How Widely Applicable is River Basin Management? An Analysis of Wastewater Management in an Arid Transboundary Case

The basin scale has been promoted universally as the optimal management unit that allows for the internalization of all external effects caused by multiple water uses. However, the basin scale has been put forward largely on the basis of experience in temperate zones. Hence whether the basin scale is the best scale for management in other settings remains questionable. To address these questions this paper analyzes the economic viability and the political feasibility of alternative management options in the Kidron/Wadi Nar region. The Kidron/Wadi Nar is a small basin in which wastewater from eastern Jerusalem flows through the desert to the Dead Sea. Various options for managing these wastewater flows were analyzed ex ante on the basis of both a cost benefit and a multi-criteria analysis. The paper finds that due to economies of scale, a pure basin approach is not desirable from a physical and economic perspective. Furthermore, in terms of political feasibility, it seems that the option which prompts the fewest objections from influential stakeholder groups in the two entities under the current asymmetrical political setting is not a basin solution either, but a two plant solution based on an outsourcing arrangement. These findings imply that the river basin management approach can not be considered the best management approach for the arid transboundary case at hand, and hence is not unequivocally universally applicable.     

Adapting empirical equations to Lake Kinneret data by using three calibration methods

This paper examines whether the relationships between a number of characteristic limnological variables (suspended particulate matter, turbidity, Secchi depth, light attenuation, and chlorophyll a) determined for temperate lakes are consistent with the relationships found in Mediterranean lakes such as Lake Kinneret. We found that the use of published relationships between lake variables may lead to erroneous results when applied indiscriminately to other lake types.     

Job insecurity and crossover of burnout in married couples

We investigated crossover of burnout between spouses in 98 married couples in an organization undergoing downsizing. Burnout was found to be associated with feelings of job insecurity, self‐control and social undermining. Using SEM, findings supported the crossover of burnout from husbands to wives and the impact of burnout on undermining behavior. They also supported the research hypothesis of a direct relationship between job insecurity and burnout among husbands but not among wives. Sense of control was found to have a negative impact on burnout and on the spouse's undermining behavior and a positive impact on the spouse's sense of control. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.