The transition in Dutch water management

Over the past decades, the Dutch people have been confronted with severe water-related problems, which are the result of an unsustainable water system, arising from human interventions in the physical infrastructure of the water system and the water management style. The claims of housing, industry, infrastructure and agriculture have resulted in increasing pressure on the water system. The continuous subsidence of soil and climate change has put pressure on the land. Hence, the nature and magnitude of water-related problems have changed. Longitudinal research of relevant national policy documents reveals that the water management regime has changed its water management style over the past 30 years from a technocratic scientific style towards an integral and participatory style. We have investigated if the historical development in Dutch Water management can be characterized as a transition. Based on longitudinal research through an integrated systems analysis, document research and expert interviews, we have reconstructed the historical narrative by using the transition concepts of multi-level and multi-phase. This research indicates that the shift in Dutch Water management can be characterized as a transition. This transition is currently in the take-off stage and near the acceleration stage. This is a crucial stage as long as the considerable gap between the strategic macro-vision and the practical implementation at the micro-level remains. As long as these levels are not compatible (modulation), the transition will not be completed successfully. Transition management as multi-level governance model should therefore be adopted to facilitate the modulation.     

Sustaining water supply through a phased community management approach: lessons from Ghana’s “oats” water supply scheme

Water sector reforms in Ghana and in other developing countries resulted in the adoption of the community management approach for water systems in an effort to ensure better management and service delivery. However, community management is also plagued internal differences, paucity of technical skills, and insufficient management experience. This article presents a case study of a successful community management system in Ghana that utilized a two-phase comanagement period before a full transfer of management responsibilities to the four communities. The first phase of 3 months was a more intensive comanagement system under which the communities teamed up with public agencies and a private firm to manage the water system. This enabled the communities to acquire hands-on management experience and also tap needed skills from external agencies before a second phase of 3 months characterized by gradual withdrawal of private agency support, and a simultaneous measured assumption of higher responsibilities by the communities. Communities thereafter assumed full management responsibility of the water system and have since then posted significant successes in financial management and operations of the system such that some profits have been generated, there is regular water supply and the system operates without major technical hitches. This strategy illustrates the fact that successful community management system is possible if local capacity is adequately strengthened with external support prior to assumption of full community control of water supply systems, and if assumption of responsibilities is pursued gradually.     

水资源权属管理改革形势下水权确权登记制度研究

水资源作为一种公共资源,由于其产权制度的不明晰,导致水资源的利用效率低下,污染和浪费现象严重,水环境形势严峻,水资源权属管理制度亟需改革。水资源权属管理应该重点关注水资源的使用权,包括取水权、农村集体经济组织水使用权、少量用水权和应急用水权。水资源确权登记是水资源权属管理改革中的基础和根本环节。文章通过演化博弈模型构建用水户之间的复制动态和进化稳定策略,论证建立水资源确权登记制度的理论支撑,结果表明一个区域内取水量越小,采取超额取水策略的用水户比例越大,当采取超额取水策略的用水户比例较高时,区域内各个用水户的期望收益和整体期望收益都较低,极易造成水资源使用过程中的用水矛盾冲突,而用水户采取限额取水策略能够增加总体的期望收益。本文明确了水资源产权确权与登记制度的主要含义,重点研究了水资源确权登记的范围包括取水权和农村集体经济组织水使用权,并在此基础上明确了取水权和用水权的确权主体和确权内容、水权确权登记的机关、确权和登记的具体程序,提出水资源确权在整个确权登记过程处于主导地位,而登记是取水权交易的前提条件,在此基础上提出对当前取水许可制度进行改革,按照产权制度的要求,强化水权的权属管理和水权的法律保护。据此,本文提出中央机构应与地方政府相互配合,明确分工,密切结合实际,做好水资源确权登记工作,改善水资源权属管理混乱的现状,加快水资源权属管理改革。     

江苏沿江地区农业产业化地域类型与发展研究

农业产业化经营是新形势下我国农业生产发展的必然趋势。20世纪90年代江苏沿江地区开始了农业产业化经营,现已产生了良好的效果,形成了加工企业带动型、流通企业牵引型、专业市场辐射型、新型合作经济组织依托型、主导产品推进型和外向型农业导入型等多种农业产业化地域类型,对促进江苏沿江地区农业增效、农民增收和农村经济发展产生了重要作用。实现江苏沿江地区农业产业化进一步发展的途径是：构筑农业创新体系,包括完善农村市场组织体制和农业运行机制、建立新型的农业投资机制、创新农业土地流转机制和转变行政、农业科研部门的服务职能;进一步调整与优化农村经济、农业和农产品结构,加快建设区域专门化农业生产基地;加强农业技术革新和农业科技示范园的建设,提高农业科技进步贡献率;建设适应现代市场竞争条件下的农业经营理念,实现传统农业向现代农业的跨越。     

