Mark Giordano

The agricultural groundwater revolution: opportunities and threats to development

ors Abstraction expanding rapidly with impacts on

From IWRM back to integrated water resources management

Integrated water resources management provides a set of ideas to help us manage water more holistically. However, these ideas have been formalized over time in what has now become, in capitals, Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), with specific prescriptive principles whose implementation is often supported by donor funding and international advocacy. IWRM has now become an end in itself, in some cases undermining functioning water management systems, in others setting back needed water reform agendas, and in yet others becoming a tool to mask other agendas. Critically, the current monopoly of IWRM in global water management discourse is shutting out alternative thinking on pragmatic solutions to existing water problems. This paper explains these issues and uses examples of transboundary water governance in general, groundwater management in India and rural–urban water transfer in China to show that there are (sometimes antithetical) alternatives to IWRM which are being successfully used to solve major water problems. The main message is that we should simply get on with pragmatic politics and solutions to the worlds many individual water challenges.

Community-based water law and water resource management reform in developing countries.

The lack of sufficient access to clean water is a common problem faced by communities, efforts to alleviate poverty and gender inequality and improve economic growth in developing countries. While reforms have been implemented to manage water resources, these have taken little notice of how people use and manage their water and have had limited effect at the ground level. On the other hand, regulations developed within communities are livelihood-oriented and provide incentives for collective action but they can also be hierarchal, enforcing power and gender inequalities. This book shows how bringing together the strengths of community-based laws rooted in user participation and the formalized legal systems of the public sector, water management regimes will be more able to reach their goals. Evaluating the interface between community and formal water laws, chapters consider examples from Africa, Latin America and Asia and provide valuable insights for policy makers, managers, researchers and field implementers.

The Geography of the Commons: The Role of Scale and Space

Abstract The “tragedy of the commons” is a concept familiar to students of resource management, and many academic disciplines have devoted considerable attention to its understanding and solution. Despite a long tradition of concern with issues directly related to the problem, the field of geography has been relatively silent in the commons literature, especially on the theoretic front. The present article attempts to address this shortcoming by applying geographic methodologies—particularly as related to scale and space—to an understanding of the phenomenon. The article first demonstrates the role of sociopolitical scale in defining the commons problem and then develops a typology classifying common resources into one of three categories—open access, fugitive, and migratory—based on spatial relationships between resources and resource users. The article shows that the geographic nature of the commons problem for any particular resource depends on the sociopolitical scale at which it is assessed, and suggests that solutions to commons problems should vary both by scale and by spatial nature.

International resource conflict and mitigation

Resource availability is frequently linked with historic and potential international conflict. Conventional wisdom holds that international resource conflict occurs in locations where growing resource demand and declining supplies are greatest. While relative scarcity is undoubtedly an element driving international resource dispute, a focus on supply and demand measures alone is insufficient to understand international conflict potential, because of the pervasive willingness of nations to construct regimes, structures, and frameworks – that is, institutions – for dispute mitigation. However, institutions for regulating the use of internationally scarce resources sometimes fail to develop, and when they do, they are not always sufficiently resilient to deal with changing political and resource environments. Thus, international resource conflict is most likely to occur where there exist both resource scarcity and insufficient institutional capacity to deal with it. In particular, conflict is most likely to emerge in those areas where (1) resource sovereignty is ill defined or non-existent, (2) existing institutional regimes are destroyed by political change, and/or (3) rapid changes in resource environments outpace the capacity of institutions to deal with the change. A mitigation strategy for potential international resource conflict is the construction of resilient resource management institutions, along with the improvement of existing institutions. To be most effective, these institutions should be clear in terms of resource allocation and quality control; be constructed with an intrinsic ability to adjust to changing political and environmental conditions; promote positive-sum solutions to resource problems; and incorporate structured conflict resolution mechanisms.

Scalar Disconnect: The Logic of Transboundary Water Governance in the Mekong

This article provides an institutional analysis of the Mekong River Commission and brings to light the institutional dissonances between regional and national decision-making landscapes in the Lower Mekong Basin. The current scalar disconnect between regional and national decision-making processes reflects how international donors and member country representatives obscure potential conflict/tension in transboundary water governance in the Mekong. From a scholarly perspective, it questions academic approaches that assume that the state is the sole or primary actor in international relations.

Political economy of the energy-groundwater nexus in India: exploring issues and assessing policy options

