Cities vs. agriculture: A review of intersectoral water re-allocation

Water demand management, or making better use of the water we have — as opposed to augmenting supply — is increasingly proposed as a way of mitigating water-scarcity problems. Moving water away from agriculture to uses with higher economic value is one of the main measures widely seen as desirable. Sectoral "allocation stress" is seen as resulting from the disproportionate share, and inefficient use of water in the agricultural sector. This apparent misallocation is often attributed to the failure of government to allocate water rationally.
This paper revisits this commonly-accepted wisdom and examines the nature of urban water scarcity, showing the importance of economic and political factors, shaped by incentives to decision-makers, and sometimes compounded by climatic conditions. It shows that cities' growth is not generally constrained by competition with agriculture. In general, rather than using a narrow financial criterion, cities select options that go along the "path of least resistance," whereby economic, social and political costs are considered in conjunction. The question of allocation stress is thus reframed into an inquiry of how transfers effectively occur and can be made more effective.     

An application of Markov Decision Programming to ecologico-cybernetics—A decision method applied to the antifrost of winter wheat

Modern ecologico-cybernetic principle is of importance to decreasing damages in relation to agricultural productions. As an illustration of this, the authors studied some of the questions about the optimal policy of choosing actions for the antifrost measures of winter wheat by means of the finite-stage model of Markov Decision Programming (MDP). The related data came from the investigation results of the investigated region in the northeastern part of Henan, China. First, the authors give the states, ecologico-cybernetic action measures, transition probabilities and reward values in relation to these antifrost action measures of winter wheat crop. Second, the authors describe the principles and computational procedures of the ecologico-cybernetic decision-makings based on the finite-stage model of MDP. Third, a simple table applicable to the decision-making practice is given. Finally, we evaluate the results of this study, point out their shortcomings and suggest that this method is applicable to the other fields in relation to decreasing damage ecologico-cybernetics.     

Food Security in the Face of Climate Change,Population Growth,and Resource Constraints: Implications for Bangladesh

Ensuring food security has been one of the major national priorities of Bangladesh since its independence in 1971. Now, this national priority is facing new challenges from the possible impacts of climate change in addition to the already existing threats from rapid population growth, declining availability of cultivable land, and inadequate access to water in the dry season. In this backdrop, this paper has examined the nature and magnitude of these threats for the benchmark years of 2030 and 2050. It has been shown that the overall impact of climate change on the production of food grains in Bangladesh would probably be small in 2030. This is due to the strong positive impact of CO₂ fertilization that would compensate for the negative impacts of higher temperature and sea level rise. In 2050, the negative impacts of climate change might become noticeable: production of rice and wheat might drop by 8% and 32%, respectively. However, rice would be less affected by climate change compared to wheat, which is more sensitive to a change in temperature. Based on the population projections and analysis of future agronomic innovations, this study further shows that the availability of cultivable land alone would not be a constraint for achieving food self-sufficiency, provided that the productivity of rice and wheat grows at a rate of 10% or more per decade. However, the situation would be more critical in terms of water availability. If the dry season water availability does not decline from the 1990 level of about 100 Bm³, there would be just enough water in 2030 for meeting both the agricultural and nonagricultural needs. In 2050, the demand for irrigation water to maintain food self-sufficiency would be about 40% to 50% of the dry season water availability. Meeting such a high agricultural water demand might cause significant negative impacts on the domestic and commercial water supply, fisheries, ecosystems, navigation, and salinity management.     

The politics of drought: The pauperization of lsiolo Boran

Isiolo Boran are becoming a population of permanent paupers. During the colonial period they were protected from Somali incursions, and their way of life preserved. Since Independence, however, largely as a result of increasing government intervention and market integration, they have become caught in a vicious spiral of poverty and decline.     

Irrigation development and its environmental consequences in arid regions of India

The present paper examines the nature and dimensions of environmental transformation induced by canal irrigation in the arid region of India. The case study pertains to the Indira Gandhi Canal comand area in Rajasthan where the density and area of vegetation cover have increased due to afforestation, and the cultivated area has expanded due to irrigation. Consequently, there has been a perceptible improvement in the structure and fertility of sandy soils, but it would require a herculean effort on the part of the canal authority and local people to reduce soil erosion and siltation in the lower parts of stage I and the entire command area of stage II. Moreover, the water table has been rising rapidly throughout the command area of stage I. About half of the command area and adjoining Ghaggar basin in Ganganagar District will be facing the danger of waterlogging by the turn of the century. The incidence of irrigation-induced alkalization is higher in the lower parts of stage I. Soil alkalinity has appeared within five years of the introduction of irrigation in the interdunal basins and is manifested as a strong salt regime or calcareous pans near surface. This calls for immediate reclamation of the affected area and prevention of its expansion by altering the strategy of irrigation development, by changing cropping patterns, and by providing soil drainage.     

