Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
A small number looked at factors that determined the demand for and
performance of community-based water systems. Others looked at the
potential for changing water allocation through schemes for payment for
environmental services.
Policy's positive role was highlighted in several papers. Xu et al. (2007)
documented the transition from forest in Yunnan Province in southwest China
over a 50-year period. They provided empirical evidence that transitions were
driven by economic growth that created off-farm opportunities, comple-
mented by state policies favoring conservation. They showed how the dynamic
transitions contributed to biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration and
regional economic growth, and provided lessons for the region.
Lautze and Giordano (2006) analyzed a database of transboundary water
agreements in Africa. They showed that agreements that specifically mention
equity—a growing trend in recent years in response to international pressure—
divide water more equitably than agreements that do not mention equity.
Shah et al. (2008) looked at the impact of separating the agricultural and
non-agricultural electricity grids on groundwater use in Gujarat in India.
Subsidized electricity for pumping was a major cause of groundwater overdraft.
It overloaded the electricity grid, resulting in economic and environmental
losses. It was politically difficult to reform water allocation directly, but
rationing electricity rather than water changed the action arena. It addressed
the issue of water for agriculture and generated high net benefits. While some
farmers were hurt by the scheme, overall quality of life improved, especially
in the non-farm sector.
Tsegaye and Berger (2007) assessed the impact of removing subsidies on
irrigated farming in Ghana. The analysis showed that there was a strong
complementarity between irrigation farming and off-farm employment, both
of which depend on household labor endowment. The complementarity
suggests that where credit markets are weak, irrigation farmers generate
financial liquidity from off-farm activities, which could lead to larger families
in the long run.
When policy changes, there are always winners and losers. Several studies
developed methods to measure the value of trade-offs of a variety of policy
and decision options, across scales, uses and users, using bioeconomic models.
Baran et al. (2006, 2010) assessed trade-offs between rice farming, aqua-
culture and the environment in Vietnam using a Bayesian network model.
They showed that a mixed strategy of rice and shrimp was better than either
rice or shrimp alone. This was consistent with studies that looked at how and
why past changes in water management had affected livelihoods and the
environment (Gowing et al., 2006; Khiem and Hossain, 2010).
Berger and Schreinemachers (2006) and Schreinemachers and Berger (2006)
developed a mathematical programming-based multi agent system (MP-MAS)
computer model. It captured interdependencies between individuals and
their incentives for cooperation around water management. Berger et al.
(2007) developed a decision-support tool to assess the impacts of alternative
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