Chennat Gopalakrishnan

Promoting Ecological Sustainability and Community Resilience in the US Gulf Coast after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

Abstract On 20 April 2010, the 5000-foot-deep Macondo Mississippi Canyon Block 252 (MC252) well erupted after a blowout caused a catastrophic explosion and fire aboard the BP PLC-leased Deepwater Horizon offshore oil drilling platform (owned by Transocean Ltd.) about 40 miles (64 km) southeast of the Louisiana coast. The 2010 Deepwater Horizon Gulf Coast oil spill now imperils ecologically sensitive lands, affects the livelihoods of thousands of workers, and threatens a way of life that has been passed down for generations. An oil spill management Decision Support System (DSS) architecture is put forth that integrates the latest advances in MCDA and geomatics engineering in order to cope with the worst environmental disaster in US history. It is shown that policy-makers should improve the sustainability and resilience of Gulf Coast ecosystems and communities so that they are healthier and more robust than before the oil spill. Policy recommendations with respect to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill are put forth. We discuss how to best assist disrupted businesses, rehabilitate polluted ecosystems, and improve regulatory oversight of the oil and gas industry in order to prevent future oil spill disasters.

Promoting Disaster-resilient Communities: The Great Sumatra–Andaman Earthquake of 26 December 2004 and the Resulting Indian Ocean Tsunami

The human casualties and socio-economic damage associated with the Great Sumatra–Andaman Earthquake of 26 December 2004 and the resulting Indian Ocean tsunami are discussed. The Sumatra–Andaman earthquake was the largest earthquake to occur since the advent of global digital seismometry and it produced the most devastating tsunami in recorded history (and the largest humanitarian response). A reliable Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System is shown to require an improved seismographic network, a real-time sea-level observing network covering the entire Indian Ocean basin, and the deployment of deep-ocean pressure sensors. It is concluded that Indian Ocean governments can achieve more tsunami-resilient communities by addressing poverty, promoting education, harnessing technological advances, investing in emergency medical and rescue services, and empowering stakeholders.

Water allocation among multiple stakeholders: conflict analysis of the Waiahole water project, Hawaii

Recent years have seen a sharp increase in the demand for water in Hawaii, which has intensified and accelerated the competition for the states water resources. Specifically, this paper uses the decision support system GMCR II to analyse the strategic aspects of a multi-party water dispute involving the allocation of Waiahole Ditch waters on Oahu, the major economic and population centre of Hawaii. The issue of surplus water allocation is unprecedented in Hawaii and thus there is no explicit water law precedent governing allocation of such water as conceived by the water administrative agencies or the judicial branch.

The Economics of Reservoir Sedimentation: A Case Study of Mahaweli Reservoirs in Sri Lanka

Benefits of water resource projects often fall short of original expectations owing to sedimentation of reservoirs. This study estimates the cost of reservoir sedimentation in Mahaweli reservoirs including impact on hydropower production, irrigation water supply, extra cost of water purification and loss of fisheries yields. The present value of the cost of sedimentation is estimated to be US

Estimating the demand for non-timber forest products among rural communities: a case study from the Sinharaja Rain Forest region, Sri Lanka

26 406 620. Of the different types of costs, lost hydropower production is the most significant as it accounts for 66.6% of the total cost. The benefits of prevention of reservoir sedimentation alone are inadequate to compensate for the costs involved. Using soil erosion control measures at farm level offers a better solution for reservoir sedimentation compared with de-silting. Among the available erosion control methods, stoned terrace is the least-cost solution to reservoir sedimentation.

Water and disasters: a review and analysis of policy aspects

Lack of adequate knowledge on forest-people interaction is an important reason for the failure of many conservation policies. This study focuses on the behavior of peripheral communities towards non-timber forest product (NTFP) harvesting by estimating the demand functions for NTFP. The paper develops a theoretical model for deriving the shadow price for NTFP using time allocation among different economic activities. Then it tests the competitive time allocation hypothesis between NTFP extraction and tea plantations, the predominant agricultural sector in the vicinity of Sinharaja rain forest. Results provide statistical evidence for the existence of competitive time allocation between tea plantations and NTFP extraction. Own-price elasticities are consistently inelastic, except for one product. As indicated by the inelastic responses, pricing policies may not be very useful in manipulating subsistence NTFP extraction. Repeating similar studies for commercial NTFPs is encouraged.

Advances in Decision Support Systems for Flood Disaster Management: Challenges and Opportunities

Recent years have witnessed a significant increase in the human and economic impacts of water disasters. During 2000–2010, they accounted for almost 90% of all natural disasters, 96% of the people affected (2.4 billion) and 76% of the economic damages (approximately USD1 trillion) caused by natural disasters globally. It is ironic that despite the centrality of water disasters, relatively little attention has been paid to them in the discourse on water resources. Against this backdrop, five broad groups of water policies – risk management, vulnerability assessment, capacity building and resilience, disaster risk reduction-development linkage and institutional design – were examined to determine their adequacy and effectiveness in successfully dealing with water disasters. It was found that most policies have serious shortcomings that need to be addressed. Drawing on this study, a number of specific policy recommendations are offered to correct these deficiencies. The study has further found that there is an urgent need to generate research-grounded data to support informed policy making on water disasters. With this in view, five priority research areas have been identified.

Proposed Water Policy for Sri Lanka: The Policy versus the Policy Process

Natural variations in the global climate are governed by complex interactions among the atmosphere, oceans, and land cover. Modern climate models suggest that these variations will continue, but with larger magnitudes and greater variability due to human influences. This is expected to increase the risk of flood disaster events. To improve flood risk management, a flood decision support system architecture is proposed that capitalizes on the latest advances in remote sensing, geographic information systems, hydrologic models, numerical weather prediction, information technology, and decision theory. Specifically, the dynamic climate prediction system developed by the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, is discussed in the context of flood management and planning in the Yangtze River valley, China.

The Economics of Household Demand for Water: The Case of Kandy Municipality, Sri Lanka

This paper discusses a recent experience of an unsuccessful attempt to adopt water policy for Sri Lanka. The donor-driven nature, top-down approach, lack of transparency, lack of historical and cultural perspectives, inadequate attention to environmental issues and inadequate safety nets have been cited as the major weaknesses of the proposed policy. This paper summarizes the major arguments against the policy document and analyses the reasonableness of the critiques. The paper also analyses two major aspects of the proposed policy--water pricing and tradable water rights--using a comprehensive policy analysis framework. The major lesson learnt is the significance of participatory approaches in formulating water policies.

An application of the contingent valuation method to estimate the loss of value of water resources due to pesticide contamination: the case of the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

This study estimates the demand for domestic water in a fast-growing city of a developing country. Monthly data for 40 randomly selected households for a six-year period were used for the estimation. There were three price hikes during the study period, which provided adequate variation in the prices for an econometric estimation. A log-log model was selected as a proper specification for the demand function. Marginal price, difference price, income, and household size were used as the independent variables. After correcting the data for auto-correlation and heteroscedasticity, the final model was estimated. Results show all the expected signs with statistical significance. Price elasticity (marginal) and income elasticity for water in the study area are estimated to be - 0.34 and 0.08, respectively. Thus, our findings confirm the previous findings that water is neither price- nor income-elastic. Given these responses, a price hike may not help conserve water in the study area. However, very low price responsiveness can be used to increase water revenues of the municipality.