Climate change, water availability and future cereal production in China

Climate scenarios from a regional climate model are used to drive crop and water simulation models underpinned by the IPCC A2 and B2 socio-economic development pathways to explore water availability for agriculture in China in the 2020s and 2040s. Various measures of water availability are examined at river basin and provincial scale in relation to agricultural and non-agricultural water demand and current and planned expansions to the area under irrigation. The objectives are to understand the influences of different drivers on future water availability to support China's food production. Hydrological simulations produce moderate to large increases in total water availability in response to increases in future precipitation. Total water demand increases nationally and in most basins, but with a decreasing share for agriculture due primarily to competition from industrial, domestic and municipal sectors. Crop simulations exhibit moderate to large increases in irrigation water demand which is found to be highly sensitive to the characteristics of daily precipitation in the climate scenarios. The impacts of climate change on water availability for agriculture are small compared to the role of socio-economic development.The study identifies significant spatial differences in impacts at the river basin and provincial level. In broad terms water availability for agriculture declines in southern China and remains stable in northern China. The combined impacts of climate change and socio-economic development produce decreases in future irrigation areas, especially the area of irrigated paddy rice. Overall, the results suggest that there will be insufficient water for agriculture in China in the coming decades, due primarily to increases in water demand for non-agricultural uses, which will have significant implications for adaptation strategies and policies for agricultural production and water management.     

Water rights and legal pluralism: four contexts for negotiation

Increasing water scarcity is increasing pressure on water management institutions, particularly in the area of water rights. A common response is to formalise water tenure, one of several options for securing access and resolving conflicts concerning water allocation. This article looks at four contexts where negotiation, self-governance and concepts of legal pluralism may help improve water resource management. Existing users and potential new users need to negotiate before water resources are developed. Users can participate in forums with authority to solve basin management problems through self-governance. Negotiated water transfers offer an alternative to water acquisition by expropriation.     

污灌水重金属污染阻控材料与技术研究

文章综述了具有纳米结构的粘土矿物(高岭土、蒙脱土和海泡石)、硫化物材料和纳米复合材料的制备及其从水中吸附去除重金属离子机理的研究进展.此外,还比较了多种可应用于重金属源头阻控的技术方案,讨论了适用于农业灌溉重金属阻控的装置组成和净化材料类型等.最后对有待进一步解决的问题和阻控技术发展方向进行了展望.     

高质量发展模式下内蒙古河套灌区的可交易水量

黄河流域必须推进水资源节约集约利用,推动流域高质量发展。水权交易是运用市场机制实现水资源优化配置,促进水资源高效流转的有效手段。可交易水量是水权交易的基础要件之一,如何在高质量发展模式下科学测算可交易水量,是保障转让方水资源安全,促进水权交易顺利实现的关键。文章提出高质量发展模式下水权交易中可交易水量的测算方法,为灌区开展水权交易,测算可交易水量提供理论依据。首先,充分考虑水权交易对转让方用水安全的影响,界定可交易水量是转让方在保障自身生产、生活、生态等用水的前提下,在水权交易中可转让的水量。其次,依据中国水权交易政策分析得出可交易水量来源于节水潜力,国内水权交易实践显示农业节水潜力是当前及未来可交易水量的主要来源。再次,遵循高质量发展模式下保障粮食安全、实现水资源节约集约利用的原则,提出农业节水潜力的估测方法。最后,分析可交易水量的影响因素,确定调整系数,提出农业节水潜力中能够转化为可交易水量的测算方法。将该方法应用于国家高质量发展战略的施力地区以及中国水权交易的典范——内蒙古河套灌区,得出2021—2025年内蒙古河套灌区农业节水潜力分别为11.0713亿m³、11.5496亿m³、12.0486亿m³、12.5692亿m³、13.1123亿m³。依据内蒙古河套灌区可交易水量影响因素分析以及内蒙古水权交易政策规定,取可交易水量调整系数为2/3,计算得出内蒙古河套灌区2021—2025年可交易水量为7.381亿m³、7.700亿m³、8.032亿m³、8.379亿m³、8.742亿m³,为内蒙古河套灌区乃至黄河流域测算可交易水量提供借鉴。