Enhanced water resource base for sustainable integrated water resource management

The article states the case for greatly enhanced reliance on desalination in the provision of freshwater. It argues that the concept of integrated water resource management (IWRM), should be expanded to routinely include desalination, and that sea water and brackish water should be listed among available sources of freshwater. In recent years, the price per m3 of freshwater obtained from desalination has steadily declined, and is now within competitive range of conventional sources, especially as extracting water from surface sources (rivers, lakes) is becoming increasingly expensive as well as ecologically harmful, and groundwater in many locations is saline or depleted. With the expectation that by 2020, five billion people will reside in megacities, today's conventional water resources are likely to become insufficient. As many of these megacities are located near ocean coasts, sea water seems a logical solution.     

Water saving effect on integrated water resource management

This study proposes an improved integrated water resource management (IWRM), in which water conservation was analyzed for the entire water use process. A multi-objective optimization method was applied to optimize the IWRM, which investigated the reduction of freshwater consumption and the total water supply cost. Customer's preference for saving water and an end use analysis (EUA) was applied in the water conservation analysis. Taking Tianjin as the study area, a reduction in customer's economic pressure (EP) was utilized to evaluate the degree of the customer's preference for saving water. The results revealed that agriculture had a greater preference for saving water than other sectors, where as the public had the weakest motivation for saving water. Improving the transportation method could contribute 62.1% of the total water savings in the agriculture sector. The optimization of the IWRM demonstrated that the local freshwater savings would be 21.5%, and the total cost for water supplies would decrease by 13%. However, a government subsidy of 87.5 million Yuan would be needed. Additionally, by analyzing the change in the amount of water savings affected by water price, the appropriate water price increase range was suggested to be 1.5–1.7 times the original price.     

Educating for integrated resource management

Summary How do we inculcate that mass conservation literacy necessary to fuel the public and private quest for ecological survival. One such approach would establish on appropriate university campuses Integrated Resource Management Education Centers. Such centers would focus on the problem of translating resource management policies and plans into action on the landscape through (a) the collation of information about, and the preparation of practical materials on, restoring the quality of the environment, (b) informal instruction and technical assistance carried out directly to local governments, regional instrumentalities, and citizen groups, (c) the refresher education of key practitioners brought back to the campus for work in natural resource policy implementation, and (d) research in adult education theory and practice.Clay Schoenfeld is Professor of Journalism and Mass Communication, Affiliate Professor of Wildlife Ecology, Chair of the Center for Environmental Communication and Education Studies, and Director of Inter-College Programs at The University of Wisconsin-Madison. Schoenfeld is perhaps best known as the author of 20 books and over 200 national journal and magazine articles. He is a past president of three national associations in the fields of university administration and environmental education.     

Against idealistic beliefs in the problem-solving capacities of integrated resource management

Integrated resource management (IRM) is currently implemented in many parts of the world. This article promotes a pragmatic interpretation and suggests that idealistic beliefs in the problem-solving capacities of IRM are not justified. Successful implementation and performance of IRM are primarily a function of the historical context into which a project is placed. A comparative analysis of several case studies in Western Canada provides evidence for this argument, and the results can be summarized in a conceptual model about integration in resource management. IRM is interpreted as a process of constructing an objective reality of integration for sectorial management decisions, and this construction involves the transformations of power structures. This article suggests several pragmatic conclusions for IRM practice.     

Forest service experience with interdisciplinary teams developing integrated resource management plans

The National Forest Management Act and National Environmental Policy Act require the use of an interdisciplinary team (ID team) to do integrated resource planning for the National Forests and the concurrent environmental analysis. A survey sent to all National Forest planning officers (82% response) reveals the composition of the ID teams used in integrated resource and land management planning. More than half the National Forests ID teams met NEPA and NFMA compositional requirements. National Forest planners recount their experiences with these ID teams. Despite frustrations with many aspects of the ID teams, the planners strongly support the idea that ID teams are an important part of the land-use planning process and think that their use leads to better National Forest integrated resource plans.     

Integrating Swedish water resource management: a multi-level governance trilemma

This paper analyses proposals for new multi-level governance of Swedish water resources to implement the EU Water Framework Directive. The question is, do they satisfy the criteria for ecologically rational and democratically legitimate governance? The core of the analysis concerns an administrative 'trilemma' encountered in designing ecologically effective and democratically acceptable multi-level governance. This trilemma is characterised by tensions between effectiveness, participation and legitimacy, all core values of 'good governance'. The Swedish proposal constitutes an effort to achieve cost-effective implementation of the EU Directive through an ecosystem-based multi-level organisation. It also seeks to bring about democratically legitimate governance through stakeholder networks and negotiations at the sub-catchment level, and governance 'partnerships' among local governments and organised interests. In particular, the assessment addresses issues of integrating such 'super-local' and local alternatives within the larger web of multi-level water resource governance. Although intended to escape the 'trilemma', the proposed combination of formal government and informal governance is found wanting in terms of effectiveness as well as participation and legitimacy.     

