Climate change policy and water resources in the EU and Spain. A closer look into the Water Framework Directive

Climate change effects are becoming evident worldwide, with serious regional and local impacts. The European Union (EU) has launched and developed initiatives and policies that scratch the surface of water resources impacts. This article presents an introduction of the existing environmental policy and more concisely in the areas of climate change and the interactions with water resources. It also addresses main management tools, and plans linked to policies, recent updates on the Science–Policy Interface, highlighting major results from research and development projects. Establishing appropriate policies to tackle climate change impacts on water is essential given the cross-sectorial and flowing nature and the importance of water in all environmental, social and economic sectors. There are still some pending reviews and updates in the current EU policy and its implementation, as well as at the national level in Spain. This article identifies existing gaps, and provides recommendations on how and where reforms could take place and be applied by decision makers in the water policy sector.     

A strategy to deal with water crisis under climate change for mainstream in the middle reaches of Yellow River

Our planet is increasingly threatened by degradation in water quantity and quality due to climate change, population growth and development pressures. Water shortage is one of the most challenging environmental problems to humankind in the 21st century under the changing climate. Water shortages and scarcity escalate risks to food security and economic viability. For decades, water management has been dominated by supply oriented paradigm of expanding the capacity of accessible water (e.g. building dams). While large scale infrastructure projects provided effective solutions for chronic water crises in the past, they have come at expensive, irreversible and delayed ecological, economic and social costs. As more questions are raised concerning over reliance on infrastructure solutions, discussions about a sustainable future suggest a greater focus on the demand side of the equation is needed. In this paper, we use multi-recursive and runoff coefficient analysis methods to analyze the annual runoff of the mainstreams (Kuye River, Tuwei River, Wuding River and Jialu River) in the middle reaches of Yellow River. The main objective is to estimate the impacts of climate change and human activity on water resources in the study area and test the potential of water demand management to lessen the gap between supply and demand. Results show remarkable drop in the average annual runoff as a combined effect of climate change and human activity. Moreover, results show that human activities are the direct reason for the changes of river runoff, and the proportion of human activities account the biggest is Wuding river, next is Kuye river, Jialu river is smallest, these changes lead to the decrease of river runoff, and even drying up in recent years. This result highlights the importance of using WDM to diminish the increasing gap between demand and supply. Motivated by this, the paper presents a comprehensive framework for implementation WDM in the middle reaches of Yellow River. The framework includes a wide range of instruments: legislative, economic, technological and educational. The core step of the framework, collaboration among water planners, water service providers and end-users lies as an essential mechanism for achieving long term trade-offs between ecological and socio-economic water needs.     

Estimating the non-market benefits of climate change adaptation of river ecosystem services: A choice experiment application in the Aoos basin,Greece

Mountains are important global reservoirs of water resources. However they are highly vulnerable to climate change as limited alterations in temperature and precipitation may cause harmful effects to water systems. Southern Europe and especially Greece are expected to undergo a drought trend over the next decades, resulting in less recharge for the aquifers and water services reduction. Thus, climate change may distort both natural and socioeconomic characteristics of freshwater ecosystem services deteriorating the general social welfare related to them. This paper examines the economic impacts of climate change on river uses of the Aoos basin in Greece. In this regard, a choice experiment is conducted to estimate the value changes in different ecological and economic services in a mountain community. The econometric simulations using conditional logit, random parameters logit and latent class models reveal that despite existing preference heterogeneity, respondents on average derive positive and significant welfare effects from climate change adaptation measures. The findings of the survey may assist in adaptation planning for the Aoos River basin, with possible extensions to other river systems enduring similar climate change indications.     

Climate change and water resources management in Tuwei river basin of Northwest China

Water resources are an integral part of the socio-economic-environmental system. Water resources have dynamic interactions with related social, economic and environmental elements, as well as regulatory factors that are characterized by non-linear and multi-loop feedbacks. In this paper, a complex System Dynamic (SD) model is used to study the relationship among population growth, economic development, climate change, management strategies and water resources, and identify the best management strategy to adapt with the changing environment in the Tuwei river basin of Northwest China. Three management alternatives viz. business as usual, water supply management and water demand management are studied under different climate change scenarios. Results indicate that water shortage rate in Tuwei river basin may increase up to 80 % by the year 2030 if current management practices are continued or the supply based management strategy is adopted. On the other hand, water demand management can keep the water shortage rate within a tolerable limit and therefore can be considered as the sustainable strategy for water resources management to maintain the economic growth and ecological status of the Tuwei river basin.     

