James Pittock

Running dry: Freshwater biodiversity, protected areas and climate change

Abstract Freshwater biodiversity is in significant decline and existing conservation strategies have not stemmed the loss to date. The damage is due to growing threats from traditional pressures and now the direct impacts of climate change, as well as from human responses to climate change. A suite of tools is required to address these threats, and one of these -- protected areas -- has been underutilized and poorly applied to freshwater conservation. We outline how the effectiveness of investments in maintaining and improving the resilience of freshwater systems within protected area systems for conserving freshwater biodiversity can be enhanced. Measures for better protected area network design and management, and for restoration of connectivity required to build resilience are summarized. Strategies for aiding societal adaptation to climate change through protected area establishment in a river basin context are also proposed. We conclude with a call to ensure that climate change mitigation and adaptation policies better integrate conservation objectives to avoid more serious impacts on freshwater biodiversity.

Environmental water requirements: demand management in an era of water scarcity

Water allocations for the environment and demand management of environmental water in the context of growing water scarcity are examined in this article. The consumptive use of water is increasing with growing populations and wealth, and water scarcity is being further exacerbated by climate change. In the context of conflicting global and national government policy decisions, water availability to sustain environmental values and benefits is threatened. Freshwater conservation proponents are calling for allocation of environmental flows, requiring societies to make value judgements between socio-economic benefits from consumptive water use versus benefits from instream ecosystem services. Because there will always be trade-offs made in situations of water scarcity, and because many water management systems are adopting finer scale and more flexible management approaches, we argue that environmental flows alone will not adequately conserve many key freshwater ecosystem attributes. Building on Lankford (Lankford BA. 2003. Environmental water requirements: a demand management perspective. J Chart Inst Water Environ Manage. 17:19–22), this article argues that an increased emphasis on demand management for water allocations within the environment is required to manage the growing water scarcity and conserve key freshwater ecosystem attributes. This article outlines options for environmental water demand management, arguing that these freshwater conservation methods are required alongside the provision of environmental flows.

Federal Rivers: managing water in multi-layered political systems.

Contents: Introduction 1. Federal Rivers: A Critical Overview Garrick 2. Climate Adaptation in River Management in a Post-stationary World Pittock Americas 3. Federalism and US Water Policy Gerlak 4. Water Scarcity, Conflict Resolution, and Adaptive Governance in Federal Transboundary River Basins Schlager 5. Managing Water in a Federal State: The Canadian Experience Saunders 6. Resilience of River Basin Governance Institutions in the Saskatchewan River Basin of Western Canada Horbulyk 7. Water Management and Ecosystems: A New Framework in Mexico Barrios 8. Main Challenges and Responses to Federalism and Water Security in Brazil Coelho Europe 9. River Basin Governance and Water Policies in Spain Albiac 10. Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Re-defining Water Security, Decentralisation and the Elusive Water Pact in Spain Lopez-Gunn Southern Africa 11. Allocating Power and Functions in a Federal Design: The Experience of South Africa Muller 12. Meeting the Challenges of Equity and Sustainability in Complex and Uncertain Worlds: The Emergence of Integrated Water Resources Management in the Eastern Rivers of South Africa Pollard South Asia 13. Managing Water in Indias Federal Framework Hooja 14. The Hydro-institutional Challenge of Managing Water Economies of Federal Rivers: A Case Study of Narmada River Basin, India Kumar 15. Inter-jurisdictional Water Management in Pakistans Indus Basin Ahmad China 16. Chinas Political System, Economic Reform and the Governance of Water Quality in the Pearl River Basin Silveira 17. Legislative Responses to Water Crises: Administrative Regimes and Institutional Arrangements of Watershed Management in Tai Lake Basin in China Jian 18. Chinas Federal River Management: An Example of Han River Lan Australia 19. The Murray Darling Basin Connell Conclusions 20. Water Security in Cross-Border Regions: What Relevance for Federal Human Security Regimes? Maganda 21. Water Resources Management in Federal Systems Anderson

Ecosystem services and management strategy in China

Introduction to the Task Forces Work.- Concept of Ecosystem Services and Ecosystem Management.- Status of Major Ecosystems and Management.- Scenario Analysis.- Chinese Case Studies.- International Experience.- Major Findings.- Policy Recommendations.

