Adaptation to changing water resources in the Ganges basin, northern India

An ensemble of regional climate model (RCM) runs from the EU HighNoon project are used to project future air temperatures and precipitation on a 25 km grid for the Ganges basin in northern India, with a view to assessing impact of climate change on water resources and determining what multi-sector adaptation measures and policies might be adopted at different spatial scales.The RCM results suggest an increase in mean annual temperature, averaged over the Ganges basin, in the range 1–4 °C over the period from 2000 to 2050, using the SRES A1B forcing scenario. Projections of precipitation indicate that natural variability dominates the climate change signal and there is considerable uncertainty concerning change in regional annual mean precipitation by 2050. The RCMs do suggest an increase in annual mean precipitation in this region to 2050, but lack significant trend. Glaciers in headwater tributary basins of the Ganges appear to be continuing to decline but it is not clear whether meltwater runoff continues to increase. The predicted changes in precipitation and temperature will probably not lead to significant increase in water availability to 2050, but the timing of runoff from snowmelt will likely occur earlier in spring and summer. Water availability is subject to decadal variability, with much uncertainty in the contribution from climate change.Although global social-economic scenarios show trends to urbanization, locally these trends are less evident and in some districts rural population is increasing. Falling groundwater levels in the Ganges plain may prevent expansion of irrigated areas for food supply. Changes in socio-economic development in combination with projected changes in timing of runoff outside the monsoon period will make difficult choices for water managers.Because of the uncertainty in future water availability trends, decreasing vulnerability by augmenting resilience is the preferred way to adapt to climate change. Adaptive policies are required to increase society's capacity to adapt to both anticipated and unanticipated conditions. Integrated solutions are needed, consistent at various spatial scales, to assure robust and sustainable future use of resources. For water resources this is at the river basin scale. At present adaptation measures in India are planned at national and state level, not taking into account the physical boundaries of water systems. To increase resilience adaptation plans should be made locally specific. However, as it is expected that the partitioning of water over the different sectors and regions will be the biggest constraint, a consistent water use plan at catchment and river basin scale may be the best solution. A policy enabling such river basin planning is essential.     

Coping with changing water resources: The case of the Syr Darya river basin in Central Asia

This paper discusses how climatic-hydrological and socio-political developments will affect water allocation in the Syr Darya river basin and which adaptation measures will be needed to cope with changing water resources. In view of the geo-political complexity, climate-driven changes in water availability are of particular importance in this region. Water shortages during summer will become more frequent as precipitation is expected to further decrease and glacial meltwater releases will decrease in the long-term due to reduced glacier volume. Being the main valve to the entire Syr Darya river system, the Toktogul reservoir in Kyrgyzstan could take over, at least partly, the role of glaciers as seasonal water redistributors, thus allowing the generation of energy in winter – benefiting upstream countries – and irrigation for large-scale agriculture in summer – benefiting downstream countries. To date, however, there is no regional consensus on a balanced reservoir management, which currently favours irrigation according to past Soviet priorities. Moreover, the perception of water as a ‘national concern’ in Central Asia discourages efforts towards cooperation between states at the regional level. So far, climate change adaptation has focused on technical rather than institutional solutions. We suggest that policy-relevant adaptation measures should include consistent data collection and dissemination, cross-sectoral collaboration, promotion of national responsibility and initiative, and agreeing on a regional strategy.     

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.     

滦河流域水资源开发的水文效应及其生态环境响应

通过滦河干流滦县水文站径流的长期演变趋势,分析流域水资源开发利用的水文效应及其生态响应。结果表明,在气候变化和人类活动影响下,滦河流域地表水资源量出现显著的衰减趋势,并引起滦河下游河道系统严重退化、近代滦河三角洲萎缩、下游平原区地下水位下降等若干生态环境问题。提出应加强竞争性用水条件下的河流生态水文调控,以改善滦河下游的生态环境。     

上海水系污染分析及其保护对策

概括分析了上海市水系的基本特性，同时通过对骨干河道和主要水利控制片的水质进行评价，表明上海市水系污染的特征为：（1）地面水污染属有机污染型；（2）以污水回荡以上溯为表征的水质污染物的迁移和积累；（3）夏季是上海水质污染最严重的季节；（4）感潮河网易受咸潮污染；（5）污染源逐步由点源向非点源转移。最后提出了上海市水系污染防治的对策措施。     

流域水资源开发与饮用水源地保护实例分析

随着工业化与城市化的发展,流域开发对水资源的需求总量与质量在不断提高。与此同时,工业废水、生活污水、禽畜养殖废水等排放量却在迅速增加,大量未经处理的污废水直接排入周围水体,造成水体利用功能下降,严重危及水资源安全。在潭江流域水资源调查中发现,目前潭江流域面临着流域发展对资源的需求增加与水质下降这一双重问题,流域饮用水源地优先保护与水资源持续利用已成为潭江流域开发研究的重要内容。通过对潭江流域水资源利用现状、特点与存在问题的分析,提出了相应水资源持续利用与饮用水源地保护的对策与措施。     

