, these challenges are further exacerbated by regional changes in social, political, environmental and economic systems. The scholarly literature suggests that an analytical transboundary water governance framework is essential to address the challenges of water politicisation and securitisation, quality degradation and quantity reduction. Additionally, the literature rarely integrates (a) a multi-level approach, (b) an institutional approach (c) an inclusive development approach, or (d) accounts for the uses of different types of water and their varied ecosystem services for improved transboundary water governance. To enhance human wellbeing and achieve inclusive and sustainable development in the KRB this research indicates that it is essential to: (1) defrost frozen collaboration; (2) bypass border dispute; (3) use biodiversity and ecosystem services approach; (4) address existing and potential natural and anthropogenic challenges; (5) remove contradictions in the policy environment; (6) combat resource limits and dependence by promoting collaboration on long-term cost effective solutions; and (7) enhance knowledge and dialogue on inclusive development.
Author: Ahmed Abukhater Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 1136171754 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 318
Book Description
Examining international water allocation policies in different parts of the world, this book suggests that they can be used as a platform to induce cooperation over larger political issues, ultimately settling conflicts. The main premise is that water can and should be used as a catalyst for peace and cooperation rather than conflict. Evidence is provided to support this claim through detailed case studies from the Middle East and the Lesotho Highlands in Africa. These international cases – including bilateral water treaties and their development and formation process and aftermath – are analyzed to draw conclusions about the outcomes as well as the processes by which these outcomes are achieved. It is demonstrated that the perception of a particular treaty as being equitable and fair is mainly shaped by the negotiation process used to reach certain outcomes, rather than being determined mechanistically by the quantitative allocation of water to each party. The processes and perceptions leading to international water conflict resolutions are emphasized as key issues in advancing cooperation and robust implementation of international water treaties. The key messages of the book are therefore relevant to the geo-political and hydro-political aspects of water resources in the context of bilateral and multilateral conflicts, and the trans-boundary management of water resources, which contributes insights to political ecology, geo-politics, and environmental policy.
Author: Gábor Baranyai Publisher: Springer ISBN: 3030225410 Category : Law Languages : en Pages : 195
Book Description
This book provides the first comprehensive assessment of the various issues faced by countries in the European Union, where progressing climate change and urbanization pose significant cooperative challenges in a large number of river basins. Conducting a thorough analysis of the intricate web of EU water governance, it reveals that the hydropolitical stability of the European Union is already at risk. Further, given the structural nature of the shortcomings in EU water policy—e.g. the rigidity of the EU’s founding treaties or the institutional complacency of the European Commission—the book argues that these risks are likely to turn into sources of prolonged conflict, unless EU decision-making bodies take steps to address the new hydrological realities early on.
Author: Lei Xie Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 1134973861 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 215
Book Description
China has forty major transboundary watercourses with neighbouring countries, and has frequently been accused of harming its downstream neighbours through its domestic water management policies, such as the construction of dams for hydropower. This book provides an understanding of water security in Asia by investigating how shared water resources affect China’s relationships with neighbouring countries in South, East, Southeast and Central Asia. Since China is an upstream state on most of its shared transboundary rivers, the country’s international water policy is at the core of Asia’s water security. These water disputes have had strong implications for China’s interstate relations, and also influenced its international water policy alongside domestic concerns over water resource management. This book investigates China’s policy responses to domestic water crises and examines China’s international water policy as well as its strategy in dealing with international cooperation. The authors describe the key elements of water diplomacy in Asia which demonstrate varying degrees of effectiveness of environmental agreements. It shows how China has established various institutional arrangements with neighbouring countries, primarily in the form of bilateral agreements over hydrological data exchange. Detailed case studies are included of the Mekong, Brahmaputra, Ili and Amur rivers.
Author: Jacques Ganoulis Publisher: John Wiley & Sons ISBN: 3527636668 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 381
Book Description
Based on an international symposium addressing a key issue in global development, this reference includes both the latest methodologies for and practical examples of effective management of transboundary water resources. Its multidisciplinary approach combines hydrology and environmental science with economic and political approaches, in line with new UNESCO and EU recommendations, which have been formulated and implemented with the active involvement of all three editors. By providing a theoretical framework as well as abundant case studies from southern Europe, Africa, Asia and South America, this handbook provides hydrologists, geologists, engineers and decision-makers with all the knowledge they need for their daily work.
Author: John F. Shroder Publisher: Elsevier ISBN: 0128018615 Category : Technology & Engineering Languages : en Pages : 546
Book Description
Transboundary Water from Afghanistan: Climate Change, and Land-Use Implications brings together diverse factual material on the physical geography and political, cultural, and economic implications of Southwest Asian transboundary water resources. It is the outgrowth of long-term deep knowledge and experience gained by the authors, as well as the material developed from a series of new workshops funded by the Lounsbery Foundation and other granting agencies. Afghanistan and Pakistan have high altitude mountains providing vital water supplies that are highly contentious necessities much threatened by climate change, human land-use variation, and political manipulation, which can be managed in new ways that are in need of comprehensive discussions and negotiations between all the riparian nations of the Indus watershed (Afghanistan, China, India, and Pakistan). This book provides a description of the basic topographic configuration of the Kabul River tributary to the Indus river, together will all its tributaries that flow back and forth across the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the basic elements that are involved with the hydrological cycle and its derivatives in the high mountains of the Hindu Kush and Himalaya. - Synthesizes information on the physical geography and political, cultural, and economic implications of Southwest Asian transboundary water resources - Offers a basic topographic description of the Indus River watershed - Provides local water management information not easily available for remote and contentious border areas - Delivers access to the newest thinking from chief personnel on both sides of the contentious border - Features material developed from a series of new workshops funded by the Lounsbery Foundation and other granting agencies
Author: Georg Meran Publisher: Springer Nature ISBN: 3030484858 Category : Business & Economics Languages : en Pages : 312
Book Description
This open access textbook provides a concise introduction to economic approaches and mathematical methods for the study of water allocation and distribution problems. Written in an accessible and straightforward style, it discusses and analyzes central issues in integrated water resource management, water tariffs, water markets, and transboundary water management. By illustrating the interplay between the hydrological cycle and the rules and institutions that govern today’s water allocation policies, the authors develop a modern perspective on water management. Moreover, the book presents an in-depth assessment of the political and ethical dimensions of water management and its institutional embeddedness, by discussing distribution issues and issues of the enforceability of human rights in managing water resources. Given its scope, the book will appeal to advanced undergraduate and graduate students of economics and engineering, as well as practitioners in the water sector, seeking a deeper understanding of economic approaches to the study of water management.
Author: Jacques Ganoulis
Author: Paula Hanasz
Author: Shakeel Hayat
Author: Ahmed Abukhater
Author: Gábor Baranyai
Author: Lei Xie
Author: Jacques Ganoulis
Author: John F. Shroder
Author: Rieu-Clarke, Alistair
Author: Georg Meran