新时期秦岭生态文明建设：存在问题与发展路径

生态文明建设是我国的重大战略,秦岭在我国生态文明建设中具有重要的战略地位,为了清晰认识秦岭在生态文明建设中存在的问题及发展路径,邀请来自不同领域的相关专家就秦岭生态格局与地理过程、科学考察、水资源保护等研究前沿进行访谈,访谈结果表明：在全球气候变化和人类活动深刻影响下,新时期的秦岭生态保护与可持续发展,更要深入认识秦岭在中国乃至世界生态文明建设中的重要意义。综合自然科学与社会科学的理论知识,从系统整体、动态交互等视角持续关注秦岭的重大科学命题。通过综合科学考察及“空—天—地”一体智能监测技术和数据支撑,持续深度挖掘数据,探索新科学问题,在发现秦岭独特地理现象和规律的同时,从机理上深入理解秦岭作为南北地理分界线的生态环境效应,揭示生态系统服务功能及其在维护国家生态安全上的关键作用,开展“基于自然”的秦岭生态保护和修复研究;在新流动性范式下,用动态的眼光看待移民安置工程,关注不同群体和类型移民的生计,通过多元化保障体系解决移民问题;在气候变化大背景下,重视秦岭对气候变化和人为活动的响应研究,摸清秦岭水资源的演化规律和变化趋势,开展系统治理工作,保障水资源的长期安全供给,推进区域的社会经济可持续发展。从而为秦岭生态文明建设和可持续发展提供科学可行的理论和决策支持。     

柴达木盆地资源开发的环境影响与对策研究

柴达木盆地干旱少雨,风大沙多,水资源短缺,生态环境脆弱。水资源是资源开发和生态环境保护需要协调和优化的关键因素。柴达木盆地的资源开发以柴达木循环经济试验区为核心,重点构建以盐湖资源综合开发利用为核心的循环经济产业链体系。柴达木盆地盐湖资源、金属和非金属矿产资源、石油天然气资源开发以及主要工业布局将对水资源利用、盐湖水盐平衡、重点湖泊湿地保护、绿洲安全和水环境产生较大影响或带来累积性生态环境风险。针对柴达木盆地资源开发可能带来的环境影响和生态风险,提出了区域资源开发和产业发展布局的优化调控对策和促进经济社会可持续发展的环境保护对策和建议     

Integrated modelling approaches to analysis of climate change impacts on forests and forest management

This paper reviews integrated economic and ecological models that address impacts and adaptation to climate change in the forest sector. Early economic model studies considered forests as one out of many possible impacts of climate change, while ecological model studies tended to limit the economic impacts to fixed price-assumptions. More recent studies include broader representations of both systems, but there are still few studies which can be regarded fully integrated. Full integration of ecological and economic models is needed to address forest management under climate change appropriately. The conclusion so far is that there are vast uncertainties about how climate change affects forests. This is partly due to the limited knowledge about the global implications of the social and economical adaptation to the effects of climate change on forests.     

全球变化对跨境淡水资源利用和管理的影响

跨境淡水资源的合理利用和协调管理,已成为当今国际区域经济发展、跨境资源和市场共享、世界生态维护的合作主题,成为下世纪制约区域可持续发展和避免地区冲突的一个关键因素,受到国际社会广泛关注。从边界变化、国际区域合作和经济一体化、气候变化、人口增长、可持续发展等全球趋势对此主题的影响进行了探讨。     

Policy misfits,climate change and cross-scale vulnerability in coastal Africa: how development projects undermine resilience