论我国的水资源管理制度改革及其突破口

水权制度及水权制度创新 ,无论在我国的水资源管理制度上还是在水法制度上都是一个比较新的概念。本文以水权制度作为中国水资源体制改革的突破口 ,就水权制度及水资源管理体制改革等方面的问题进行了阐述 ,并提出了对策和建议     

Rethinking the contribution of indigenous management in small-scale water provision among selected rural communities in Cameroon

This paper describes the pro-active role of rural communities in negotiating livelihood and sustenance through the improvement of some of their local water sources. It discusses the strategies put in place to ensure the availability of water, one of the worlds scarcest natural resources. Despite some external assistance, local communities are increasingly shouldering the responsibility of ensuring the availability of water through self-reliant efforts. These attempts are being undermined by a high incidence of waterborne and water-related diseases, which are impacting on health, and hygiene and other health care delivery systems. The management of potable water is proving to be a herculean task for most communities after the departure of funding partners. To guarantee the proper maintenance of pipe borne water schemes, communities are rethinking their strategies as they grapple with difficulties to put in place viable techniques for sustainability of water supply schemes.Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

Governance objectives and instruments,ecosystem management and biodiversity conservation: the Chianti case study

The complex relationships between governance processes, ecosystem management and biodiversity conservation are receiving growing attention by the scientific community. The scope of research in this field is generally that of identifying main governance factors leading to success or failure in the sustainable management of ecosystems and biodiversity conservation, so to develop appropriate sectoral and intersectoral policies fostering sustainable use of natural resources. In this paper, a methodological approach is first presented and then applied to analyse the impacts of agriculture and rural policies on agro-ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation in the central hills of Tuscany, the Chianti area. This approach is focusing in particular on governance objectives and instruments used in the management of ecosystem services. A share-farming system based on multifunctional agriculture ruled Chianti until World War II. Then, after the abandonment of rural areas by share-farmers, governance objectives and ecosystem management were oriented towards the production of commodities such as wine and olive oil almost ignoring the provision of public goods such as soil erosion and water run-off control and biodiversity conservation. In order to achieve a more sustainable ecosystems management in Chianti, there is the need to develop a multifaceted governance strategy to reward appropriately the supplying of environmental goods and services by farmers.     

环境行政管理:集中抑或分散

随着我国环境保护形势的变化 ,环境行政管理体制已对其缺乏适应性 ,并存在诸多问题 ,应进行环境行政管理模式的改革。为此 ,笔者联系世界各国的管理模式进行了分析和探讨 ,认为在横向管理权力地相对集中 ,纵向管理权力地相对分散的同时 ,建立各部门、各地区之间的协调机构的管理模式将是一种理性的选择。     

Water Resource Management in Botswana: Balancing Sustainability and Economic Development*

Botswana is a rapidly developing country in southern Africa. Over the last three decades, diamond mining and tourism have provided double-digit rates of economic growth. Yet most of Botswana’s land is in the Kalahari desert where the climate is subject to sustained periods of severe drought. In this environment, water resources are the most crucial of all environmental resources. Water use directly affects economic development because water utilization impacts all the major national economic sectors. A sustainable water use resource management plan must stretch several decades into the future to assure the availability of adequate supplies of water to future generations while not compromising the ability of the current generation to reasonable rates of economic development. Yet thinking about sustainability is present in Botswana water policy mostly only in rhetoric. A series of cultural traditions and political constraints, coupled with bureaucratic managerial weaknesses, serve to maintain a system of water allocation that is unsustainable in the long run and inefficient in the short-term. Unless sustainable water use patterns are adopted, the results for the short-term, as well as the long-term, will be devastating. Drawing on data obtained through a series of interviews with government officials, leaders of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and water resource researchers, this paper explores water policy in Botswana within the larger context of sustainable natural resource management practice and the pressures of economic development. This research was partially funded under U.S. Department of State, College and University Affiliations Grant # ASCS-1095.     

