Shifting Waterscapes: Explaining Basin Closure in the Lower Krishna Basin, South India
Shifting Waterscapes: Explaining Basin Closure in the Lower Krishna Basin, South India

Author: Jean-Philippe Venot

Publisher: IWMI

Published:

Total Pages: 60

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Progressive agricultural and water development in the Krishna Basin in South India has led to a rising over commitment of water resources and signs of basin closure are apparent during dry periods. As human consumptive uses are approaching the limits of water availability, this report focuses on the Lower Krishna Basin that bears the brunt of any intervention upstream. Capturing the process of basin closure requires an understanding of the political dimension of access to water and the scope for change. As basin closure intensifies the interconnectedness of ecosystems and water users, adjustments and management decisions result in spatial re-appropriation of water and basin-wide strategies for water management and development that start with the definition and the implementation of water allocation mechanisms are increasingly needed.

Trees and water: smallholder agroforestry on irrigated lands in Northern India
Trees and water: smallholder agroforestry on irrigated lands in Northern India

Author: Zomer, Robert J., Bossio, Deborah A., Trabucco, Antonio, Yuanjie, Li, Gupta, Diwan C., Singh, Virendra P.

Publisher: IWMI

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 50

ISBN-13: 9290906855

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Trees are increasingly grown on-farm to supply wood and biomass needs within developing countries. Over the last several decades, within the irrigated rice-wheat growing lands of northern India, fast-growing poplar trees have been planted on tens of thousands of small farms. Recent debate regarding afforestation has raised the issue that water use is often increased when trees are planted. This ongoing debate focuses primarily on afforestation or reforestation of upland and rain-fed agricultural areas, and off-site impacts such as reduced streamflow. Adoption of poplar agroforestry in northern India, in contrast, is occurring in areas where land and water are already intensively used and managed for agricultural production. This study based on farmer survey data, used remote sensing and spatial hydrological modeling to investigate the importance and role of the poplar trees within the agricultural landscape, and to estimate their water use. Overall, results illustrate a potential for addressing the increasing global demand for wood products with trees grown on-farm within irrigated agroforestry systems.

India's water future to 2025-2050: business-as-usual scenario and deviations
India's water future to 2025-2050: business-as-usual scenario and deviations

Author: Amarasinghe, Upali, Shah, Tushaar, Turral, Hugh, Anand, B. K.

Publisher: IWMI

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 52

ISBN-13: 9290906871

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

With a rapidly expanding economy many changes are taking place in India today. The business-as-usual (BAU) scenario, which assumes the continuation of current trends of key water demand drivers, will meet the future food demand. However, it leads to a severe regional water crisis by 2050, where many river basins will reach closure, will be physically water-scarce and will have regions with severely overexploited groundwater resources. While the alternative scenarios of water demand show both optimistic and pessimistic water futures, the scenario with additional productivity growth is the most optimistic, with significant scope for reducing future water demand.

Climate change impacts on hydrology and water resources of the Upper Blue Nile River Basin, Ethiopia
Climate change impacts on hydrology and water resources of the Upper Blue Nile River Basin, Ethiopia

Author: Kim, U., Kaluarachchi, J. J., Smakhtin, V. U.

Publisher: IWMI

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 31

ISBN-13: 9290906960

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The report evaluates the impacts of climate change on the hydrological regime and water resources of the Blue Nile River Basin in Ethiopia. It starts from the construction of the climate change scenarios based on the outcomes of several general circulation models (GCMs), uses a simple hydrological model to convert theses scenarios into runoff, and examines the impacts by means of a set of indices. The results, however uncertain with existing accuracy of climate models, suggest that the region is likely to have the future potential to produce hydropower, increase flow duration, and increase water storage capacity without affecting outflows to the riparian countries in the 2050s.

Implementing Integrated River Basin Management
Implementing Integrated River Basin Management

Author: François Molle

Publisher: IWMI

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 35

ISBN-13: 9290907088

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The report focuses on the establishment of the Red River Basin Organization (RRBO) in Vietnam, but expands its analysis to the wider transformations of the water sector that impinge on the formation and effectiveness of this organization. A few reflections on the policy process are drawn from this analysis, albeit in a tentative form given the relatively limited period of time considered here. The report shows that the promotion of IWRM icons such as RBOs by donors has been quite disconnected from the existing institutional framework. However, the establishment of RBOs might eventually strengthen a better separation of operation and regulation roles. Institutional change is shown to result from the interaction between endogenous processes and external pressures, in ways that are barely predictable.