Coastal social ecological systems in eastern Africa are subject to a range of environmental, social and economic changes. They are already vulnerable to these multiple stressors, and the impacts of climate change are likely to further exacerbate their vulnerabilities. Some of these impacts may be observed and experienced already. The analysis presented in this paper is based on mixed methods empirical research exploring local perceptions of recent changes at four sites in coastal Tanzania and Mozambique. People recognise and rank a number of climate and non-climate stressors which have contributed towards more risky and less diverse livelihoods. Importantly, regional and international policy initiatives – in the form of river basin management in Mozambique and South Africa, and development of a Marine Protected Area in Tanzania – are perceived to further erode resilience and exacerbate vulnerabilities. We suggest this is a form of policy misfit, where policies developed to address a specific issue do not take account of cross-scale dynamics of change, the interactions between multiple stressors, nor longer term climate change. This policy misfit may be remedied by a move towards adaptive forms of governance, and necessitates an explicit focus on building the adaptive capacity of the poor and most vulnerable in society.     

基于水足迹理论的区域水资源利用评价

水资源是一个地区经济发展、社会稳定的基础。水资源利用评价研究对分析区域水资源问题、制定合理的水资源战略具有重要意义。论文引入水足迹理论,构建区域水足迹结构、效益、生态安全以及可持续性指标体系,对区域水资源的利用现状和可持续性进行评价分析,并以大连市为案例对其水资源利用情况进行评价,结果表明该评价方法简便直观、合理可行。     

Impacts of climatic change on water and natural hazards in the Alps: Can current water governance cope with future challenges? Examples from the European “ACQWA” project

This paper reviews the possible future situation of the Rhone River in the Swiss part of its catchment. Physical processes in the Alps govern the behaviour of the Rhone from its source (Rhone Glacier) to the Lake of Geneva, and substantial changes are expected to occur in the amount and seasonality of precipitation, and in the response of snow and glaciers to a warming climate. As a result, discharge in the alpine part of the Rhone River is likely to undergo an increase in winter and early spring, but strongly decreases from late spring to late autumn. These changes in water regimes will certainly be accompanied by more frequent geomorphic hazards, related to increases in heavy precipitation events and the melting of permanently frozen grounds. The direct and indirect impacts of a warming climate will affect key economic sectors such as tourism, hydropower, and agriculture, while shifts in extreme events will have an impact on the vulnerability of infrastructure and a range of economic sectors and services. Projections of the future course of events can help in advance planning and decision making in order to alleviate some of the more negative consequences of climate and hydrological impacts on key economic sectors in the region. This paper will thus discuss issues related to current and future water governance in the region, whether water-related policies are sufficiently robust today to cope with what may be rapid changes in water availability and water use in coming decades, and to resolve possible rivalries between economic sectors that may be increasingly confronted with problems of water availability at critical times of the year.     

Linking corporate climate adaptation strategies with resilience thinking

Within modern society, business organizations have a co-evolutionary relationship with society and ecosystems. Business organizations face highly diverse risks which they have to recognize, reflect on and handle. Climate change and its impacts clarify the need for managing overall system risk. Research has shown that climate vulnerability of business organizations in the German food industry is characterized by impacts that, in particular, affect business organizations indirectly. Indirect climate change caused impacts are complex, uncertain and characterized by a high degree of unpredictability. They focus on the derived social, ecological, economic and cultural consequences of the direct physical impacts from a worldwide perspective. This paper shows that introducing resilience thinking helps to identify strategic risks and opportunities coping with climate change caused impacts in sense of corporate climate adaptation strategies. Furthermore, it is shown from a strategic management perspective that mitigation is a profound element of long term adaptation strategies.     

