The Middle East is a region of international concern and political unrest. This book forms a complete reference to both the hydrological as well as the social, economic, political and legal issues in the region and shows how water shortages threaten the renewal of military conflicts and disruption in the area. With resources over-extended due to natural and human causes, the book analyses the river basins of the Euphrates, Tigris, Nile and Jordan and provides detailed study of the hydrology, hydrography and geography of these river basins; it also analyses the needs of the economies and societies of the countries bordering these basins. Conclusions on likely areas of conflict are set within the legal framework of the Helsinki and International Law Commission Rules.
Water resources allocation determines who is able to use water resources, how, when and where. It directly affects the value (economic, ecological, socio-cultural) that individuals and society obtain from water resources. This report overviews how allocation works in a range of countries and how the performance of allocation arrangements can be improved to adjust to changing conditions. Capturing information from 27 OECD countries and key partner economies, the report presents key findings from the OECD Survey of Water Resources Allocation and case studies of successful allocation reform. It provides practical policy guidance for water allocation in the form of a "health check", which can be used to assess the performance of current arrangements and manage the transition to improved regimes.
Conflicts among water users still occur in the American West. Environmentalists, who want water to be left in the rivers to preserve threatened species, compete with urban & agricultural users for the West's limited water resources. Native American water rights are also receiving more attention. This study analyzes the policy tools slated for use in California, estimates the costs of those reforms to agriculture in the state, & discusses the implications of using those policy tools in the rest of the West. Policy changes introduced in California could serve as models for changes throughout the West. Charts & tables.
This book demonstrates what the discipline of economics has to offer as support for analyzing cooperation on management of trans-boundary water resources. It also considers what the discipline of economics has to acquire to become a more effective contributor to trans-boundary water resource management given political, legal, social, physical, scientific, and ecological realities. This book has its genesis in a symposium of the International Water and Resource Economics Consortium held at Annapolis, Maryland, April 13-16, 1997. The symposium was organized by the editors and the book contains papers presented at the symposium with subsequent revisions. The symposium brought together both economists and agency management personnel for the purpose of discussing not only how economic tools apply to trans-boundary water management, but also of identifying the obstacles to making such tools useful and informative to politicians and negotiators in public decision making roles. INTERNATIONAL VERSUS DOMESTIC TRANS-BOUNDARY PROBLEMS Trans-boundary water problems arise in many dimensions. The two most important types of problems emphasized in this book are international and domestic interstate or interregional problems. Cooperation on international problems is especially difficult because enforcement must be voluntary given the sovereignty of nations and the absence of an effective legal enforcement mechanism. Agreements must be sustainable and self-enforced if they are to have lasting benefits. Every negotiating country must be convinced it will receive benefits before it gives its consent to cooperation. In the absence of enforceable agreements, trans-boundary (i. e.
This book presents a systematic study of transboundary, regional and local water conflicts and resistance across several river basins in South Asia. Addressing hydro-socio-economic aspects in competing water sharing and transfer agreements, as well as conflicting regimes of legal plurality, property rights and policy implementation, it discusses themes such as rights over land and natural resources; resettlement of dam-displaced people; urban–rural conflicts over water allocation; peri-urbanisation, land use conflicts and water security; tradeoffs and constraints in restoration of ecological flows in rivers; resilience against water conflicts in a river basin; and irrigation projects and sustainability of water resources. Bringing together experts, professionals, lawyers, government and the civil society, the volume analyses water conflicts at local, regional and transboundary scales; reviews current debates with case studies; and outlines emerging challenges in water policy, law, governance and institutions in South Asia. It also offers alternative tools and frameworks of water sharing mechanisms, conflict resolution, dialogue, and models of cooperation and collaboration for key stakeholders towards possible solutions for effective, equitable and strategic water management. This book will be useful to scholars and researchers of development studies, environment studies, water studies, public policy, political science, international relations, conflict resolution, political economy, economics, sociology and social anthropology, environmental law, governance and South Asian studies. It will also benefit practitioners, water policy thinktanks and associations, policymakers, diplomats and NGOs.
As well as a major overview of the global situation and problems involved, there are authoritative case studies of particular river systems in three continents, including the Nile Valley, the Tigris and Euphrates, the River Jordan, the Mekong and several cases from South Asia.
Liquid Assets shows that the common view of water as an inevitable cause of future wars is neither rational nor necessary. Typically, two or more parties with claim to the same water sources are thought to play a zero-sum game with each side placing a high emotional and political value over the ownership of the water. However, Franklin Fisher and his coauthors demonstrate that when disputes in ownership are expressed as disputes about money values, in most cases, the benefits of ownership will be surprisingly small. By assigning an economic value to water and treating water as a tradable resource, parties see that the gains from cooperation exceed the costs resulting from the change in ownership. A zero-sum game becomes a win-win situation. To support this new approach, Liquid Assets presents an innovative water allocation model that can be used to assist water management, the cost-benefit analysis of water infrastructure, and the resolution of disputes. The model takes system-wide effects into account and is the first to overcome the failure of actual water markets to cope with the divergence between social and private benefits (as implied by agricultural subsidies), permitting the model-user to impose his or her own values or policies. Liquid Assets applies its methodology to Israel, Jordan, and Palestine, a region where water is scarce and water conflicts are often thought to be explosive. Indeed, this book is the result of a joint effort of Israeli, Jordanian, Palestinian, American, and Dutch experts. But the book‘s message and methods are not restricted to the Middle East. They are applicable to water management and water disputes around the globe.
Capturing information from 27 OECD countries and key partner economies, the report presents key findings from the OECD Survey of Water Resources Allocation and case studies of successful allocation reform.
The latest developments regarding the theory and practice of effectively resolving conflict in water resources and environmental management are presented in this book by respected experts from around the globe. Water conflicts are particularly complex and challenging to solve because water and environmental issues span both the societal realm, in which people and organizations interact, and the physical world which sustains all human activities. For instance, when large-scale water diversions take place across political jurisdictions, conflicts may ensue among stakeholders within and across regions, while the water transfers may cause severe damage to sensitive ecological systems. Therefore, to arrive at realistic and fair resolutions, one must take into account not only the economics and politics of the situation but also the water quantity and quality changes that may occur within the altered hydrological system as well as the ecosystems contained therein. When the effects of climate change and the closely connected activities of energy production and usage are also considered, the complexity of the problem becomes even greater and messier. Accordingly, one must adopt an integrative and adaptive approach to water and environmental governance that specifically recognizes the conflicting value systems of stakeholders, including nature and future generations even though they are not present at the bargaining table. The 16 chapters in this leading-edge book are written by authors who presented their original research at the International Conference on Water Resources and Environment Research (ICWRER) 2013, which was held in Koblenz, Germany, from June 3rd to 7th, 2013, and subsequently submitted expanded versions of their research for review and publication in this timely book. The rich range of contributions are put into perspective in the first chapter and then categorized into four main interconnected parts: Part I: Management and EvaluationPart II: Global, Trans-boundary and International Dimensions Part III: Consensus-building, Bargaining and Negotiation Part IV: Ecological and Socio-economic Impacts
