Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
policy scenarios in river basins in Chile. Bharati et al. (2008) described the
development, calibration and application of a dynamic economic-hydrologic
simulation model. It was used to evaluate the conjunctive use of surface and
groundwater in irrigation systems based on small reservoirs in the Volta Basin
in West Africa.
The multi-level scenario analysis approach (Lebel, 2006) is an alternative to
detailed bioeconomic models. It was used to explore uncertainties about how
livelihoods and landscapes in upper tributary watersheds of Southeast Asia
might unfold in the coming decades. It developed and analyzed nested
scenarios at local and regional scales. The regional scenarios looked at market
and political integration issues while the local scale scenario focused on the
resource base and the role local stakeholders could play in their management.
The scenarios were intended as a starting point for discussions among
stakeholders and as a framework for designing and interpreting simulation
studies of land use and change in land cover. They were also used as a tool to
identify strategies for resilient livelihoods and regional development.
Several papers looked at the performance of community-based water
systems, especially the factors that determine how water is provided and
allocated in such systems. The beyond-domestic paradigm highlighted the
benefits of integrated approaches to managing water both for agriculture and
domestic use in developing countries. Multiple-use water services delivered
water for both domestic and productive use in nine countries (van Koppen
et al., 2009). Domestic and productive use of homestead systems were
economically important, averaging between US$40 and US$80/person/yr.
While average benefits were high, they were not always distributed equitably
across different types of users.
In South Africa poorer users were only willing to pay for domestic water,
while better-served households were also willing to pay for water for productive
uses (Kanyoka et al., 2008). In the upper reaches of the Nyando Basin in Kenya,
small amounts of water used for vegetables and dairy cattle boosted income by
30 percent (Crow et al., 2012). The benefits varied by type of system and were
larger for women than men in some systems. There were pre-conditions that
guaranteed successful collective action for community-based systems.
A number of papers explored the potential of payment for ecosystem
services (PES) schemes to change the way land and water resources were used.
Rubiano et al. (2006) laid out a framework for analyzing alternative land use
scenarios. Quintero et al. (2009) applied a bioeconomic model based on the
framework to look at the potential of PES from changing agricultural land
management in several Andean watersheds. PES was economically, socially
and environmentally feasible in some contexts, though the results were not
necessarily pro-poor.
Cardenas et al. (2010) confirmed that vertical asymmetries in appropriation—
the “head ender-tail ender” problem—in a watershed context reduced
cooperation in Colombia and Kenya. They led to less total water available and
lower overall social welfare. Institutional innovations such as communication or
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