Indian agriculture is trapped in a complex nexus of groundwater depletion and energy subsidies. This nexus is the product of past public policy choices that initially offered opportunities to India’s small-holder-based irrigation economy but has now generated in its wake myriad economic, social, and environmental distortions. Conventional ‘getting-the-price-right’ solutions to reduce these distortions have consistently been undermined by the invidious political economy that the nexus has created. The historical evolution of the nexus is outlined, the nature and scale of the distortions it has created are explored, and alternative approaches which Indian policy makers can use to limit, if not eliminate, the damaging impacts of the distortions, are analysed.RésuméL’agriculture indienne est empêtrée dans un réseau de relations complexes reliant l’épuisement de l’eau souterraine et les subventions énergétiques de l’énergie. Ces relations complexes résultent des choix politiques publics passés passées qui offraient à l’origine des opportunités aux petits exploitants à l’économie basée sur l’irrigation mais qui a maintenant généré dans son sillage des myriades de distorsions économiques, sociales et environnementales. Des solutions conventionnelles pour « définir le juste-prix » dans le but de réduire ces distorsions ont été immanquablement sapées par la politique d’économie individuelle que ces relations ont créée. L’historique de ces relations. L’évolution historique de ce réseau est esquissée, la nature et l’échelle des distorsions crées sont explorées, et des approches alternatives sont analysées, que les décideurs indiens peuvent utiliser pour limiter, sinon éliminer, les impacts préjudiciables de ces distorsions.ResumenLa agricultura de la India está atrapada en un complejo nexo del agotamiento de las aguas subterráneas y los subsidios energéticos. Este nexo es el producto de las políticas públicas pasadas elegidas que inicialmente ofrecieron en la India oportunidades a la economía de irrigación basada en pequeños agricultores, pero que ahora ha generado tras de sí una miríada de distorsiones económicas, sociales y ambientales. Las soluciones convencionales de obtener el precio correcto para reducir estas distorsiones han sido consistentemente socavadas por la injusta economía política injusta que el nexo ha creado. Se delinea la evolución histórica del nexo, se explora la naturaleza y la escala de las distorsiones que ha creado, y se analizan enfoques alternativos, que los planificadores pueden usar para limitar, si no eliminar, los impactos perjudiciales de las distorsiones.摘要印度的农业发展受地下水亏损和能源补贴的复杂关系限制。这种关系是过去公众政策选择的产物,该政策起初是为印度的少数占有者的灌溉经济提供机会,但现在却导致了无数的经济,社会和环境扭曲。传统的用于减少这些扭曲的“获得合理价格”的方法一直被该关系产生的令人反感的政治经济因素破坏。本文论述了该关系的历史演化、本质以及变化的尺度,并分析了可能的选择。印度的政策制定者可以利用该方法,即使不能消除,但也能限制该扭曲产生的破坏性影响。ResumoA agricultura indiana encontra-se aprisionada num nexo complexo entre o esgotamento das águas subterrâneas e os subsídios à energia. Este nexo é o produto de opções políticas públicas do passado, que inicialmente ofereceram a oportunidade aos pequenos proprietários indianos de basearem a sua actividade económica em pequenos regadios, mas que agora geraram no seu seio inúmeras distorções económicas, sociais e ambientais. Soluções convencionais tipo “receba o preço certo”, destinadas a reduzir estas distorções, têm sido consistentemente minadas por uma economia política injusta criada por este nexo. É descrita a evolução histórica do nexo, são exploradas a natureza e a escala das distorções criadas, e são analisadas abordagens alternativas, as quais podem ser usadas pelos decisores políticos indianos para limitar, se não para eliminar, os impactes prejudiciais das distorções.

Water, food and livelihoods in river basins

Conflicting demands for food and water, exacerbated by increasing population, increase the risks of food insecurity, poverty and environmental damage in major river systems. Agriculture remains the predominant water user, but the linkage between water, agriculture and livelihoods is more complex than “water scarcity increases poverty”. The response of both agricultural and non-agricultural systems to increased pressure will affect livelihoods. Development will be constrained in closed basins if increased demand for irrigation deprives other users or if existing agricultural use constrains non-agricultural activities and in open basins if agriculture cannot feed an expanding or changing population or if the river system loses capacity due to degradation or over-exploitation.

The Yellow River Basin: Water Accounting, Water Accounts, and Current Issues

Abstract There is increasing recognition of the problems facing China in meeting the growing water demand in the Yellow River basin, the “cradle of Chinese Civilization” and a critically important agricultural and industrial region. Meaningful debate on the range and relative costs of options available to policy-makers in addressing the problem depend fundamentally on an accurate understanding of basin water resources. Unfortunately, the ability of outsiders to participate in the de bate and for Chinese, with their long history of water management, to contribute to similar discussions elsewhere in the world is hindered to some extent by a lack of understanding of differences in water accounting systems and concepts. This paper attempts to address this problem by describing the water accounting system used in the Yellow River basin and elsewhere in China. The paper shows that the primary difference between water accounting methodologies in the Yellow River and those typically applied elsewhere is related to supply accounting in general and groundwater accounting in particular. Although not currently included in its water accounting system, Chinese concepts of environmental water use, when included, will also differ substantially from those familiar to outside researchers. In terms of actual Yellow River balances, the paper highlights the apparent declining trend in basin rainfall and runoff and the dramatic growth in industrial and domestic water use. Together declining supply and rising demand will increasingly cause policy-makers to face hard choices in assessing their water planning options. These choices will only become more difficult as managers in the Yellow River, as elsewhere in the world, try to incorporate ecological needs in the water accounting equation.

Process-focused analysis in transboundary water governance research

Previous analysis of transboundary water governance has been focused primarily on state-centred approaches. The articles in this special section move us forward from this focus in three ways. First, they highlight the crucial role played by non-state actors in shaping water governance outcomes. Second, they show us how these actors can increase the ‘room for manoeuvre’ in negotiations. Third, they provide an entry point for developing process-focused approaches in transboundary water governance research. This article argues such an approach might improve our understanding of transboundary water outcomes and suggests new focus on how key actors form networks of alliances and shape decision-making landscapes at multiple governance levels and arenas. From a scholarly perspective, it brings to light the blurred boundary between state and non-state actors, as derived from a better understanding of the elusive links between actors and organisations; it unravels additional layers of complexity in the hydro-hegemony concept and bends the rigid notion of power asymmetry, towards the subtleties of power relations and interplays in transboundary decision-making processes.