Janos J. Bogardi

Achieving Sustainable Development Goals from a Water Perspective

Efforts to meet human water needs only at local scales may cause negative environmental externality and stress on the water system at regional and global scales. Hence, assessing SDG targets requires a broad and in-depth knowledge of the global to local dynamics of water availability and use. Further, Interconnection and trade-offs between different SDG targets may lead to sub-optimal or even adverse outcome if the set of actions are not properly pre-designed considering such interlinkages. Thus scientific research and evidence have a role to play in facilitating the implementation of SDGs through assessments and policy engagement from global to local scales. The paper addresses some of these challenges related to implementation and monitoring the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals from a water perspective, based on the key findings of a conference organised in 2015 with the focus on three essential aspects of SDGs- indicators, interlinkages and implementation. The paper discusses that indicators should not be too simple but ultimately deliver sustainability measures. The paper finds that remote sensing and earth observation technologies can play a key role in supporting the monitoring of water targets. It also recognises that implementing SDGs is a societal process of development, and there is need to link how SDGs relate to public benefits and communicate this to the broader public.

Integrated Water Resources Management: Concept, Research and Implementation

This chapter reviews the concept, contemporary research efforts and the implementation of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) which has evolved as the guiding water management paradigm over the last three decades. After analyzing the starting points and historical developments of the IWRM concept this chapter expands on relations with recently upcoming concepts emphasizing adaptive water management and the land-water-food-energy nexus. Although being practically adopted worldwide, IWRM is still a major research topic in water sciences and its implementation is a great challenge for many countries. We have selected fourteen comprehensive IWRM research projects with worldwide coverage for a meta-analysis of motivations, settings, approaches and implementation. Aiming to be an up-to-date interdisciplinary scientific reference, this chapter provides a comprehensive theoretical and empirical analysis of contemporary IWRM research, examples of science based implementations and a synthesis of the lessons learnt. The chapter concludes with some major future challenges, the solving of which will further strengthen the IWRM concept.

The Global Water System in the Anthropocene

Globally, fresh water is a limited resource, covering only about 0.8 % of the world’s surface area. With over 126,000 species living in its ecosystems, freshwater harbours a disproportionate share of the planet’s biodiversity; it is essential for life, and central to satisfying human development needs. However, as we enter the Anthropocene, multiple threats are affecting freshwater systems at a global scale. The combined challenges of an increasing need for water from a growing and wealthier human population, and the uncertainty of how to adapt to definite but unpredictable climate change, significantly add to this stress. It is imperative that landscape managers and policy-makers think carefully about strategic adaptive management of freshwater systems in order to both effectively conserve natural ecosystems, and the plants and animals that live within, and continue to supply human populations with the freshwater benefits they need. Maintaining freshwater biodiversity is necessary to ensure the functioning of J. Garcia-Moreno (&) Amphibian Survival Alliance, PO Box 20164, 1000 HD Amsterdam, The Netherlands e-mail: jaime.garciamoreno@iucn.org J. Garcia-Moreno Het Haam 16, 6846 KW Arnhem, The Netherlands I. J. Harrison (&) Conservation International, Center for Environment and Peace, 2011 Crystal Drive, Suite 500, Arlington, VA 22202, USA e-mail: iharrison@conservation.org I. J. Harrison 6180 E Camden Rd, Flagstaff, AZ 86007, USA D. Dudgeon School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Pok Fu Lam Road, Hong Kong SAR, China V. Clausnitzer Senckenberg Museum of Natural History Gorlitz, PF 300154, 02806 Gorlitz, Germany A. Bhaduri et al. (eds.), The Global Water System in the Anthropocene, Springer Water, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-07548-8_17, Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014 247

Impact of land-use change on the water resources of the Upper Kharun Catchment, Chhattisgarh, India

Reliable information on the water balance components today and their future changes is a prerequisite for foresightful and sustainable water management. Basically, these components are under the strong influence of land-use dynamics. The Upper Kharun Catchment (UKC) is a typical example featuring considerable population growth, expansion of urban areas, industrialization, and dynamic changes in irrigation practices (extension, intensification). This research combines the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) and an advanced procedure for spatio-temporal land-use mapping that integrates the intra-annual variation within a single map and hence better represents an area with different levels of urbanization and multiple crop rotations. Due to its relevant impact on the water balance, special attention is paid to aspects of irrigation. The land-use map scenarios are prepared for 1991, 2001, 2011, and 2021. The study reveals that an increasing pumping rate of groundwater for irrigation is the main reason for decreasing the groundwater contribution to streamflow and subsequently a lowering in discharge and water yield. On the other hand, annual surface runoff has increased significantly by an expansion in built-up areas over the decades in the respective parts of the study area. On the UKC scale, the impact of land-use change on the water balance until 2021 is small. However, the impact on water resources is clearly visible and significant at sub-catchment level (increase: surface runoff; decrease: percolation; decrease: groundwater contribution to streamflow, and increase: actual evapotranspiration), where expanding urban areas and intensification of groundwater irrigated areas were observed and assessed as the major drivers. The results facilitate the introduction of best water and land-use management practices and conceiving of supportive infrastructure.

Considerations About Urban Disaster Resilience and Security—Two Concepts in Tandem?

Urban areas and resilient cities are flagships of recent research to investigate not only worst-case impacts of hazards but also maximum effectivity of measures. Disaster-related security is a special form of security, when in special conditions under external and internal stressors foci shift towards demands on survival and stability but also reliance on resources rarely used in normal conditions for most of the people, both residents and visitors of a city or settlement. This chapter summarises the key aspects of the previous chapters. Different types of framing resilience are detected in the different case studies. Main components of resilience used in both quantitative as well as in qualitative assessments are analysed. Potential pitfalls in transferring concepts between countries are detected. Critique on ‘measurability’ attempts is made, while at the same time pragmatic and innovative ways of conceptualising and assessing resilience in urban contexts are on display. Types and subtypes of resilience used in this book are listed, ranging from ‘climate resilience’ to ‘urban neighbourhood resilience’. Insights into how a resilient city can be constructed and planned are synthesised, as are aspects of smart cities and critical infrastructure that not only complement already existing measures and interests in sustainability but also set incentives for innovation.

Focusing on the Environment and Human Security Nexus

In recent years, UNDP, UN-ISDR, Munich-Re and other institutions have been pointing out the fact that the number of reported disasters as well as the economic losses associated with such disasters have been growing steadily in recent decades. But while in developed countries risk-reduction and risk-transfer mechanisms such as insurance allow citizens to cope with such disasters, the persistence of disasters in developing countries manifests existing incapacities to cope with such events and their impacts. In this context, UNU-EHS is taking a detailed look at the long-range implications of such a trend, particularly highlighting the issue of environmental migration triggered by environmental degradation and disasters.

The Role of Trust-building in Fostering Cooperation in the Eastern Nile Basin: A Case of Experimental Game Application

Received 09/10/2017 Accepted 31/10/2017 Published 09/11/2017 Article history Eastern Nile Basin Transboundary Water Cooperation Laboratory Experiment Trust Game Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam