In African Basin Management Organizations - Contribution to Pollution Prevention of Transboundary Water Resources, Komlan Sangbana highlights how the protection of water resources and their ecosystems has become a key focus of basin organizations in Africa. The development, adoption and implementation of pollution control standards by basin organizations have widened the remit and greatly strengthened the role of these institutions. As such, basin organizations have become central actors in the domain of African regional law for the protection of freshwater resources. This monograph analyses the variety of functions and tasks that have been entrusted to African basin organizations to prevent pollution damage and provides some avenues for strengthening the work they perform to protect river systems.
In African Basin Management Organizations - Contribution to Pollution Prevention of Transboundary Water Resources, Komlan Sangbana highlights how the protection of water resources and their ecosystems has become a key focus of basin organizations in Africa.
In this contribution to the academic and policy debates surrounding the management and governance of shared natural resources, the focus is placed on River Basin Organizations as the key institutions for managing internationally shared water resources. The book includes advide to policy makers based on worldwide analysis, and three detailed case studies from three continents: the Senegal (West Africa), Mekong (South-east Asia) and Danube (Europe) rivers.
With increasing water scarcity, pressure to re-allocate water from agriculture to other uses mounts, along with a need to put in place institutional arrangements to promote 'higher value' uses of water. Many developing countries are now experimenting with establishing new institutional arrangements for managing water at the river basin level.This book, based on research by IWMI and others, reviews basin management in six developed and developing countries. It describes and applies a functional theory of river basin management, based on the idea that there is a minimum set of functions required to manage basins effectively and a set of basic conditions that enable effective management institutions to emerge. The book examines the experiences of both developed and developing countries in order to see what lessons can be learned and to identify what constitutes the core of a 'theory of river basin management'. It concludes that although it is difficult for developing countries to adopt approaches and institutional designs directly from developed countries, basic principles and lessons are transferable.
HANDBOOK OF CATCHMENT MANAGEMENT In 2010, the first edition of the Handbook of Catchment Management provided a benchmark on how our understanding and actions in water management within a catchment context had evolved in recent decades. Over ten years on, the catchment management concept is entering a new phase of development aligned to contemporary and future challenges. These include climate change uncertainty, further understanding in ecological functioning under change, the drive for a low-carbon, energy efficient and circular society, multiple uses of water, the emergence of new pollutants of concern, new approaches to valuation, finance and pricing mechanisms, stewardship and community engagement, the integration of water across the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and the link between water, energy and food. These developments are framed within an increasingly data rich world where new analytics, sensor technology and processing power are informing increasingly real-time decision making. The challenge is also to increase cross-compliance and policy integration to meet multiple stakeholder objectives, and to link actions to achieve cost-effective outcomes. In addition, there are a number of new and exciting city, region and basin-scale real-world examples of contemporary and new catchment thinking; integrating science, technology, knowledge and governance to address multiple drivers and complex problems from across the globe. The time is now right, to capture the new challenges facing catchment management and water resources management globally. This revised and updated edition of the Handbook of Catchment Management features: Thoroughly rewritten chapters which provide an up-to-date view of catchment management issues and contexts New case study material highlighting multi-sectoral management in different globally significant basins and different geographical locations Up-to-date topics selected for their resonance not only in natural sciences and engineering, but also in other fields, such as socio-economics, law and policy The Handbook is designed for a broad audience, but will be particularly useful for advanced students, researchers, academics and water sector professionals such as planners, consultants and regulators.
This book is about the process of water management decentralization in African countries, which is seen as a means of advancing river basin management at the lowest appropriate level. There are very different stages of implementing decentralization in practice. This called for research aiming to understand the following questions: (i) why do some water agencies succeed more than others? (ii) What are the variables involved in such reform process? (iii) which variables have a positive or a negative impact on the implementation of decentralization processes? (iv) Which variables could be affected by policy interventions, and how? This study aimed to answer these questions through the following objectives: (i) analyze the factors that have potentially affected the results of decentralization process in SSA basins, and (ii) analyze the performance of decentralization process in SSA basins. Qualitative and quantitative approaches were used. The main findings are that water scarcity is a major stimulus to reform; water user associations, if not well prepared and trained, may deter the decentralization process; and being part of an existing treaty over an international basin helps foster the process. Conditions improving decentralization performance include: scarcity of water resources, longer period of implementation, bottom-up creation, and appropriate budgetary support.
Integrated River Basin Governance - Learning from International Experience is designed to help practitioners implement integrated approaches to river basin management (IRBM). It aims to help the coming generation of senior university students learn how to design IRBM and it provides current researchers and the broader water community with a resource on river basin management. Drawing on both past and present river basin and valley scale catchment management examples from around the world, the book develops an integration framework for river basin management. Grounded in the theory and literature of natural resources management and planning, the thrust of the book is to assist policy and planning, rather than extend knowledge of hydrology, biophysical modelling or aquatic ecology. Providing a classification of river basin organizations and their use, the book also covers fundamental issues related to implementation: decision-making. institutions and organizations. information management. participation and awareness. legal and economic issues. integration and coordination processes. building human capacity. Integrated River Basin Governance focuses on the social, economic, organizational and institutional arrangements of river basin management. Methods are outlined for implementing strategic and regional approaches to river basin management, noting the importance of context and other key elements which have been shown to impede success. The book includes a range of tools for river basin governance methods, derived from real life experiences in both developed and developing countries. The successes and failures of river basin management are discussed, and lessons learned from both are presented. The ebook for this title is available to download for free on the WaterWiki.
This report evaluates South Africa's progress towards sustainable development and green growth, with a focus on policies that provide incentives to protect South Africa's exceptionally rich biodiversity and promote more effective and efficient environmental management.
Small-scale fisheries in inland waters are particularly important for supporting local communities, providing livelihoods, and ensuring food security, especially in rural areas along or around existing water basins. [Author] However, these food systems are vulnerable to stressors such as pollution, habitat loss and degradation, draining wetlands, river fragmentation and poor land management. [Author] Indeed, there is potential to increase synergies between these different sectors using “integrated water resources management” (IWRM). [Author] There are currently no global or regional frameworks between regional fishery bodies (RFBs) and basin management organizations (BMOs) in place to exploit synergies between inland fisheries and other water use sectors. [Author] Consequently, the overall objective of the first global workshop between RFBs and BMOs, held in Entebbe, Uganda from 6 to 8 December 2023 was to promote, discuss and establish an effective cooperation framework between BMOs and RFBs and to develop concerted approaches to integrate inland fisheries management into basin management, in the context of climate change, water scarcity, food security and ecosystem health. [Author] The workshop report will share the outcomes from this workshop which resulted in a consensus on the importance of employing multidisciplinary approaches, recognizing their value and the imperative need for such strategies. [Author]
The first case study deals with the Umlaas IB in KwaZulu-Natal. This Board manages water use in the upper part of the Mlazi River catchment. Around 4,000 ha are irrigated, mainly to produce maize and sugar cane. Times of water scarcity are rare. Slopes in the upper parts of the catchment are steep and the IB along with the upstream rural communities and commercial forestry companies, have undertaken several initiatives to address erosion problems in the area, with the cooperation of these companies. The second case study relates to the Komati and Lomati IBs in Mpumalanga. The irrigated area of around 21,000 ha is mainly dedicated to sugarcane farming. It hosts the largest area of small-scale irrigation farming in South Africa, but periods of water scarcity are frequent. While the IBs have not transformed into WUAs yet, they have already incorporated the emerging farmers in their area of jurisdiction, as well as in the management of water. The third case study assesses the Hereford IB in Mpumalanga. The Board manages an earthen canal, mainly for citrus and wheat farming, on a total area of 3,400 ha. Small-scale farmers have settled on an abandoned commercial farm, and the current upgrading of the emerging farmers’ scheme and the setting-up of water meters open the way for the meaningful integration of the emerging farmers in the forthcoming WUA.