Climate change adaptation in the Murray-Darling Basin: Reducing resilience of wetlands with engineering

Abstract Conflict over water allocations and the need to adapt to climate change in Australia’s Murray-Darling Basin has resulted in decision makers choosing engineering interventions to use water more efficiently for wetlands conservation. We review a range of policy and infrastructure adaptation measures implemented in the Basin by governments. The water supply and demand “environmental works and measures” adopted in the Coorong and Lower Lakes region, as well as along the River Murray, are assessed and compared with the opportunity costs for ecosystem-based adaptation. The results suggest that risks of disruption to ecological processes, desiccation of wetland areas and institutional failure with infrastructure-led adaptation measures are little appreciated. Further, ecosystem-based measures to maintain a more diverse range of ecological processes that would spread risk and conserve a more diverse range of biota have not been identified or adopted by governments. We conclude that as a primary adaptation to climate change environmental works and measures may represent overly-narrow or mal-adaptation that can reduce the resilience of wetland ecosystems.

The water impacts of climate change mitigation measures

A variety of proposed activities to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions will impact on scarce water resources, which are coming under increasing pressure in many countries due to population growth and shifting weather patterns. However, the integrated analysis of water and carbon impacts has been given limited attention in greenhouse mitigation planning. In this Australian case study, we analyse a suite of 74 mitigation measures ranked as highest priority by one influential analysis, and we find that they have highly variable consequences for water quantity. We find: (1) The largest impacts result from land-based sequestration, which has the potential to intercept large quantities of water and reduce catchment yields, estimated to exceed 100xa0Mm3/MtCO2-e of carbon mitigated (100,000 l per tonne CO2-e). (2) Moderate impacts result from some renewable power options, including solar thermal power with a water cost estimated at nearly 4xa0Mm3/MtCO2-e. However, the water impacts of solar thermal power facilities could be reduced by designing them to use existing power-related water supplies or to use air or salt-water cooling. (3) Wind power, biogas, solar photovoltaics, energy efficiency and operational improvements to existing power sources can reduce water demand through offsetting the water used to cool thermal power generation, with minor savings estimated at 2xa0Mm3/MtCO2-e and amounting to nearly 100xa0Mm3 of water saved in Australia per annum in 2020. This integrated analysis significantly changes the attractiveness of some mitigation options, compared to the case where water impacts are not considered.

Federal rivers: a critical overview of water governance challenges in federal systems

Sustainable management of rivers, lakes and aquifers is crucial to the wellbeing of people and the environment (MEA 2005). Farms, cultures, industries, cities and nations have been established along the banks of major river systems. Demand for freshwater and other riverine commodities has increased with population growth and economic development, while climate change and extreme events disrupt hydrological processes and water supply. As a consequence, the World Economic Forum (2013) has identified water supply shocks among its top societal risks for the past three years running. Effective governance of fresh water is therefore a foundation of sustainable and equitable societies. In this context, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (2012) has identified the global water crisis as a crisis of governance and policy fragmentation. Increasingly, water management challenges involve complex interdependencies between sectors, upstream and downstream jurisdictions and stakeholders at the local, state, national and international levels. These interdependencies pose coordination challenges across political borders – both within and between countries. Federal countries distribute authority between national and state jurisdictions, which complicates water management tradeoffs within river basins shared by multiple territories. This book examines the experience of nine different federal political systems and China in addressing challenges of river basin and water management. Federal river systems (see Figure 1.1) are major basins within or shared by one of the world’s 28 federal countries (Anderson 2008, 2010; Garrick et al. 2013). Shared river basins are a major test of federal systems of governance. Effective management is not the mandate of one level of governance: all levels of governance have key roles, though these will vary from federation to federation. It can be expected that federalism will produce

Adaptive co-management in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta: examining the interface between flood management and adaptation

Abstract The rural landscapes of the Vietnamese Mekong Delta have undergone a dramatic change, where flood management and adaptation are at the forefront. This article investigates how these synergies facilitate policy change. Drawing on qualitative information from the literature, focus group discussions, and interviews, the article argues that there are confrontational but complementary effects between them, which evolve towards adaptive co-management. Collaborative learning between local governments and farmers enables shared understanding of water management drawbacks, leading to policy change. The article recommends that more attention be given to this approach to guide strategic water policy development in the region.