云南省水资源时空分布格局及综合评价

水资源安全是山区资源环境安全和山区资源环境承载力研究的核心问题之一。在分析云南省水资源时空分布格局的基础上,提出了云南省水资源安全综合评价指标体系,采用层次分析法确定了各指标的权重,构建了云南省水资源安全综合评价模型,对云南省水资源安全状态以及优、劣势因素进行了评价分析。研究结果表明云南省水资源时空分布不均,社会经济条件较好的滇中地区水资源短缺严重,在95%保证率下,昆明市人均水资源量仅为611m³,水资源压力最大。对云南省各市（州）水资源安全综合评价表明,云南省水资源安全地域差异突出,云南省南部和西南部水资源安全形势较好,其中西双版纳州和德宏州水资源安全指数超过0.58,属安全等级;云南省东部地区水资源安全形势不容乐观,其中云南省东北部的昭通市水资源安全形势最为严峻,水资源安全指数仅为0.24,是全省平均水平的55.68%;另外,滇中地区的楚雄州由于地处干热河谷地区,季节性水资源短缺非常严重,水资源安全问题同样严重。水资源量是影响云南省水资源安全最重要的因素,工程性缺水和干旱问题亦非常突出。因此,必须加强水利工程建设力度,重点解决人畜饮水困难问题,提高农田旱涝保收率,同时重视水生态环境保护,提高水资源利用效率,提升抵御干旱灾害和水资源短缺的能力。     

湖泊生态安全及其评估方法框架

针对目前我国湖泊存在的主要生态安全问题,同时考虑流域人类活动对湖泊的影响,阐述了对湖泊生态系统及湖泊生态安全的深层认识和理解,并在此基础上建立了“4+1”湖泊生态安全评估方法框架. 该方法框架包括湖泊水生态系统健康评估、流域社会经济活动对湖泊生态影响评估、湖泊生态服务功能评估和湖泊生态灾变评估,以及在这4项评估的基础上建立的湖泊生态安全综合评估. “4+1”湖泊生态安全评估方法框架既可作为对湖泊生态安全进行整体综合评估的方法,又反映了湖泊水生态健康、流域人类活动对湖泊的影响、湖泊生态服务功能以及湖泊生态灾变4个过程对湖泊生态安全的影响关系,识别影响湖泊生态安全的限制性因子. 湖泊生态安全评估启示我国湖泊管理应由水质管理向流域生态系统管理转变,其实质是解决好“人湖”关系,实现“人湖”和谐发展.      

Adapting to climate change: reducing water-related risks in Europe – EU policy and research considerations

Climate change impacts on the hydrological cycle, e.g. leading to changes of precipitation patterns, have been observed over several decades. Higher water temperatures and changes in extremes hydrometeorological events (including floods and droughts) are likely to exacerbate different types of pressures on water resources with possible negative impacts on ecosystems and human health. In addition, sea-level rise is expected to extend areas of salinisation of groundwater and estuaries, resulting in a decrease of freshwater availability for humans and ecosystems in coastal areas. Furthermore, climate-related changes in water quantity and quality are expected to affect food availability, water access and utilisation, especially in arid and semi-arid areas, as well as the operation of water infrastructure (e.g. hydropower, flood defences, and irrigation systems). This paper serves as an introduction to the special issue of Environment Science & Policy dealing with climate change impacts on water-related disasters. It provides a brief background about relevant EU water policies and examples of EU-funded research trends which illustrate on-going efforts to improve understanding and modelling of climate changes related to the hydrological cycles at scales that are relevant to decision making (possibly linked to policy).     

呼伦湖流域生态安全评价及时空分布格局变化趋势研究

呼伦湖是我国北方第一大湖,具有涵养水源、生物多样性维护、气候调节等重要生态功能,对于维系我国北方生态安全屏障具有重要作用.近年来,随着气候暖干化加剧,呼伦湖面临着湖体面积萎缩、芦苇湿地大面积消失、局部草原区退化严重、土地沙化面积扩大、关键种群缺失等生态安全问题.该研究围绕“水资源-水环境-水生态”三水共生目标,以“山水林田湖草沙”系统观为指导,基于遥感和GIS技术对呼伦湖流域1990—2018年的生态安全时空分布格局进行评价.结果表明:①2018年呼伦湖及其流域的生态安全指数分别为0.495和0.774,分别处于预警和良好状态.②呼伦湖流域生态安全自1990年以来分别经历了骤降期、稳定期和恢复期等3个时期,呈现“一林一草一湖”的生态安全分布格局.③2010年呼伦湖生态安全水平最低,主要分布在新开河入湖口、湖西岸大部分区域、湖中心以及湖东南方向的湾口区域;流域则在2015年的生态安全状况最差,主要位于新左旗中部、海拉尔河流域以及呼伦沟等地,尤其是沿乌尔逊河上游东侧地带表现最为突出.④影响呼伦湖流域生态安全水平的主要因素为入湖径流量、蓝藻水华面积占比和水源涵养量,而长期超载过牧、水体污染物浓缩效应以及湿地面积萎缩是限制生态安全水平进一步提升的重要因素.研究显示,呼伦湖流域生态安全与水资源状况密切相关,湖面面积维持在2 036 km2以上能保障流域较高的生态安全水平.此外,蓝藻水华面积、放牧强度与湿地面积均关系着区域生态安全,建议通过建立蓝藻水华风险防控体系、合理核定载畜量、保护与修复芦苇湿地以改善局部区域生态安全状况.      