Contexualising the tool development process through a knowledge brokering approach: The case of climate change adaptation and agriculture

This article applies a ‘knowledge brokering’ approach to contextualise the development of an integrated computer modelling tool into the real world policy context of adaptation of agriculture to climate change at the EU level. In particular, the article tests a number of knowledge brokering strategies described and theorised in the literature, but seldom empirically tested. The article finds that while the policy context can be used to identify a theoretically informed knowledge brokering strategy, in practice a strategy's ‘success’ is more informed by practical considerations, such as whether the tool development process is knowledge or demand driven. In addition, in practice the knowledge brokering process is found to be dynamic and messy, which is not always apparent in the literature. The article goes on to question the perception that there is always a need (or a desire) to bridge the gap between researchers and policy makers in the tool development process. Rather than a problem of design and communication, the science policy interface may be characterised more by a high level of competition between researchers and research organisations to have their tool legitimised by its use in the policy making process.     

北京市水资源领域适应气候变化对策及保障措施探讨

气候变化问题日益凸显。应对和适应气候变化刻不容缓。然而,短期内无法有效减缓气候变化产生的不利影响。因此,有必要针对不同领域制定相应的适应措施来提高人们对气候变化的适应能力。北京作为人口众多的大城市及我国的缺水城市之一,气候变化无疑将加剧水资源的供需矛盾。本文针对北京市水资源现状及气候变化对北京市水资源领域已经形成的影响,从自然、工程、政策制度三个角度探讨了北京市水资源领域适应气候变化可采取的对策及保障措施。     

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.     

鄱阳湖候鸟保护区的自然环境

根据较丰富的第一手资料,叙述了鄱阳湖候鸟保护区内的自然环境因素:气候、水文、水质、动植物资源等。调查表明,保护区内冬季气候温和,平均气温在5.0℃以上,平均水温为6.2℃,每年10月至次年3月的气温、水温和水深适宜候鸟越冬;水质较好;水陆动植物和鸟类资源丰富,有许多国家级保护鸟类,如白鹤、小天鹅等。文章最后呼吁,要切实保护好鄱阳湖这块世界A级自然保护区,增划一些禁猎区、广泛开展爱鸟活动,形成依法护鸟,全民爱鸟的社会风气。     

黄河流域可供水量究竟有多少?

摘要:黄河是我国水资源最紧张的河流之一,但关于黄河流域可供水量,几个很权威的文献却差别很大,高的达到692×10⁸m³,低的低到580×10⁸m³。而20世纪90年代又出现了黄河流域天然径流大为减少的情况,平水年份下河川天然径流量比多年平均减少110×10⁸m³。所以,黄河流域的可供水量究竟有多少是急迫需要弄清的问题,因为它关系到黄河流域的水资源可持续利用战略决策。论文的研究结论是:在2010年水平年,在平水年条件下,黄河流域的可供水量只有550×10⁸～560×10⁸m³,其中地表水390×10⁸～400×10⁸m³,地下水160×10⁸m³。所以,黄河流域的可供水量比原来估算的最低数580×10⁸m³还低20×10⁸～30×10⁸m³,而比原来估计的最高数692×10⁸m³要低20%,差140×10⁸m³。这就给黄河流域的水资源供需平衡对策提出了更严峻的问题。     

A multi-approach strategy in climate attribution studies: Is it possible to apply a robustness framework?

Attribution studies investigate the causes of recent global warming. For a few decades the scientific community generally adopted dynamical models – the so-called Global Climate Models (GCMs) – for such an investigation. These models show the essential role of anthropogenic forcings in driving the temperature behaviour of the last half century. In the last period even other (data-driven) methodological approaches were adopted for attribution studies. This allows the scientific community to compare the results coming from these different approaches and to possibly increase their robustness. For such a purpose, the paper explores the possibility of applying a robustness framework, so far used only in the case of multi-model GCM ensembles, to a strategy including models from different methodological orientations, assessing such an application especially in the light of the independence issue.     

建立水污染物排污权交易框架的探讨

为了制定上海水污染物排污权交易的整体方案，以及在环境管理和流域管理中更多地运用环境经济手段,根据国外排污权交易的经验。以及上海在黄浦江上游地区开展水污染物排污权交易示范项目中获得的经验和存在的问题。结合上海社会，经济的实际情况。分析了建立水污染物排污权交易基本框架中应涉及的基本因素，包括产权归属，法律法规，边界设定，容量控制，污染物特性，地理因素，准入标准，初始分配体系，初始分配价格体系，交易收费体系，政府的宏观调控和监督，排污权银行的建立，监测工作和公众参与等。