湿地生态系统服务功能评价模式的不足与改进

本文基于对湿地生态系统服务功能评价研究发展历程的回顾,结合湿地资源保护面临的严峻形势以及社会经济发展对评价研究的现实要求,重点剖析了湿地生态系统服务功能的现状评价模式在研究定位、评价内容、评价方式和评价体系建设几个方面存在的主要不足,在此基础上提出相应的改进思路和方案.认为评价模式的改进应当以维持湿地生态系统健康和支撑区域社会经济可持续发展为研究目标,面向湿地生态系统管理方向补充评价内容,完善评价体系,强调人为活动干扰对湿地生态系统服务的影响及反馈分析,重视人类社会对服务功能需求的评价,并详细阐述干扰评价、需求评价和服务功能供需平衡分析的主要内容、方法和难点,总结湿地管理的意识和手段在服务功能评价各环节的体现.     

基于城乡统筹的农村土地综合整治研究——以南京市靖安街道“万顷良田建设”为例

通过实地调查和定性分析考察南京市靖安街道“万顷良田建设”实践,科学界定农村土地综合整治的概念,探讨如何通过制度安排协调和处理农村土地综合整治中出现的社会关系和社会矛盾,探索城乡统筹的新路径。研究表明,农村土地综合整治不仅是包含田、水、路、林、村等建设工程,更重要的通过制度安排协调和处理工程建设中出现的社会关系和社会矛盾。农村土地综合整治是个系统工程,通过万顷良田建设、城乡建设用地增减挂钩和农用地整理等重大工程,实施耕地资源集聚、建设用地资源集聚、劳动力资源集聚、市场需求与服务资源集聚,实现资源失配格局、传统农耕作业方式、农村固有散居模式和既往城乡发展路径的转变。实现农村土地综合整治的目标,需要相应的政策供给,主要包括多元化融资、资金管理制度、户籍改革、社会保障、培训就业、权属调整、技术支撑和监督管理等制度安排。在全国范围内推进农村土地综合整治规划的背景下,科学界定农村土地综合整治的概念,探讨实现农村土地综合整治目标的制度安排无疑具有重要的理论意义和实践意义     

基于GIS技术的洪水淹没计算分析系统建立与应用

洪水淹没范围的计算分析是防汛救灾管理和灾害损失评估的核心任务,而利用高新技术对洪水进行监测管理、计算分析和灾害损失评估,一直是防汛应急管理工作的薄弱环节。为此,探讨防洪流域洪水淹没计算分析系统的解决方案和实现方法,对应用系统的软硬件环境、体系结构、系统内容、系统功能和技术特点等进行详细说明,采用较为成熟的模型技术和计算机手段,研究建立基于GIS技术的洪水淹没计算分析系统,实现多源数据管理、洪水演进模拟、淹没范围计算和灾害损失评估等功能,并在海子水库防汛救灾管理工作中运行良好。应用结果表明：所采用的技术方法和分析模型能准确地计算模拟洪水淹没范围;洪水淹没面积的计算精度以及灾害评估和预测分析的准确性主要取决于空间数据精度的优劣和相关统计数据的完备程度。     

Perspectives and limitations of indicators in water management

This paper addresses the issue of indicators for water management by considering why we need them, what the characteristics of a good indicator should be, how they can add value to policy and decision-making, and what are their limitations. There are a vast quantity of data available on water in Europe from which a range of basic trend indicators has been derived. Most of these indicators address "what is happening?"-type questions. Some indicators go further and address "does it matter?" questions by assessing trends against prescribed standards and targets. There have been some interesting developments in indicators which help to understand the demand side of water management and to assess the relative efficiencies of resource usage in different socio-economic sectors. More effort is needed to bring together relevant social, economic and environmental information interactively to define indicators that address questions about the sustainability of water use and the contribution of the water environment to our overall quality of life. The development of indicators to date has concentrated on making the best use of available information. However, we now need to move from a position of "best available information" towards "best needed information". This will require better communication between information users and providers. It will also require a rethinking of exactly what our priority knowledge needs are to support policy-making and environmental management. This is essential if we are to obtain the best value from limited monitoring resources by eliminating the current redundancy in reporting requirements and refocusing programmes to deliver priority information needs. Electronic Publication     

基于复杂系统建模的水管理政策研究进展

基于Agent的建模方法（ABSS）通过自下而上的方式，考察系统中主体的不同状态和行为特征、主体与环境的作用、主体之间的作用，来表征系统的宏观特征，是进行复杂社会环境系统分析和政策研究的重要手段，在水资源、水环境管理系统中得到了有效的应用。本文在大量文献调研的基础上，讨论了ABSS建模方法的基本原理、主要特征、系统构成、分类方法和开发工具等特征，总结了其供水系统发展、水资源分配和流域水资源管理、农业土地和水资源利用、居民用水行为、农业污染控制及人类活动的水环境影响等方面的应用，分析了其在研究内容、研究方法、研究结果等方面的发展趋势，讨论了利用该方法研究我国水资源管理和水污染控制政策的必要性和重要性。     