Re-thinking water policy priorities in the Mediterranean region in view of climate change

Water is scarce in Mediterranean countries: cities are crowded with increasing demand; food is produced with large amounts of water; ecosystems demand more water that is often available; drought affects all. As climate change impacts become more noticeable and costlier, some current water management strategies will not be useful. According to the findings of CIRCE, the areas with limited water resources will increase in the coming decades with major consequences for the way we produce food and we protect ecosystems. Based on these projections this paper discusses water policy priorities for climate change adaptation in the Mediterranean. We first summarise the main challenges to water resources in Mediterranean countries and outline the risks and opportunities for water under climate change based on previous studies. Recognising the difficulty to go from precipitation to water policy, we then present a framework to evaluate water availability in response to natural and management conditions, with an example of application in the Ebro basin that exemplifies other Mediterranean areas. Then we evaluate adaptive capacity to understand the ability of Mediterranean countries to face, respond and recover from climate change impacts on water resources. Social and economic factors are key drivers of inequality in the adaptive capacity across the region. Based on the assessment of impacts and adaptive capacity we suggest thresholds for water policy to respond to climate change and link water scarcity indicators to relevant potential adaptation strategies. Our results suggest the need to further prioritise socially and economically sensitive policies.     

Envisioning the future and learning from the past: Adapting to a changing environment in northern Mali

In West Africa, rural livelihoods depending on natural resources develop coping and adapting strategies to face climate variability or change and economic or political changes. The former Lake Faguibine in northern Mali has experienced drastic ecological, social, and economic changes. Forests have emerged on the former lake and have become important for local livelihoods. This paper analyses the coping and adapting strategies of forest- and livestock-based livelihoods facing ecological changes. Results from field research at different levels indicate that most local strategies are based on diversification including migration within the livestock production system or in complement to it, with differences according to gender, age, and ethnicity. Political discourses, cultural identities, and past experiences influence and shape adaptation strategies at the local level. The sustainability of the observed strategies depends on the access to natural resources and the sustainable management of these resources, which in turn depends on institutions at local and national levels. Many local strategies are reactive to external events but would need strategic support from higher levels to move from coping to adapting. Examples are the development of institutions and technical actions for natural resource management, as well as development actions supporting local strategies and sustainable investments. Researchers, practitioners and development planners will need simple methods and tools for understanding and analysing local adaptation perceptions and actions to achieve an effective support of sustainable and gender-equitable local adaptation and to avoid mismatches between strategies proposed by local and by sub national and national actors.     

Analysis on reasons for the Yellow River''s dry-up and its eco-environmental impacts

The Yellow River, or Huanghe, is one of the most important river in China. It is the major water resources for north and northwest China. Since 1972, the Yellow River's dry-up has occurred frequently and become even more year by year. Except the huge loss to social life and economic development, the Yellow River's dry-up brings about great impacts to eco-environment. This paper analyzed the reasons and impacts from multi-aspect: effects of climate change, influence of human activities and impacts to delta's eco-environment, aquatic life resources, agricultural eco-environment, water pollution and flood prevention as well.     

西丰县生态县建设指标分析与保护对策研究

文章以西丰县2010年数据为基准,对经济发展、环境保护、社会进步等27项指标进行了现状分析、预测和规划分析,并围绕生态产业、自然资源保障、环境支撑、生态安全、生态人居和生态文化等六大领域,开展了工程规划与建设,提出了生态保护对策,以期为实现西丰生态县建设提供依据。结果表明：到2020年27项指标均可达标。