Integrating Swedish water resource management: a multi-level governance trilemma

This paper analyses proposals for new multi-level governance of Swedish water resources to implement the EU Water Framework Directive. The question is, do they satisfy the criteria for ecologically rational and democratically legitimate governance? The core of the analysis concerns an administrative 'trilemma' encountered in designing ecologically effective and democratically acceptable multi-level governance. This trilemma is characterised by tensions between effectiveness, participation and legitimacy, all core values of 'good governance'. The Swedish proposal constitutes an effort to achieve cost-effective implementation of the EU Directive through an ecosystem-based multi-level organisation. It also seeks to bring about democratically legitimate governance through stakeholder networks and negotiations at the sub-catchment level, and governance 'partnerships' among local governments and organised interests. In particular, the assessment addresses issues of integrating such 'super-local' and local alternatives within the larger web of multi-level water resource governance. Although intended to escape the 'trilemma', the proposed combination of formal government and informal governance is found wanting in terms of effectiveness as well as participation and legitimacy.     

A data mining approach to simulating farmers' crop choices for integrated water resources management

Water and land resources in Thailand are increasingly under pressure from development. In particular, there are many resource conflicts associated with agricultural production in northern Thailand. Communities in these areas are significantly constrained in the land and water management decisions they are able to make. This paper describes the application of a data mining approach to describing and simulating farmers' decision rules in a catchment in northern Thailand. This approach is being applied to simulate social, economic and biophysical constraints on farmers' decisions in these areas as part of an integrated water management model.     

Gender in integrated water management: an analysis of variation

Gender is an important variable in water use, policy, and intervention. This article explores this variation and its policy implications. Concepts are applied in several case studies to draw generic conclusions. Variation is related to the purpose of water use (consumptive or productive) and to the local, culture-specific patterns of the intra-household organization of consumption for family welfare (which includes domestic water provision) and income-generation (for which water is an input, especially in rural areas). For domestic water use, the intra-household sharing of unpaid domestic responsibilities is a key gender issue. Water for productive use, on the other hand, is embedded in the gendered organization of household economic activity, as elaborated for smallholder-irrigated agriculture. In female-managed and dual farming systems, where a high proportion of farm decision-makers are women, irrigation agencies need to better target their support. In male-managed farming systems, however, the majority of women lack their own farm enterprise in which water is an input. Women's access to land, markets and credits besides access to water, is at stake. To conclude, given the strong variation in water use along gender lines, gender analysis is indispensable for any concrete water policy and intervention.     

Informality in mineral resource management in Asia: Raising questions relating to community economies and sustainable development

Informal mining activities provide livelihoods for millions of poor in mineral‐rich developing countries. Yet, they continue to remain one of the least understood areas in mineral resource management. While its poverty reduction potential is acknowledged, the heterogeneous forms of mining that come under its purview are not well discussed. This article aims to draw attention to the politics of definition by briefly introducing the reader to the nomenclature currently used to describe such mining activities. Then the article examines the nature of informality that justifies the name, and then illustrates the claim by documenting a range of informal mining practices in India with cited examples from other Asian countries. It illustrates the variations in social‐economic, technical and legal characteristics, by putting such mining in a community and participatory framework. Finally, the article discusses ways to move towards sustainable development with community participation in mineral‐rich areas of developing countries.     

Participatory evaluation of collaborative and integrated water management: Insights from the field

The Maitland Watershed Partnerships (MWPs) is a multi-stakeholder forum established in 1999 in an agricultural watershed in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. This paper presents 10 lessons emerging from the participatory evaluation of the MWPs carried out in 2005. As suggested in the literature and highlighted by the experience of the MWPs, multi-stakeholder collaboration and integration is about learning how to cope with and take advantage from difference, diversity and divergence. Watershed partnerships are arenas in which different types of knowledges, diverse values and divergent sectoral perspectives, are confronted. In this context, inter-organizational leadership is essential to develop and sustain collaborative advantage among multiple public, private and civil society actors. According to the experience of the MWPs, however, embracing difference, diversity and divergence should go well beyond initial planning stages. Instead, pursuing compromise and agreement should also be at the forefront during the monitoring and evaluation stages. Negotiating indicators for monitoring and evaluation that can address water management both as a social process and a technical process is critical, as is making the distinction between partnership outputs and partnership outcomes.     