陇南土石山区水土资源的保护与农业综合开发

陇南地区水土流失面积占土地总面积的５６．８６％，制约了当地农村经济的发展，该区以小流域为单元，进行水土保持综合治理，建设高产，优质，高效农业生态经济系统，获得了较好的经济，生态和社会效益。通过重点防治，土地利用趋于合理，各业得到的均衡发展，开创了这一地区水土资源保护与农业综合开发的新局面。     

Long-term sustainability of groundwater resources in the central Ganga Alluvial Plain,India: Study from Gomti River Basin

Environment, Development and Sustainability - Groundwater is the major primary source of drinking and irrigation water for nearly 500 million inhabitants in both rural and urban areas of the Ganga...     

Introduction of a recycling system for sustainable municipal solid waste management: a case study on the greater Banjul area of the Gambia

This research proposes for the introduction of a recycling system in the Gambia to enhance sustainable municipal solid waste management. Poor infrastructures, coupled with inadequate resources and lack of funding, work against the optimization of a MSW disposal service. In the authors’ view, authorities in charge of waste management need to change not only behaviors, but modernize their processes. Recycling technology is a key part of the solution. A model has been developed which suggest the involvement of stakeholders to achieve meaningful sustainable MSWM. This can be achieved by recognizing the role of the informal sector through community-based organizations, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and the private sector. The open dump approach is leading to severe environmental consequences as the groundwater and soil within the dump is been contaminated. In this study, an integrated municipal solid waste management approach was developed with a model to help achieve sustainable municipal solid waste management. Resource recovery, not waste disposal, must be the ultimate goal with clearly defined end user markets so that the recovery loop is complete. Mandatory sorting of waste at household level would help greatly in making recycling activity successful.     

Climate change,sustainable water management and institutional adaptation in rural sub-Saharan Africa

Much current work on climate adaptation options vis-à-vis water management in rural sub-Saharan Africa has tended to focus more on technological and infrastructural alternatives and less on institutional alternatives. Yet, vulnerability to climate variability and change in these contexts is a function not just of biophysical outcomes but also of institutional factors that can vary significantly at relatively finer scales. This paper seeks to contribute towards closing this gap by examining institutional options for sustainable water management in rural SSA in the context of climate change and variability. It explores challenges for transforming water-related institutions and puts forward institutional alternatives towards adapting to increasingly complex conditions created by climate change and variability. The paper suggests revisiting the Integrated Water Resources Management approach which has dominated water institutional debates and reforms in Africa over the recent past, towards actively adopting resilience and adaptive management lenses in crafting water institutional development initiatives.     

Rethinking the contribution of indigenous management in small-scale water provision among selected rural communities in Cameroon

This paper describes the pro-active role of rural communities in negotiating livelihood and sustenance through the improvement of some of their local water sources. It discusses the strategies put in place to ensure the availability of water, one of the world’s scarcest natural resources. Despite some external assistance, local communities are increasingly shouldering the responsibility of ensuring the availability of water through self-reliant efforts. These attempts are being undermined by a high incidence of waterborne and water-related diseases, which are impacting on health, and hygiene and other health care delivery systems. The management of potable water is proving to be a herculean task for most communities after the departure of funding partners. To guarantee the proper maintenance of pipe borne water schemes, communities are rethinking their strategies as they grapple with difficulties to put in place viable techniques for sustainability of water supply schemes.     

水污染突发事件：演化模型与应急管理

概述了突发事件演化研究的现状,总结了现阶段中国水污染突发事件的典型案例,研究了事件的演化过程,提出把社会因素和全过程干预作为水污染突发事件演化动因的一个重要方面,并在此基础上分析了水污染突发事件演化的主要动力因素,运用灾害学、应急管理、环境科学等相关理论构建了事件演化的动力因素体系,最后从系统分析的角度构建了水污染突发事件演化模型。研究表明：社会因素和应急干预对水污染突发事件的演化具有推动作用;事件演化具有阶段性,不同阶段的动力因素存在差异;水污染突发事件应急管理具有多目标性,单一目标应急管理不能有效控制水污染突发事件演化。研究水污染突发事件演化机理可为政府有效地预警与事件初期的应急决策提供重要的理论依据。