International rivers and national security: The Euphrates,Ganges–Brahmaputra,Indus, Tigris,and Yarmouk rivers1

To understand a state's incentives to invest in conflict or cooperation over their international rivers, this paper argues that it is necessary to appreciate the relationships a river can create and the national security threat riparians may confront. Rivers impose interdependent and vulnerable relationships, which can compromise a state's ability to respond effectively to floods and droughts, meet its domestic food and energy needs, dredge the river, maintain its drainage systems, and allocate its domestic water budget. The inability to accomplish these tasks can contribute to social, economic, and political losses that may threaten a state's territorial integrity. Regardless of whether a state is upstream or downstream, from these relationships it acquires leverage to manipulate the interdependence and vulnerability to inflict losses on its riparian neighbour. This argument challenges several assumptions within the existing literature, including the belief that a shortage of freshwater is the initial force producing a national security threat and that an upstream–downstream river bequeaths all advantages on the upstream state and leaves the downstream state purely dependent. As the paper shows, riparians confront a more complex relationship than captured by the existing literature.     

Transboundary Groundwater Policy: Developing Approaches in the Western and Southwestern United States1

Hathaway, Deborah L., 2011. Transboundary Groundwater Policy: Developing Approaches in the Western and Southwestern United States. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 47(1):103‐113. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2010.00494.x Abstract: The western and southwestern United States include dozens of groundwater basins that cross political boundaries. Common among these shared groundwater basins is an overlay of differing legal structures and water development priorities, typically, with insufficient water supply for competing human uses, and often, a degraded ecosystem. Resolution of conflicts over ambiguously regulated groundwater has clarified transboundary groundwater policy in some interstate basins, while transboundary groundwater policy in international basins is less evolved. This paper identifies and contrasts approaches to transboundary groundwater policy, drawing from recent conflicts and cooperative efforts, including those associated with the interstate compacts on the Arkansas and Pecos Rivers; the Hueco and Lower Rio Grande Basins shared by New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico; and the Mexicali Basin in California and Mexico. Some efforts seek to fit groundwater policy into existing surface water allocation procedures; some strive for a better fit – incorporating scientific understanding of key differences between groundwater and surface water into policy frameworks. In some cases, neither policy nor precedent exists. The collective experience of these and other cases sets the stage for improved management of transboundary groundwater; as such, challenges and successes of these approaches, and those contemplated in several hypothetical model agreements, are examined.     

Transboundary River Floods and Institutional Capacity1

Abstract: While transboundary flood events have become more frequent on a global scale the past two decades, they appear to be overlooked in the international river basin (IRB) cooperation and management arena. The present study therefore combined geopolitical measures with biophysical and socioeconomic variables in an attempt to identify the IRBs with adequate institutional capacity for management of transboundary floods. It also classified basins that would possibly benefit from enlarging the institutional capacity related to transboundary floods. Of the 279 known IRBs, only 78 were represented by a transboundary rivers institution. A mere eight of the 153 identified institutions had transboundary flooding listed as an issue in their mandate. Overall, 43 basins, where transboundary floods were frequent during the period 1985‐2005, had no institutional capacity for IRBs. The average death and displacement tolls were found to be lower in the 37 basins with institutional capacity, even though these basins experienced twice as much transboundary floods with significant higher magnitudes than those in basins without institutional capacity. Overall, the results suggested that institutional capacity plays a role in the reduction of flood‐related casualties and affected individuals. River basins such as the Juba‐Shibeli, Han, Kura‐Araks, Ma, Maritsa, Po, Coco/Segovia, Grijalva, Artibonite, Changuinola, Coatan Achute, and Orinoco experienced more than one transboundary river flood, but have not yet set up any institutions for such events, or signed any appropriate treaties focused on floods. These basins were therefore recommended to consider focusing attention on this apparent lack of institutional capacity when it comes to managing transboundary flood events.     