Economic gains of improving soil fertility and water holding capacity with clay application: the impact of soil remediation research in northeast Thailand
Economic gains of improving soil fertility and water holding capacity with clay application: the impact of soil remediation research in northeast Thailand

Author: Saleth, R. M., Inocencio, A., Noble, A. D., Ruaysoongnern, S.

Publisher: IWMI

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 42

ISBN-13: 929090707X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Declining productivity of agricultural soils in Northeast Thailand is a challenge facing land managers and farmers. A program was initiated in 2002 to investigate the potential role of incorporating clay-based materials into degraded soils as a means of enhancing productivity. This research report attempts to provide an ex-post assessment of the field level impact and economic viability of this approach, using the empirically derived estimates of the average income impacts that the application of bentonite or clay technology has generated among farm communities in Northeast Thailand. From an exclusive IWMI perspective, the impact evaluation suggests that the program has a net present value (NPV) of US$0.41 million with a benefit-cost ratio (BCR) of 2.44 for the sample, and a NPV of US$21 million with a BCR of 75 for the region.

Drivers and characteristics of wastewater agriculture in developing countries: results from a global assessment
Drivers and characteristics of wastewater agriculture in developing countries: results from a global assessment

Author: Raschid-Sally, L., Jayakody, P.

Publisher: IWMI

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 39

ISBN-13: 9290906987

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In 4 out of 5 cities in developing countries, wastewater is used to cultivate perishable crops for urban markets. Such practices create a health risk but provide important livelihood benefits. This study through an analysis of 53 cities in developing countries, contributes to understanding the factors that drive wastewater use. The main drivers are (1) increasing urban water demand without wastewater treatment causing pollution of irrigation water sources; (2) urban food demand favoring agriculture close to cities where water sources are polluted; and (3) lack of cheaper, similarly reliable or safer water sources. Poverty, which constrains the infrastructure needs of urbanization, is an added factor. The study makes policy recommendations stressing on, effectively applying the WHO guidelines, linking investments in water supply with sanitation for maximum beneficial impact on water pollution, and involving actors at both the national and local level, for water quality improvements and health risk reduction

Importance of irrigated agriculture to the Ethiopian economy: capturing the direct net benefits of irrigation
Importance of irrigated agriculture to the Ethiopian economy: capturing the direct net benefits of irrigation

Author: Fitsum Hagos

Publisher: IWMI

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 42

ISBN-13: 9290907010

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Irrigation development has been identified as a means to stimulate economic growth and rural development in Ethiopia. However, little attempt has been made to quantify the contribution of irrigation to national income. Using data from selected irrigation schemes, representing small, medium and large-scale schemes of modern or traditional typologies; the present coverage and planned growth of irrigation, actual and expected contributions of irrigation to the national economy were quantified following the approach of adjusted gross margin analysis. Our results show that irrigation yields 219.7% higher income compared to the rainfed system while its current and future contribution to agricultural GDP is estimated to be about 5.7 and 12% although irrigation covers about 5 and 9% of the total cultivated land area, respectively.

Institutions, impact synergies and food security: a methodology with results from the Kala Oya Basin, Sri Lanka
Institutions, impact synergies and food security: a methodology with results from the Kala Oya Basin, Sri Lanka

Author: Saleth, Rathinasamy Maria, Dinar, A., Neubert, S., Kamaiah, B., Manoharan, S., Abayawardana, Sarath, Ariyaratne, Ranjith, de Silva, S.

Publisher: IWMI

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 46

ISBN-13: 9290906863

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The success of development programs depends on the role of underlying institutions and the impact synergies from closely related programs. Existing literature has limitations in accounting for these critical factors. This paper fills this gap by developing a methodology, which can quantify both the institutional roles in impact generation and the impact synergies from related programs. The methodology is applied to the Kala Oya Basin in Sri Lanka for evaluating the impacts of three development programs and 11 institutions on food security. The results provide valuable insights on the relative roles of institutions and the varying flow of impact synergies both within and across impact pathways.