Phytosociological inference and resource management

The application of vegetation information to resource management problems is reviewed in four areas: (1) the stratification of vegetation data by classification and gradient analysis, (2) the storage and retrieval of these data, (3) the sources of vegetation information, and (4) the accuracy and resolution requirements posed by different management applications. Conclusions indicate that the successful application of inference methods to resource management problems requires an appropriate integration of these four components.     

Simulation modeling and resource management

Simulation models are becoming increasingly important as tools for synthesizing and applying information in almost all aspects of land management. They are particulary valuable for predicting and comparing outcomes of alternative decisions and assumptions. Models also permit managers to consider and integrate the potential influences of a large number of variables.     

The impact of visual information on perceptions of water resource problems and management alternatives

To assess changes in human understanding and decision making, the paper examines (1) the influence of visual information on perceptions about groundwater management in Phoenix, Arizona and (2) the correlates and dimensions underlying people's views about water scarcity and mitigation strategies. While perceptions entrenched in ideologies are difficult to change, different types of information (three-dimensional versus two-dimensional) have distinct impacts on the perceived magnitude of problems compared to judgements about their causes and solutions. Overall, visual information may be especially useful for developing a shared understanding of problems and a collective vision for management alternatives. Additional implications of this study for fostering environmental awareness, policy support, and collaborative decision making are also discussed.     

Regional resource management techniques: The case of Colorado oil shale development

Regions under stress from rapid development require comprehensive planning and management tools, capable of identifying the pace, location and magnitude of growth and assessing social, economic and environmental impacts. Northwest Colorado, endowed with massive rich deposits of oil shale, went through a boom-bust cycle of growth during the early 1980s as US interest in synthetic fuels peaked and then rapidly declined. An innovative resource information system has been developed which has assisted the region in anticipating growth and modifying its consequences. This article reviews the organization and development of the Colorado Resource Information System (CRIS) and evaluates its role and impact in the decisionmaking process. Experience shows that regions which develop and maintain planning and information tools can have significant influence on economic development.     

A data-oriented strategy to support water resource managers and researchers

Given the wide diversity of data services provided to national water management agencies, the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) in collaboration with the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) developed the approach described in the report, Implementing the GEOSS Water Strategy—From Observations to Decisions to develop more coherent and equitable data services for water management through the use of Earth observations. Among other water resource issues, it recognized the need to enhance data-enriched water management services to support decision making related to drought monitoring, flood warning, tracking and improving sustainable development and monitoring and ameliorating the impacts of climate change. Needs associated with the Strategy's four themes: improved data acquisition for essential water variables, research and product development, interoperability and coordination, and capacity development and decision support, are reviewed. Responses to the recommendations have been undertaken by GEO, led by its Global Water Sustainability (GEOGloWS) initiative which includes NASA contributions, CEOS, and the Global Terrestrial Network for Hydrology (GTN-H). Progress on the themes is reviewed and benefits of these developments for international and US water management are identified. The commentary concludes with a summary of what has been achieved, what remains to be done, and the priority focus areas for implementation in the final year of the Strategy.     

Wildlife and integrated pest management

A number of options are available to those professionals interested in pest management through an integrated approach. The components of this approach are manipulation of vegetation; manipulation of population structure, dynamics, and interaction; and manipulation of the values associated with animal and plant crop production. Each component has numerous methods, which when used alone or in combination, offer a nearly infinite number of alternatives to the successful use of pesticides.Dr. Giles has taught a course in integrated plant pest management at Virginia Tech since 1977. The course is largely taught using computers. Students make management decisions to control pest damage and the computer determines how right they were.     

Integrating conflict analysis and consensus reaching in a decision support system for water resource management

The importance of shared decision processes in water management derives from the awareness of the inadequacy of traditional--i.e. engineering--approaches in dealing with complex and ill-structured problems. It is becoming increasingly obvious that traditional problem solving and decision support techniques, based on optimisation and factual knowledge, have to be combined with stakeholder based policy design and implementation. The aim of our research is the definition of an integrated decision support system for consensus achievement (IDSS-C) able to support a participative decision-making process in all its phases: problem definition and structuring, identification of the possible alternatives, formulation of participants' judgments, and consensus achievement. Furthermore, the IDSS-C aims at structuring, i.e. systematising the knowledge which has emerged during the participative process in order to make it comprehensible for the decision-makers and functional for the decision process. Problem structuring methods (PSM) and multi-group evaluation methods (MEM) have been integrated in the IDSS-C. PSM are used to support the stakeholders in providing their perspective of the problem and to elicit their interests and preferences, while MEM are used to define not only the degree of consensus for each alternative, highlighting those where the agreement is high, but also the consensus label for each alternative and the behaviour of individuals during the participative decision-making. The IDSS-C is applied experimentally to a decision process regarding the use of treated wastewater for agricultural irrigation in the Apulia Region (southern Italy).