PLANNING FOR DROUGHT: THE ROLE OF STATE GOVERNMENT1

ABSTRACT: Although droughts are a frequent occurrence over much of the United States, response by state and federal government has been ineffective and poorly coordinated. Recently, several states have recognized the value of drought emergency planning and have developed plans to assist them in responding more effectively to prolonged periods of water shortage. These states have created an organizational structure to coordinate the assessment and response activities of state and federal agencies. Each state's drought response plan is unique since each state's water supply and management problems, and their consequent impacts, are unique. The drought response plans developed by Colorado, South Dakota and New York are reviewed here in detail. We recommend that other states affected by frequent and severe water shortages also develop drought emergency plans. These plans will enhance state government's ability to implement effective measures in a timely manner and, ultimately, may provide added incentive for the federal government to develop the national drought response plan called for by the General Accounting Office in 1979.     

WATER PROBLEMS IN THE INDUS FOOD MACHINE1

ABSTRACT: Examples are drawn from the Indus Basin to explain why on-farm water management problems restrict the output of agricultural products in many LDC's. Data is presented to illustrate the low level of water management knowledge of both the farmers and the current extension agents. Examples of the level of corruption and its effect on the operating system are illustrated. Several requirements that must be met before a large-scale irrigation scheme will actually increase the welfare of LDC's farmers are presented.     

The Arkansas Valley “Super Ditch”— An Analysis of Potential Economic Impacts1

McMahon, Tyler G. and Mark Griffin Smith, 2012. The Arkansas Valley “Super Ditch”— An Analysis of Potential Economic Impacts. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 00(0):000‐000. 1‐12. DOI: 10.1111/jawr.12005 Abstract: In Colorado’s Arkansas River basin, urban growth and harsh farming conditions have resulted in water transfers from agricultural to urban uses. Several studies have shown that these transfers have significant secondary economic impacts associated with the removal of irrigated land from production. In response, new methods of sharing water are being developed to allow water transfers that benefit both farm and urban economies, compared with previous permanent transfers that negatively impacted surrounding farm communities. One such project currently under development is the Arkansas Valley “Super Ditch,” which is a rotational crop fallowing plan based on long‐term water leasing designed to provide an annual supply of 25,000 acre‐feet of water (31.6 Mm³). This article analyzes the net benefits of implementing the “Super Ditch” for both the farmers and the surrounding community.     

Evaluation of Ground‐Water and Surface‐Water Exchanges Using Streamflow Difference Analyses1

Abstract: In the karstic lower Flint River Basin, limestone fracturing, jointing, and subsequent dissolution have resulted in the development of extensive secondary permeability and created a system of major conduits that facilitate the exchange of water between the Upper Floridan aquifer and Flint River. Historical streamflow data from U.S. Geological Survey gaging stations located in Albany and Newton, Georgia, were used to quantify ground‐water and surface‐water exchanges within a 55.3 km section of the Flint River. Using data from 2001, we compared estimates of ground‐water flux using a time adjustment method to a water balance equation and found that these independent approaches yielded similar results. The associated error was relatively large during high streamflow when unsteady conditions prevail, but much lower during droughts. Flow reversals were identified by negative streamflow differences and verified with in situ data from temperature sensors placed inside large spring conduits. Long‐term (13 years) analysis showed negative streamflow differentials (i.e., a losing stream condition) coincided with high river stages and indicated that streamflow intrusion into the aquifer could potentially exceed 150 m³/s. Although frequent negative flow differentials were evident, the Flint River was typically a gaining stream and showed a large net increase in flow between the two gages when examined over the period 1989‐2003. Ground‐water contributions to this stream section averaged 2‐42 m³/s with a mean of 13 m³/s. The highest rate of ground‐water discharge to the Flint River occurred during the spring when regional ground‐water levels peaked following heavy winter and spring rains and corresponding rates of evapotranspiration were low. During periods of extreme drought, ground‐water contributions to the Flint River declined.